At the end of the 1920s,
to respond to a program launched by the Navy, the company Latécoère
offers a torpedo seaplane derived from the civil aircraft Laté
28
The aircraft is of traditional
construction. The wing whose structure is supported by two longitudinal
members, is connected to the fuselage by two pairs of metal mats.
The fuselage consists of a steel tube structure covered in its rear
part and covered with metal in its front part. The unit is powered
by a Hiscano-Suiza 12Nbr 650cv liquid cooled. The crew is three
people. The pilot, located to the left of the aircraft, sits in
front of an 800-liter gas tank. Then come the Radio-Navigator and
the gunner who serves a 7.7mm double Lewis lane in the dorsal mobile
turret.
The prototype, built in Toulouse,
made its first flight, on wheels, October 3, 1931. After its first
test flights, the aircraft joined Saint-Laurent-De-La-Salanque where
he will receive floats. He will then test his seaplane this time
in Saint-Raphael, from October 21 to December 9, 1931.
The tests were conclusive
and the Navy ordered, in the spring of 1932, twenty Latécoère
290. In the meantime, another prototype was built, the 29.0-02,
sent to Saint-Raphaël October 18, 1932 to undergo tests.
The first aircraft were completed
at the end of 1932 and will be delivered to the new 4T1 squadron,
based on Lake Berre. As for the prototype, the aircrafts are assembled
on wheels in Toulouse and are transferred to Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque
to receive floats. On October 5th, 1933, another order was placed
for an additional 10 copies.
In 1935, 9 aircraft were
delivered to 1T1 squadron. The flying schools based in Berre and
Cherbourg will also each receive a Latécoère 290.
In October 1938, squadrons 4T1 and 1T1 will be renamed respectively
T1 and T2. These units will gradually receive more modern aircrafts,
Latécoère 298, and old Latécoère 290
will be donated to schools or removed from service.
However, the squadron 1S2,
created in Cherbourg in August 1939, will receive 4 Latécoère
290 and several Gourdou-Leseurre GL812 ... These aircrafts, obsolete,
will nevertheless ensure missions over the Channel for nearly 9
months ... Then during the withdrawal of the unit on the Atlantic
coast, these aircraft will perform dive bombing missions on enemy
ships. After the Armistice, these aircraft will end up on Lake Hourtin,
in the occupied zone.
It should be noted that it
was on a Latécoère 290, in June 1934, that was tested
the first Propeller Ratier electric pitch control.
