In 1937, at the time
of the nationalization of the Aeronautical Construction Companies,
the Ateliers du Nord of France and the Mureaux were merged into
the National Aeronautical Construction Company of the North (SNCAN),
a national company formed around the company Potez.
Mureaux 170, 180
and 190 resumed their studies after the nationalization, and gave
birth in 1938 to the Potez 230. This aircraft keeps the elliptical
wing of the Mureaux 190, but it is manufactured by an innovative
process : A structure made by a central torsion box with variable
thickness which receives a riveted Duralumin coating. It is equipped
with a retractable train and its fuselage is redesigned and is
powered by a Hispano-Suiza 12Xcrs engine of 690 hp driving a three-bladed
propeller. The Potez 230 made its first flight on March 30, 1940,
with Georges Detré in command. The aircraft was to be fitted with
a more powerful Hispano 12-Y engine at a speed of 600 km / h.
But the prototype
is seized by the Germans in Villacoublay and is transferred to
Germany: the technology of design of the wing is indeed interested
German engineers.
