The Potez 840 was a 1960s French four-engined 18-passenger executive monoplane, the last aircraft to use the

Potez Potez (pronounced ) was a French aircraft manufacturer founded as Aéroplanes Henry Potez by Henry Potez at Aubervilliers in 1919 in aviation, 1919. The firm began by refurbishing war-surplus SEA IV aircraft, but was soon building new examples of ...

name.

Development

The Potez 840 was an all-metal cantilever-wing monoplane with a retractable tricycle landing gear. It had a crew of three and a cabin for 18 passengers. It was powered by four 440 shp (328 kW) Turbomeca Astazou II

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

engines. The prototype first flew on 29 April 1961; a second aircraft flew in June 1962 and had more powerful 600 shp (447 kW) Turbomeca Astazou XII engines. The second prototype carried out a sales tour of North America and it was planned to build a batch of 25 aircraft for Chicago-based Turbo Flight Inc. but only two more prototype aircraft were built, one for static testing. The next two aircraft were designated the Potez 841 and were powered by 550 shp (417 kW) Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-6 turboprop engines. Another two modified Astazou-powered aircraft were produced, one in 1965 and one in 1967. It was intended to build Potez 840s in a factory at

Baldonnel Aerodrome Casement Aerodrome () or Baldonnel Aerodrome is a military airbase to the southwest of Dublin, Ireland situated off the N7 main road route to the south and south west. It is the headquarters and the sole airfield of the Irish Air Corps, and ...

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

with financial aid from the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland () is the executive (government), executive authority of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet (government), cabinet – is composed of Mini ...

but this factory was closed in 1968 without completing a single aircraft. The former Potez factory at Baldonnel became an engine maintenance facility for the German airline

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

with the factory finally closing in 2013.''Air-Britain Aeromilitaria'' March 2017, p. 13

Service

The two Potez 841s were delivered to German customers in 1965, remaining in use until the mid 1970s. The first Potez 842 was operated by the French national civil pilot training school, Service de la Formation Aéronautique (SFA) from 1966 to 1976, while the second 842 was purchased by the Moroccan Ministry of Defense, being sold on in 1978.

Variants

;Potez 840 :Astazou-powered variant, four built. ;Potez 841 :Production variant powered by Pratt & Whitney PT6A-6 engines, two built.Chillon, Dubois & Wegg 1980, pp. 98–99 ;Potez 842 :Production variant powered by Turbomeca Astazou XII engines, two built. ;Potez 843 : Unbuilt 1965 proposal with deeper fuselage and PT6 engines.Chillon, Dubois & Wegg 1980, p. 98 ;Potez 880 :Unbuilt military

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

version with four Turbomeca Bastan engines. ;Potez 881 :Unbuilt civil version of 880.

Survivors

* One aircraft is displayed at the Musée de l’air et de l’espace in Paris. * The intact fuselage of a second is in the Shetland Islands. It suffered a wheels-up landing at

Sumburgh Airport Sumburgh Airport is the main airport serving the island of Shetland, Scotland. It is located on the southern tip of the mainland, in the parish of Dunrossness, south of Lerwick. The airport is owned by Highlands and Islands Airports Limit ...

in 1981. Many years later the fuselage was recovered and moved to its current location at North Roe in 2007.Pictures of crashed aircraft on Aviation Forum Potez 840 Shetland

Specifications (Potez 842)

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Potez aircraft 1960s French civil utility aircraft

840 __NOTOC__ Year 840 (Roman numerals, DCCCXL) was a leap year starting on Thursday in the Julian calendar, the 840th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 840th year of the 1st millennium, the 40th year of the 9th cen ...

Four-engined tractor aircraft Four-engined turboprop aircraft Low-wing aircraft 1960s French business aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1961 Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear