In 1932, the Navy issued
a program to acquire a concept aircraft little known at that time:
the dive Bomber. The Loire-Nieuport Company's design office, based
in Issy Le Moulineaux, is designing, under the direction of Mr PILLON,
a new aircraft, the LN 140-01, which will make its first flight
in March 1935. The aircraft looks astonishing at Junker 87 "Stuka"
German. This similarity is so striking that Mr PILLON will be under
occupation, accused by the German industrial espionage authorities,
but the chronology of studies and the first flight are in favor
of the French aircraft .... The LN 140 is endowed low wings of characteristic
"W" shape. It is a two-seater aircraft, entirely metallic,
equipped with a streamlined fixed train. This fairing, mobile, also
served as a dive brake.
But the first prototype will
be destroyed, July 8, 1935, during a test of dive bombing: the engine,
driving a propeller fixed pitch, is broken following an over-regime
during the dive. The wounded pilot, however, can land. The second
prototype made its flight in November 1935. It will be lost during
an identical test on May 15, 1936. His pilot, Jean DECAUX, failed
to get out of the dive after having dropped his bomb, and the aircraft
crashes at sea. The pilot is killed.
Despite these two accidents,
Société Loire-Nieuport, in 1936, proposed a new Dive
Bomber, the Loire LN-40, which "benefits" from the unfortunate
experience of the LN-140. The wing has the same design, but the
landing gear is now semi-recessing and its fairing still serves
as a dive brake. The pilot operates it before stinging, and these
dive brakes allow him to limit his speed to 400km / h. The aircraft,
now single-seater makes its first flight on July 6, 1938. Following
the tests, some modifications are made: to improve the stability
in yaw, the drift is enlarged, and two small drifts are added. But
the aircraft is generally well born: it is easy to fly and is rather
manageable. It is of course not free from defects: it is for example
impossible to dive with a full tank, and its low power does not
allow it to reach a maximum speed. General Vuillemin, Chief of Air
Force, will also request a more powerful version, which will briefly
see the day with the LN42
Even before the beginning
of the tests, 6 Loire 40 had been ordered. They will all be handed
over to the production standard selected under the Loire LN 401
designation. A further 36 will be ordered in February 1939 by the
Navy, and the first aircraft will be taken into account in the units
from the second half of the year. 1939.
The first 4 pre-series aircraft
will be delivered to the AC1 Escadrille for evaluation and to perform
landing tests on the Béarn aircraft carrier.
In parallel, the French Air Force commands 40 copies in terrestrial
versions. These versions do not have a landing hook and a folding
wing system. They will take the designation of LN411. But finally,
in October 1939, the Air Force, judging the performance of the LN411
too weak, reverse 39 of its aircraft to the Navy. The last copy
is kept and will serve as a basis for the future LN42 requested
by General Vuillemin.
The first 16 LN 401s are
delivered to AB2 and AB4 Squadrons. Paradoxically, these aircrafts,
studied to be shipped, have always been used from ground bases ....
The squadron AB4 receives, in April 1940, LN411 to replace its LN401.
These will be transferred to AB2 Squadron, the Lanvéoc-Poulmic
conversion unit and the Cherbourg War Reserve. At the outbreak of
the German attack, on May 10, 1940, the AB2 Squadrons of Berck and
AB4 of Cherbourg, had 12 aircraft each.
From the 15th
to the 18th of May, the first commitments of the AB2 take place
without losses. On May 19, 11 AB2 aircraft accompanied by 9 LN401s
from the AB4, attack a concentration of armored vehicles at the
crossroads of Berlaimont. But the German DCA, in force, will massacre
the French planes: 10 of the 20 committed aircraft will not return
... and survivors are so damaged, only 3 of them will perform the
mission scheduled the next day.
The two squadrons, decimated,
will receive some material and human reinforcements, and will be
transferred to Hyères on June 4th. After the declaration
of War of Italy, they will participate in some missions on this
front.
On June 24th, the surviving
aircraft will land in Ajaccio before joining Bône in Algeria.
Renamed 2AB and 4AB, these two squadrons will be re-equipped in
Gleen-Martin 167F. Loie LN401 and LN411 are stored on site.
In 1941, the German authorities
authorized Vichy to assemble a small series of 24 LN401 and 411.
These, manufactured in the factory Chateauroux, will be built from
elements recovered after the Armisitice. It seems that some of these
aircrafts were seized by the Germans during the invasion of the
free zone. None of them will survive the conflict.
It remains the prototype
of the LN42, built on the basis of the last LN411 kept by the Air
Force. This unit keeps the fuselage of the LN411, but receives a
more powerful engine Hispano-Suiza 12Y51 of 1100 Cv. The wings in
"W" are abandoned. It seems that the prototype was able
to make some taxiages and short test flights before being stored
until release. Equipped with a new propeller, he will make a flight
August 24, 1945, but the device is now outdated and useless: it
is abandoned.
