The Breguet 19 (Breguet XIX, Br.19 or Bre.19) was a sesquiplane bomber and reconnaissance aircraft which was also used for long-distance flights and was designed by the French Breguet company and produced from 1924.

Development

The Breguet 19 was designed as a successor to a highly successful World War I Breguet 14 bomber. Initially, it was to be powered by a 450 hp Bugatti U-16 engine, driving a four-blade propeller, and a prototype was shown on the 7th Paris Air Show in November 1921 with this engine. A revised design was flown in March 1922 with a single 450 hp Renault 12Kb inline engine. After trials, the Breguet 19 was ordered by the French Army's Aéronautique Militaire in September 1923. Mass production, both for the Aéronautique Militaire and export, began in France in 1924.

Design

The Breguet 19 was a sesquiplane in which the lower wing was substantially smaller than the upper wing, with a conventional layout and braced wings. The fuselage was ellipsoid in cross-section and built up from a frame of duralumin pipes. Breguet made extensive use of duralumin as a construction material which resulted in an unusually light structure for its size, instead of steel or wood. It was faster than other bombers, and even many fighter aircraft which resulted in widespread interest which was further increased by successful record flights. The forward fuselage was covered with duralumin sheets, while the tail, rear fuselage and wings were covered with linen. It had a conventional fixed landing gear with a tail skid. The crew of two, pilot and observer/bombardier, sat in tandem in open cockpits and were provided with dual controls. A wide variety of engine types were fitted, mostly water-cooled V-12 or W-12 inline engines, including the following: A fixed 7.7 mm Vickers machine gun with an interrupter gear was operated by the pilot, while the observer had twin 7.7 mm Lewis Guns on a gun ring. There was also a fourth machine gun, which could be fired by the observer downwards through an opening in the floor. The Br.19CN2 night fighter variant was fitted with two fixed forward-firing machine guns. The bomber could carry up to 472 kg of bombs under the fuselage, or small bombs up to 50 kg vertically in an internal bomb bay. The reconnaissance variant could carry 12 x 10 kg bombs. The reconnaissance variant had a camera mounting, which was optional on the bomber variant. All variants were equipped radio.

Operational history

The Breguet 19 had its baptism of fire in the Spanish Civil War where it was the mainstay of the Spanish Republican Air Force's (the Government's) bomber fleet.

Greece

In the Greco-Italian War which took place during World War II, 18 Breguets were operational at the outbreak of war, with 1 Observation (or Army Cooperation) Mira, under I Corp Command, based at Perigiali, near Corinth and with 2 Observation Mira under II Corps command, based at Larissa and Kozani. On 4 November 1940, a Royal Hellenic Air Force Breguet from 2 Mira was sent looking for the attacking 3rd Julia Alpine Division, locating it in a mountain pass near Metsovo. Three more Breguets sent to bomb the Italian division were in turn attacked by three Fiat CR.42 fighters. A Breguet was shot down, one crash-landed and the third returned to base, badly damaged.

Variants

In total, more than 2,000 Breguet 19s were manufactured in France, and about 700 license-built by Spanish CASA, Japanese Nakajima, Belgian SABCA and the Yugoslavian aircraft factory in Kraljevo.

Operators

In April 1925, the factory Nakajima Hikoki KK acquired two aircraft. The purchase was the work of the well-known promoter of aviation, the Asahi Shinbun newspaper group. A production license was acquired. Nakajima offered a float-equipped version to the navy, and another was entered into a competition for maritime reconnaissance, but was unsuccessful. One plane flew again with wheeled undercarriage and civilian designation J-BBFO as a mail plane.

Record variants

Both standard and modified Breguet 19s were used for numerous record-breaking flights. The first was the Br.19 prototype, which won a military aircraft speed contest in Madrid on 17 February 1923. On 12 March 1923, it also set an international altitude record of 5992 m carrying a 500 kg load. It was later bought by the Spanish government. Many crews made long-distance flights in Br.19s. In February 1925, Thieffry flew from Brussels to Leopoldville in central Africa, a distance of 8900 km. Two Br.19 A2s were bought by the Japanese Asahi Shimbun newspaper and fitted with additional fuel tanks. They were flown by H. Abe and K. Kawachi on the Tokyo-Paris-London route in July 1925, covering 13800 km. Between 27 August and 25 September 1926, the Polish crew of Boleslaw Orlinski flew the Warsaw-Tokyo route (10300 km) and back, in a modified Br.19 A2, despite the fact that one of its lower wings was broken on the way. On 8 June 1928 a modified Greek Br.A2 ("ΕΛΛΑΣ" en: Hellas), flown by C. Adamides and E. Papadakos, embarked on a long distance tour around the Mediterranean landing without incident at Tatoi airfield, Athens, on 1 July. Between 1927 and 1930, Romanian, Yugoslavian and Polish Br.19s were often used in Little Entente air races. Breguet 19 GRs and TRs set several world records, mostly of long-distance non-stop flights, starting with Arrachart and Lemaitre's 3166 km flight from Paris to Villa Cisneros in 24½ hours on 2–3 February 1925. On 14–15 July 1926, Girier and Dordilly set a new record of 4716 km between Paris and Omsk, beaten on 31 August-1 September by Challe and Weiser's 5174 km, and on 28 October by Dieudonne Costes and Rignot's 5450 km. From 10 October 1927 – 14 April 1928, Costes and Le Brix flew a Br.19 GR (named Nungesser-Coli) around the world, covering 57000 km - though the journey between San Francisco and Tokyo was taken by ship. The Super Bidon was created especially for the purpose of a transatlantic flight. It was named Point d'Interrogation ("The Question Mark"). Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte set a non-stop distance record of 7905 km from Paris to Moullart on 27–29 September 1929 on this aircraft. Then on 1–2 September 1930, they flew from Paris to New York City, a distance of 6200 km making the first non-stop east-west crossing of the North Atlantic by a fixed-wing aircraft. The second Super Bidon, the Spanish Cuatro Vientos, vanished over Mexico with M. Barberan and J. Collar Serra, after a transatlantic flight from Seville to Cuba on 10–11 June 1933.

Surviving aircraft

Specifications (Br 19 A.2)