Potez 25

The French-built Potez 25 was one of the most widely used biplanes of the interwar period. It was built as the A.2 two-seat fighter or the B.2 two-seat bomber. It was license-built in Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania and Portugal, and was additionally deployed by the militaries of Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, Greece, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Estonia, and China (where it saw action against the Japanese). In the civilian market it was widely used as a mail carrier, particular in South American routes over the Andes. It was also used as a trainer.

The Potez 25 TOE was the major production version, with 2,270 planes built. It was used by the Aeropostale and French air arm. The plane burns 16.75 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel and ammo (excluding bombs) costs $24.

Potez 25 TOE

Subassemblies: Light Fighter chassis +3; Heavy Fighter wings with Biplane option +2; 2 fixed wheels +0.

Powertrain: 335-kW aerial HP gasoline engine with 335-kW old prop and 45-gallon standard fuel tank [Body]; 4,000-kWs battery.

Occ.: 2 XCS Body

Cargo: 7.5 Body

Armor F RL B T U

Body: 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C

Wings: 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C

Wheels: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Weaponry:

Aircraft LMG/.303 Vickers [Body:F] (500 rounds).

2xAircraft LMG/.303 Lewis [Body:B] (500 rounds each).*

440 lbs. Bombs [Wings:U].

*Linked

Equipment:

Body: Navigation instruments, medium radio transmitter and receiver, casemate and high-angle mount for the rear MGs. Wings: Two hardpoints at 220-lbs. each.

Statistics:

Size: 30'x46'x12' Payload: 1.09 tons Lwt.: 2.76 tons

Volume: 144 Maint.: 50 hours Cost: $16,713

HT: 8 HPs: 50 Body, 360 each Wing, 8 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 137 aAccel: 3 aDecel: 47 aMR: 12 aSR: 1

Stall Speed: 46 mph. Take-Off Run 235 yards. Landing Run 212 yards.

gSpeed: 176 gAccel: 9 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.5 gSR: 2

Ground Pressure: Extremely High. No Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:

Historical wing area was 506 sf. The fuel capacity was based on a rough calculation between range (410 miles) and gas consumption, as no historical value could be located. MG load outs are a guess. Design payload was 1,208 lbs; the historical value has been substituted. Design aSpeed was increased 4 mph to the historical; design weight was increased 1% to the historical. Performance calculations were based on historical values for wing area and loaded weight. The front Body MG is synchronized, lowering RoF by 10% (see p. W:MP8).

Variants:

The initial Potez 25 prototype used a 336-kW engine.

The Potez 25 A.2 used a 388-kW engine.

The ET.2 was a two-seat trainer with a 373-kW engine.

The 25/5 was a production version of the A.2. 100 built.

The 25 GR had increased fuel tankage.

The 25/4 was a reconnaissance version used by the Armee de l'Aire. 12 built with 373-kW engines.

The 25/35 was used for target towing; 12 built.

The 25/55 featured dual controls. 40 built and used by the Aeropostale.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS