Latécoère 4
Latécoère · France · first flew 1920 · airliner
The Latécoère 4 was a three-engined, 16-passenger biplane built in France in the early 1920s. It proved difficult to fly and was discontinued.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 3 × piston, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Outer engines mounted on the fuselage in faired nacelles above the lower wing |
| T — Tail | Twin fin |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Three-engined, two-bay biplane with an unusually large interplane gap
- Biplane tail unit with a central fin and two outboard vertical surfaces
- Outer engines mounted on the fuselage in faired nacelles above the lower wing
A short, deep-bodied biplane with three engines and a complicated tail with a biplane tailplane and extra outboard rudders. The cabin had tables, armchairs and sliding windows.
Specifications
- The Latécoère 4 has a length of 14.535 m (48 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 24.65 m (81 ft).
- Typical crew: 3.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
It was the company's first multi-engined aircraft. It first flew in May 1920 with three Salmson 9 Z engines, piloted by Pierre Beauté, and crashed on landing at Francazal. Rebuilt with a two-row Salmson 18 Z central engine, it flew again on 6 September 1922 and crashed on 14 October 1922.
Variants
Only one Latécoère 4 was built. A second machine was completed as the Latécoère 5 bomber.
Where you'll see it
The aircraft was still unstable and was never ready to try the intended Toulouse-Casablanca route. The civil aircraft was abandoned after the October 1922 crash.
Related aircraft
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