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Amiot 120 Series

The Amiot 120 was a family of French single-engine biplane bomber aircraft, built by the SECM-Amiot factory in the mid-1920s.

The only series-built variant was Amiot 122 BP3 medium bomber, other known variant was Amiot 123 long-distance record plane.

The aircraft was designed as a medium single-engine biplane bomber with metal construction and conventional in layout, with braced wings.

The fuselage consisted of a frame of duralumin pipes while the engine was covered with duralumin sheets, with the rest of the aircraft covered in fabric.

A fixed conventional landing gear, with a rear skid was fitted.

A crew of three sat in tandem in open cockpits.

The first of the series was Amiot 120 BN2, a 2-seater bomber prototype, powered with a Renault 12Ma 580 hp inline engine (registration F-AHCR).

It was not ordered by the French Air Force and only one example was built.

More successful was the next slightly enlarged variant, the Amiot 122, of 1927, powered by a Lorraine 18 Kd, 650 hp engine.

Its initial production variant was Amiot 122 BP2 2-seater bomber, it entered production as the Amiot 122 BP3 3-seater bomber.

A total of 80 aircraft were built for the French Air Force and five for Brazil.

Another variant was the Amiot 123, Designed as a bomber, designated the Amiot 123 BP3 but the French Air Force showed no interest in it.

At that time, Polish authorities were looking for a long-distance record aircraft for transatlantic flights.

In 1928 and 1929, two modified Amiot 123 aircraft were built as a long-distance variant, with enlarged fuel tanks (first had Lorraine 18 Kdrs 710 hp engine, the second Lorraine 18 Kdrs 785 hp engine).

The last two variants, the Amiot 124 BP3 and Amiot 125 BP3 were bomber prototypes in 1931, fitted with Hispano-Suiza 18Sbr 1000 hp and Renault 18Jbr 700 hp engines respectively, but not ordered by the French Air Force.

Variants

Amiot 120BN2

Two-seat light bomber prototype.

Amiot 121

Record breaking aircraft.

Amiot 122BP3

Three-seat medium-bomber aircraft.

Amiot 122S

Two-seat record breaking aircraft.

Amiot 123

Two-seat long-range record aircraft.

Amiot 124BP3

Bomber prototype.

Amiot 125BP3

Bomber prototype.

Specifications

Crew

3

Length

13.72 m (45 ft 0 in)

Wingspan

21.5 m (70 ft 6 in)

Height

5.15 m (16 ft 11 in)

Wing area

95 m2 (1,020 sq ft)

Empty weight

2,260 kg (4,982 lb)

Max take off weight

4,200 kg (9,259 lb)

Powerplant

1 × Lorraine-Dietrich 18Kd W-18 water-cooled piston engine, 480 kW (650 hp)

Propellers

2-bladed fixed pitch propeller

Performance

Maximum speed

205 km/h (127 mph, 111 kn)

Range

1,000 km (620 mi, 540 nmi)

Service ceiling

6,200 m (20,300 ft)

Time to altitude

4,000 m (13,000 ft) in 18 minutes; 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in 29 minutes 59 seconds

Wing loading

41.7 kg/m2 (8.5 lb/sq ft)

Power/mass

0.076 hp/lb (0.125 kW/kg)

Armament

Guns

2 × 7.7 mm (0.303 in) fixed, forward-firing machine guns

2 × 7.7 mm (0.303 in) flexible machine guns for observer

1 × 7.7 mm (0.303 in) machine gun fired through floor of observer’s cockpit

Bombs

800 kg (1,800 lb) of bombs.

 

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