142
Bloch of the MB 131 serie were
built after the prototype that made its first flight on
June 1934 . They are divided in :
- 3 prototypes
motorized by Gnôme Rhône GR 14 K Mistral Major
- 12
Bloch MB 131 R4
four-seater for the reconnaissance
- 5
Bloch MB 131 ins for training with dual control
- 122
Bloch MB 131 RB4 four-seater for Reconnaissance and bombardment
To
date, out of the
142 aircraft
manufactured
, 38
are listed in the list below :
In August 1933, under the
BCR program, the Ministry of Air issued an official request for
a device capable of transporting a ton of bombs over 1300km at
a speed of 350 km / h at 4000m altitude. The Bloch company, in
competition with 7 manufacturers, proposed its project Bloch MB130,
entirely metallic. The prototype made its first flight in June
1934, equipped first of all with a fixed train. A first order
of 40 aircraft was passed in October 1935 on the initial model,
but Bloch company changed its Bloch 130 to Bloch MB131RB4 (Intelligence-Reconnaissance-Bombardment-4
Men), a new command is emitted instead of the first one in April,
1936, for 40 Bloch MB131RB4. The first flight of the prototype
took place on 12 August 1936.
In November 1936, a second
prototype was introduced, with numerous modifications: Advanced
dorsal turret, addition of a ventral turret, increase of the wing
rope, horizontal tail rods removed and addition of a fifth man
d 'crew. This second prototype made its first flight on May 5,
1937. Problems of vibrations led to modifications that will be
made on the N ° 03. The model is powered by two Gnome-Rhone
14 N10 / 11.
The first 14 units delivered
are MB131 R4 (reconnaissance), the next 5 are MB131 INS (Instruction)
and the 19th was the first MB131 RB4, followed by 100, the last
of which was delivered in October 1939 To GR I / 36.
At the beginning of the
war, the first missions quickly revealed that the MB131 is outdated,
and is only used at night until it is replaced by more modern
Potez 63-11. In May 1940, there was no MB131 in the front line
except for the GR 61 based in AFN. After the Armistice, some specimens
were transformed into a target tug.
