RECONNAISSANCE AND SURVEILLANCE SEAPLANE

In 1933, in order to replace the old Gourdou-Leseurre seaplanes, the French Navy launched an invitation to tender concerning a new reconnaissance seaplane. The prototype of the Loire 130, first flew on November 19th 1934, motorizeded with an Hispano-Suiza 12Xbrs engine. 124 examples were ordered between 1936 and 1941. From 1937, they were embarked aboard warships such as CC Dunkerque and Strasbourg. Two variants were built - Loire 130M (M as Métropole/ home country) - and Loire 130C (C as Colonie/ colony) with specific equipments. At the beginning of the World War II, on September 3rd 1939, sixty-five Loire 130s were available. Twenty-two were built until the end of the War in France (June 1940). Losses were low because seventy-one aircraft were in line on June 25th 1940. One example was tested by Germans at Travemünde. They were still used in 1947 at NAS Hourtin, and one Loire took part in Indochina War under the colors of the 8S squadron.

Specifications :

/	(US)	(FR)
LENGTH	37. 07 ft	11. 30 m
WINGSPAN	52. 5 ft	16 m
HEIGHT	12. 63 ft	3. 85 m
WEIGHTS	4 607 lb (empty)/ 7 487 lb (full)	2 090 kg (empty)/ 3 396 kg (full)
MAX SPEED	140. 4 mph	226 km/ h
RANGE	593. 9 nm	1 100 km
OUTPUT	720 hp	537 kW

Weapons

 It was armed with :

• Two 7.5 mm guns.
• Two 75 kg bombs.