The Amiot 143 was a medium bomber in service with the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) between 1935 and 1944. When WW2 broke out, it was used by the French in May and June 1940 during the German invasion of France to attack the Wehrmacht ground forces and supply lines. However, they were thwarted by Luftwaffe fighter aircraft, such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109, as many of them were shot down before they could reach their targets. After the Battle of France, it would also be used as transport and reconnaissance aircraft by the new pro-German Vichy government.
The Amiot 143 made its maiden flight in 1934, entering service with the French Air Force in 1935, with only one year of flight tests. It was an interim monoplane bomber design, which would be rendered obsolete by the fast advances in aircraft development. Initially an order of forty Amiot 143 was placed. However, since it was deemed slow and underpowered, it would soon be upgraded into the 143M version, which was equipped with two Gnome-Rhône 14K Mistral Major piston engines, each one being able to delivered 870 horsepower. A total of 138 bombers would be produced. Nevertheless, all of them were retired from service in 1944, with the Allied invasion of Normandy.
Technical Characteristics
The Amiot 143 was a twin-engine, medium-size monoplane, with fixed landing gear. It had all-metal fuselage and straight, cantilever, high wing. The wing consisted of five sections built up on three Duralumin tube girder spars, with tube girder ribs. Duralumin sheet was riveted to this structure to form the skin. The outermost wing sections contained six fuel tanks, having a total capacity of 2,719 liters (718 gallons). The fuselage had a ventral gondola to accomodate the navigator/bombardier, and radio operator. The pilot and co-pilot sat in the cockpit above in upper part of fuselage. One gunner sat in a machine gun turret in the nose and the other in dorsal turret on top of aircraft fuselage.
Specifications
Type: bomber
Length: 18.26 m (59 feet, 10 inches)
Wing Span: 24.53 m (80 feet, 5 inches)
Wing Area: 100 m2 (1,076 square feet)
Height: 5.68 m (75 feet, 6 inches)
Power Plant: two 870-HP, Gnome-Rhône 14Kirs Kjrs Mistral Major, 14-cylinder, radial, piston engines.
Maximum Speed: 310 km/h (192 mph)
Range: 1,200 km (745 miles)
Service Ceiling: 7,900 m (26,000 feet)
Crew: six
Armament: four 7.5-mm MAC-1934 machine guns; bombload of up to 800-kg (1,760-lb).
Below, the Amiot 143 taking off from an airfield in North Africa, as it was being used as a transport aircraft after 1941.
The first prototype, the 143-01, flew in August 1934.
