The Bréguet 280T was a French
biplaneairliner of the late 1920s, created by the manufacturer as a means of finding a civil market for their
19 warplane, as they had once tried before with the
26T.
Development
The 280T was similar to the 26T, using the Bréguet 19's flying surfaces combined with a passenger-carrying
fuselage that completely filled the interplane gap. The 280 fuselage was based on the 26T's fuselage but featured refined aerodynamics.
Operational history
A single
prototype was evaluated in autumn 1928, followed by eight production machines ordered by
Air Union. These were flown on routes between
Paris and southern France, between Paris and
Switzerland, and (occasionally) between Paris and
London. They were joined in service by a 10th machine (converted from one of the 281T prototypes), and six 284Ts with more powerful engines (one of these converted from the other 281T). Two of this latter type were also operated by
Air Orient on routes to East Asia. Some of Air Union's 280Ts and 284Ts were still in service when the airline was absorbed into
Air France.
Accidents and incidents
On 17 January 1931, Bréguet 280T F-AIVU of
Air Union crashed while attempting to land at
Lympne Airport in England.[1][2] The aircraft caught the boundary fence and crashed onto the airfield, damaging the forward fuselage and undercarriage.[3] Of the eight people on board, one of the crew was injured.[1]
Variants
280T
First main production version with a 370 kW (500 hp)
Renault 12Jb engine, nine built.
281T
Prototypes with 340 kW (450 hp)
Lorraine-Dietrich 12Ed engines. Two aircraft built, one later converted to 280T, the other to 284T standard.
284T
Second main production version with 450 kW (600 hp)
Hispano-Suiza 12Lbrx engine, seven built.
^"Accidents in the Gale – Air Liner Damaged". The Times. No. 45724. London. 19 January 1931. col F, p. 12.
^Grey, C.G., ed. (1928). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1928. London: Sampson Low, Marston & company, ltd. pp. 18d–19d.
Bibliography
Espérou, Robert (March 1980). "Les Limousines Breguet 1926–1936 (2)" [The Breguet Limousines, Part Two]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (124): 35–39.
ISSN0757-4169.
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 199.
World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. Sheet 890 Sheet 81.