Sud-Ouest Bretagne
The Sud-Ouest S.O.30 Bretagne was a 1940s French airliner built by Sud-Ouest.
Design and development
The Bretagne was designed by a group of designers and engineers who were based at Cannes from May 1941 following the invasion of France. The design was for a medium capacity civil transport, a twin-engined mid-wing cantilever all-metal monoplane. The prototype first flew on 26 February 1945.Operational history
The initial production version was designated the S.O.30P Bretagne with two versions with different engines. The aircraft operated with a crew of five and could carry between 30 and 43 passengers. A cargo version was produced, with a revised interior and strengthened floor and large cargo door. The aircraft was operated as an airliner, but mainly by the French military forces as a medium transport.Some aircraft were fitted with two underwing Turbomeca Palas turbojet engines for auxiliary power. Other aircraft were used for engine-trials fitted with the SNECMA Atar 101 and licence-built Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets.
Variants
;S.O.30N: Tailwheel undercarriage prototype, c/n 01 built after the 1940 armistice and stored till after the war. The second S.O.30R c/n 02 was built in 1946 and later converted to the S.O.30 Nene, jet powered airliner test-bed.;S.O.30R Bellatrix: Two prototypes of the nosewheel undercarriage production model.
;S.O.30C:cargo version, one built with belly loading hatches.
;S.O.30P-1:production version with Pratt & Whitney R-2800-B43 engines.
;S.O.30P-2:production version with Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CA13 engines.
;S.O.30 Nene:One aircraft converted from S.O.30R c/n 02 for use as a testbed, powered by two Rolls-Royce Nenes.