Breguet Bre.4

Bre.4

Manufacturer: Breguet, Michelin
First flight: 1914
Introduced: 1914
Primary users: French Army Royal Naval Air Service
Number built: ca. 100

This article is about an aircraft of World War I. For the pre-war design of the same designation, see Breguet Type IV.

The Breguet Bre.4, also known variously as the Type IV, BUM, and BLC was a French biplane bomber of World War I.

Design and development

It was developed during 1914 when French military planners began to express a preference for pusher- over tractor-configured aircraft, leading Breguet to cease further development of its original Type IV design and pursue military contracts with an aircraft of the preferred layout. The Type IV was a two-bay, equal-span, unstaggered biplane that seated the pilot and observer in tandem open cockpits in a nacelle that also carried the pusher engine at its rear, and the tricycle undercarriage. As the prototype neared completion, the Breguet factory at Douai was threatened by the advancing German Army, and the machine and its builders were evacuated to Villacoublay where construction and testing were completed. At this point, André and Edouard Michelin approached the French government with an offer to sponsor the construction of 100 bombers for the Army, and were awarded a licence to the Breguet design. This was put into production as the BUM (B for pusher-driven, U for Canton-Unné-powered, M for Michelin), and later revised to the BLM as the definitive Renault-powered version.

Operational history

Soon after the BUM had entered service, the French Army requested that an escort fighter version be developed to protect the bombers from interception. Breguet responded with a lightened design armed with a 37 mm (1.46 in) Hotchkiss cannon intended to pick off enemy fighters before they closed to within range of their machine guns. This entered production as the BUC (C for chasse, or pursuit) in its original Canton-Unné powered version and BLC in its Renault version. Few of these escort fighters were built, as their performance and utility were discovered to be lacking, and the doctrine of the cannon-armed escort fighter was soon abandoned in favour of countering fighters with other similar fighters. A number of BUCs were also built for Britain's RNAS using British engines.

Variants

Type IV (BU3)

Breguet prototype.

BUM (BrM2B.2)

Michelin-built, Canton-Unné-powered bomber version.

BLM (BrM4B.2)

Michelin-built, Renault-powered bomber version.

BUC

Michelin-built, Canton-Unné-powered escort fighter version.

BLC

Michelin-built, Renault-powered escort fighter version.

Breguet de Chasse Version of BLC for RNAS, powered by Sunbeam Mohawk or Rolls-Royce Falcon engine.

Breguet de Chasse

Operators

France

French Army

United Kingdom

Royal Naval Air Service
No. 5 Wing RNAS

Specifications (BUC)

General characteristics

Crew: two, pilot and gunner
Length: 9.50 m (31 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 16.40 m (53 ft 10 in)
Height: 3.70 m (12 ft 2 in)
Wing area: 54.0 m² (581 ft²)
Empty weight: 1,160 kg (2,557 lb)
Gross weight: 1,535 kg (3,384 lb)
Powerplant: 1 x— Salmson licence-built Canton-Unné 2M7 radial, 149 kW (200 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 138 km/h (86 mph)
Endurance: 3 hours

Armament

1 x— trainable 37 mm (1.46 in) Hotchkiss cannon in front cockpit
300 kg (660 lb) of bombs

Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp. 202.
World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 890 Sheets 78-79.

Breguet Bre.4 Pictures and Breguet Bre.4 for Sale.

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Source: WikiPedia