J.Davilla, A.Soltan French Aircraft of the First World War (Flying Machines)

Breguet Twin-Engine Bomber

  Several companies entered aircraft in the 1916 concours puissant for a long-range bomber. Breguet is known to have designed a twin-engined bomber lor the competition, but this was apparently destroyed or further development was abandoned shortly before the contours began. Some sources refer to this biplane as the Type E (but they may be confusing the Breguet design with the SPAD E bomber, which was also entered in the 1916 concours). At this point. Breguet's only recourse was to enter his Breguet 11 heavy fighter in the hope that its superior weight-lifting capability would make it a useful bomber.



Breguet 11 Corsaire

  The French were desperate to obtain a modern bomber by 1916. The concours of 1915 had failed to produce an acceptable bomber and another concours was to be held in 1916. The specifications called lor a twin-engined aircraft; it had to be heavily armed because the bombers were now encountering German fighters that inflicted many losses. For adequate defense, the gunners had to have a clear field of fire both fore and aft. The expected performance included a range ot 600 km with a bomb load of 300 kg (in order to attack the German industrial center at Essen). Maximum speed was expected to be 140 km/h. Several aircraft were entered in the concours but few were as ungainly as the Breguet 11.
  There exists some confusion as to the role the Breguet 11 Corsaire was designed to fill. It is likely that it was initially intended to function as a destroyer. Presumably, it would attack airships and fighters with its formidable armament. It may also have been intended to have it accompany the bomber formations as a long-range escort. The aircraft had gunners in the nose of the two pusher nacelles with unobstructed fields of fire. A third gunner was seated behind the pilot in the main nacelle and controlled both an upward-firing machine gun and a second gun which could fire below the aircraft. The Breguet 11 was also armed with a 37-mm cannon. However, it was never used in the destroyer or escort role but instead was entered as a bomber in the 1916 concours.
  The Breguet 11 was powered by three 220-hp Renault 12Fb engines, two mounted as pushers in nacelles resembling the main fuselage of the Breguet 5. In the center was a conventional fuselage with an engine in the nose. Fuel tanks were mounted beneath the top wing on both sides of the fuselage. The undercarriage had three wheels in a tricycle arrangement under each engine nacelle; again this was nearly identical to that used on the Breguet 5 series. All three nacelles were attached to the bottom wing. The three-bay biplane wings appear to have been of unequal span. The tail had three large rudders.
  The aircraft performed well, but did not win the competition. It has been stated that the organizers of the 1916 concours were shocked by some of the monsters produced in response to their specifications and it would seem fair to place the Corsaire in that category. The more conventional Morane Saulnier S and SPAD SE were selected as the winners.


Breguet 11 Four-Seat Heavy Bomber/Escort Fighter with Three 220-hp Renault 12Fb Engines
   Span 27.65 m; length 1 1.90 m; height 4.00 m; wing area 105 sq. m
   Empty weight 3.100 kg; loaded weight 4,865 kg as a bomber; 4.200 kg as a fighter
   Maximum speed: 148 km/h at 2,000 m; endurance 5 hours 35 minutes
   Armament: probably never fitted, but planned to include a 37-mm Hotchkiss cannon, three machineguns, or 20 120-mm bombs
   One built