The Potez 38 was a French single engine, eight or nine seat

passenger aircraft An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jetliner, jet powered aircraft. The ...

flown in 1930. Only one was built.

Design and development

The Potez 38 was a

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

with

high wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft (in which a r ...

s built around wooden

box spars A box (plural: boxes) is a container with rigid sides used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides (typically rectangular prisms). Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very ...

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

rib In vertebrate anatomy, ribs () are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the thoracic cavity, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ...

s and with fabric covering. In plan the wings were rectangular out to rounded tips and they were braced to the lower

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

longeron In engineering, a longeron or stringer is a load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural fram ...

s with streamlined V-form

strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. A stay is sometimes used as a synonym for ...

s on each side. There was 3° of dihedral. The rectangular section fuselage was built in three parts, all with tubular metal structures though of different geometries. The front and rear sections were metal covered but the central section containing the cabin was covered in

plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...

. The forward section contained a Hispano-Suiza 12Lbr water cooled V-12 engine, driving a two bladed

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

and with its radiator near the rear of the engine on the fuselage underside. There were two fuel tanks, one in each wing, and an oil tank aft of the engine fire-wall. The cockpit had low profile glazing with a windscreen of V-plan and

side-by-side seating Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

. The Potez 38 was normally flown from the lefthand seat but dual control could be added to the other. The cabin had a volume of and contained eight or nine seats and a toilet and baggage compartment. It was lit by a long, continuous window on each side and accessed by port and starboard doors at the back. The rear section of the fuselage carried a conventional tail which was wood framed and ply covered. The fin was triangular and mounted a

balanced In telecommunications and professional audio, a balanced line or balanced signal pair is an electrical circuit consisting of two conductors of the same type, both of which have equal impedances along their lengths, to ground, and to other c ...

, curved edge rudder which reached down to the keel. The straight edged

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters ...

, strut braced to the lower fuselage, was mounted on the fin just above its base. Inset

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

s gave its

trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...

an elliptical shape. The Potez 38 had a conventional tail-skid undercarriage, fitted with brakes. Its main wheels were on legs mounted near the wing root just behind the

leading edge The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air;Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil sectio ...

, containing rubber

shock absorber A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulics, hydraulic device designed to absorb and Damping ratio, damp shock (mechanics), shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typic ...

s and spread outwards to provide a wide track. The axles were each hinged to the lower fuselage on V-struts with one end further forward and one in line with the legs. The Potez 38 first flew in late 1929 or 1930. By the end of November 1930 it had successfully completed its acceptance trials. During these it achieved a speed of After that there are few, if any, records of its activity.

Specifications

References

{{Potez aircraft 1930s French civil aircraft

038 38 may refer to: *38 (number) *38 BC *AD 38 *1938 *2038 Science * Strontium, an alkaline earth metal in the periodic table * 38 Leda, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Other uses *.38, a caliber of firearms and cartridges ** .38 Special, a re ...

High-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1930