• Source: Levasseur PL.2

The Levasseur PL.2 was a French biplane torpedo bomber designed by Pierre Levasseur for the French Navy.




Design and development


The second design of Pierre Levasseur was the PL.2, a single-seat unequal-span biplane inspired by designs from Blackburn Aircraft. It had a fixed tailskid landing gear and was powered by a nose-mounted Renault engine. The first of two prototypes first flew in November 1922. The second aircraft had a four-bladed propeller and other powerplant improvements. Nine production aircraft were built in 1923, these were fitted with ballonets and jettisonable landing gear for operations at sea.




Operational history


The aircraft entered service in 1926 aboard the French aircraft carrier Béarn and continued in use until they were scrapped in 1932.




Variants


PL 2 AT-01 : First torpedo-bomber prototype.
PL 2 AT-02 : Second prototype, equipped with a four-blade propeller.
PL.2 : Single-seat torpedo-bomber aircraft, nine built for the French Navy.




Operators


France
French Navy
Escadrille 7B2




Specifications


Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of AircraftGeneral characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 14.9 m (49 ft 8.50 in)
Wingspan: 15.15 m (49 ft 8.5 in)
Height: 3.9 m (13 ft 3.25 in)
Gross weight: 3,653 kg (8,053 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Renault 12Ma , 433 kW (580 hp)
Performance

Maximum speed: 180 km/h (112 mph, 97 kn)
Range: 700 km (435 mi, 378 nmi)
Service ceiling: 2,454 m (8,052 ft)
Armament

1 x 7.7 mm (0.303 in) machine-gun
450Kg (992lb) Torpedo or bombs




References






= Notes

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= Bibliography

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