DISCONTINUED Azur 72036 Potez 630 French heavy fighter

The Potez 630 is a French heavy fighter with a full metal low wing structure with a retractable landing gear and double vertical tail. The drive was provided by two Hispano-Suiza HS-14AB radial engines with a power of 725 KM each. The flight of the prototype took place in 1936, and serial production continued in 1938-1940. Potez 630 was created in response to the demand reported by the French Air Force in 1932 for a new fighter plane intended for the escort of bombers and the so-called "Destructive plane". As a result of the development works carried out at the Potez plant, a machine with a three-person crew was created, located in a long cabin at the front of the fuselage, with good piloting qualities, but with an average maximum speed (about 440 km / h). Despite this weakness, due to the growing threat from the Third Reich, the French Air Force decided to introduce the Potez 630 into mass production, which was launched in 1938. During the period of operation, the Hispano-Suiza engines proved to be very unreliable, which meant that the Potezy 630 began to be moved to the second line, and during the French campaign of 1940 they did not play a major role.