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thumb|Aero MB 200

The MB.200 was a French bomber aircraft of the 1930s designed and built by Societé des Avions Marcel Bloch. A twin-engined high-winged monoplane with a fixed undercarriage, over 200 MB.200s were built for the French Air Force, and the type was also licence built by Czechoslovakia, but it soon became obsolete, and was largely phased out by the start of the Second World War.

Development and design

The Bloch MB.200 was designed in response to a 1932 requirement for a new day/night bomber to equip the French Air Force. It was a high-winged all-metal cantilever monoplane, with a slab-sided fuselage, powered by two Gnome & Rhône 14Kirs radial engines. It had a fixed tailwheel undercarriage and featured an enclosed cockpit for the pilots. Defensive machine guns were in nose and dorsal gun turrets and an under fuselage gondola.

The first of three prototypes flew on 26 June 1933. As one of the winning designs for the competition, (the other was the larger Farman F.221),

Operational history

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Czechoslovakia chose the MB.200 as part of a modernisation program for its air force of the mid-1930s. Although at the rate of aircraft development at that time, the MB.200 would quickly become obsolete, the Czechoslovaks needed a quick solution involving the license production of a proven design, as their own aircraft industry did not have sufficient development experience with such a large aircraft, or with all-metal airframes and stressed-skin construction, placing an initial order for 74 aircraft. After some delays, both Aero and Avia began license-production in 1937, with a total of about 124 built.

Variants

;MB.200.01

:single prototype –

;MB.200B.4

:main production version – 2x Gnome-Rhône 14Kirs

;MB.201

:two Hispano-Suiza 12Ybrs engines

;MB.202

:four Gnome-Rhône 7Kdrs engines

;: Czechoslovak Air Force

;:

Armée de l'Air (from 1935)

;:

Vichy French Air Force

;:

Luftwaffe (captured)

;:

Slovak Air Force (1 piece)

; Republicans:

Spanish Republican Air Force

received 30 units from France, at least one aircraft survived 1938 but none of them survived throughout the war.

Specifications (MB.200B.4)

See also

References

Sources

  • Angelucci, Enzo. World Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft. London, Jane's Publishing, 1981. .
  • Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Balkan Interlude - The Bulgarian Air Force in WWII". Air Enthusiast. Issue 39, May–August 1989. Bromley, Kent: Tri-Service Press, pp.&nbsp;58–74. .
  • Shores, Christopher S. and Cristian-Jacques Ehrengardt. "Syrian Campaign, 1941: Part 1; Forestalling the Germans; air battles over S. Lebanon". Air Pictorial, July 1970. pp.&nbsp;242–247.
  • Shores, Christopher S. and Cristian-Jacques Ehrengardt. "Syrian Campaign, 1941: Part 2; Breaking the back of Vichy air strength; conclusion". Air Pictorial, August 1970. pp.&nbsp;280–284.
  • Taylor, Michael J.H. Warplanes of the World 1918–1939. London:Ian Allen, 1981. .

Bibliography

  • Abellán García-Muñoz, Juan "Galería de aviones de la Guerra civil española (1936–1939)". Instituto de Historia y Cultura aeronáuticas, Ministerio de Defensa 1996 pp.&nbsp;80–81 .
  • "Military Bloch aircraft : MB 200". Dassault Aviation. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20120220025348/http://www.dassault-aviation.com/fr/passion/avions/bloch-militaires/mb-200.html]