The Bloch MB.210 and MB.211 were the successors of the French Bloch MB.200

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

developed by

Société des Avions Marcel Bloch The Société des Avions Marcel Bloch was a French aircraft manufacturer of military and civilian aircraft. It was founded by the aeronautical designer Marcel Bloch (hence "MB" in the aircraft designations), who had previously played a major ro ...

in the 1930s and differed primarily in being low wing monoplanes rather than high wing monoplanes.

Development

The MB.210 derived from the MB.200 and differs in particular by having its

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

wing set at the bottom of the fuselage, and in having a retractable

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

. Developed as a private venture, the

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

MB.210 accomplished its first flight on 23 November 1934, powered by two 596 kW (800 hp) Gnome-Rhône 14Kdrs / Gnome-Rhône 14Kgrs air-cooled

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

s and having a fixed undercarriage. This was followed by a second prototype, the MB.211 Verdun, powered by 641 kW (860 hp)

Hispano-Suiza 12Y The Hispano-Suiza 12Y was an aircraft engine produced by Hispano-Suiza for the French Air Force before the Second World War. The 12Y became the primary French 1,000 hp (750 kW) class engine and was used in a number of famous aircraft ...

V-12 liquid-cooled inlines and fitted with a retractable undercarriage, this flying on 29 August 1935. Initial flight testing of this version was somewhat disappointing, so no further examples were built. Further progress with the MB.210, however, convinced the ''

Armée de l'Air The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

'' to order series production, the first example of which flew on 12 December 1936. The satisfaction did not last very long, however, since it was underpowered and the engines of production aircraft were inclined to overheating. The type was grounded until its engines could be replaced by the more powerful and reliable

Gnome-Rhône 14N The Gnome-Rhône 14N was a 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engine designed and manufactured by Gnome-Rhône just before the start of World War II. A development of the Gnome-Rhône 14K, the 14N was used on several French and even one Germa ...

, these engines first being tested in summer 1937 and had to be replaced. Altogether, 257 units were manufactured amongst companies as diverse as

Les Mureaux Les Mureaux () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the north-western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Population Transport Les Mureaux is served by Les ...

over Potez-CAMS, Breguet,

Hanriot Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'', the company survived in differ ...

, and

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

Operational history

In September 1939, the Bloch MB.210 equipped 12 bomber units of the ''Armée de l'Air''. At the time of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

's attack on France in spring 1940, these squadrons were in the middle of a restructuring aimed at removing outdated aircraft from the front line. Up to the armistice on 25 June of the same year, the MB.210 was used still for nighttime bombing missions and shifted then to

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Variants

;MB.210.01 :First prototype, powered by 2× 596 kW (800 hp) Gnome-Rhône 14Kdrs / Gnome-Rhône 14Kgrs air-cooled

s ;MB.210Bn.4 :Initial production version, powered by 2× Gnome-Rhône 14N-10 / Gnome-Rhône 14N-11 radial engines ;MB.210Bn.5 :

-built variant with extra crew member ;MB.210H :Floatplane version powered by 2× Gnome-Rhône 14Kirs engines ;MB.211.01 :Prototype equipped with two 641 kW (860 hp)

inline engines ;MB.212 :project"Bloch MB 210–211."
''dassault-aviation.com.'' Retrieved: 2 November 2011. ;MB.218 :project

Operators

Bulgarian Air Force The Bulgarian Air Force () is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of Bulgarian airspace, and jointly with ...

– Received six aircraft from Germany. ; *

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

– Used briefly for training in 1942 after the

German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

Royal Romanian Air Force The Air Force branch of the Royal Romanian forces in World War II was officially named the (ARR, ), though it is more commonly referred to in English histories as the (Royal Romanian Air Force, FARR), or simply (Romanian Air Force). It provided ...

– Received 10 from an order of 24. ;

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics () and Naval Aeron ...

received at least threeBLOCH 200/210
aircraft.

''. Dassault Aviation. Retrieved 17 August 2008.

Specifications (MB.210Bn.5)

Notes

Bibliography

External links

{{Bloch aircraft MB.210 1930s French bomber aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1934 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear