Photograph:
Couzinet 33 Biarritz F-ALMV at Le Bourget in Paris (Wikipedia)
Country of origin:
France
Description:
Four-seat cabin monoplane
Power Plant:
Three 90 kw (120 hp) de Havilland Gipsy III four-cylinder inline air-cooled engines
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 16.16 m (53 ft)
- Length: 11.73 m (38 ft 5 in)
- Height: 2.75 m (9 ft)
- Wing area: 34.4 m² (370.29 sq ft)
- Max speed: 260 km/h (162 mph)
- Max cruising speed: 220 km/h (137 mph)
- Long-range cruising speed: 190 km/h (118 mph)
- Range: 4,500 km (2,796 miles)
- Empty weight: 1,600 kg (3,527 lb)
- Loaded weight: 3,500 kg (7,716 lb)
History:
Rene Couzinet was one of the early French aircraft designers, one of his aircraft, the Couzinet 10 (c/n 1 – ‘Arc-en-Ciel’) with three engines crossing the South Atlantic Ocean in 1933 on a return trip from Paris to Argentina. This aircraft, one of three built, crashed at Orly Airport on 8 August 1927. Another of his designs, the Couzinet 70, was completed in 1932 and was flown to Buenos Aires. This model entered service as the Model 71.
The Model 33 was a low-wing cabin monoplane designed by Rene Couzinet in France in the 1930s and was powered by three 90 kw (120 hp) de Havilland Gipsy III engines. The Couzinet 33 Biarritz was a four-seat passenger plane and made its first flight on 25 November 1931. From March 6 to April 5, 1932, it completed the first air link from France to New Caledonia. It was of wooden construction.
The prototype F-ALMV (‘Biarritz‘), with a crew of three, pilot Baron Charles de Verneilh, with Captain Max Deve as second pilot and navigator, and Emile Munch as engineer, left Le Bourget in France on 6 March 1932 and flew via Tripoli, Cairo, Basra, Karachi, Allahabad, Calcutta, Moulman, Alor Star, Batavia, Bima and Koepang to arrive at Darwin, NT on 26 March. It was the first French aircraft to arrive in Australia.
The route flown was Istres to Tripoli on 9 March; Cairo on Egypt on the 11; Basra on the 13; Karachi on the 15; Allahabad on the 17; Calcutta on the 18; Moulmein on the 19; Alor Star on the 20; Batavia on the 21; Bima on the 23 and Koepang on the 24; Darwin on the 26, Camooweal on the 28; Longreach on the 29 and Brisbane on the 30 March. The subject aircraft had a range of 4,828 km (3,000 miles).
The aircraft and crew lost twice on the journey between Brunette Downs and Camooweal. At Brisbane the aircraft was hangared by Qantas at Archerfield, QLD with Elli Beinhorn’s Klemm L.25. On 5 April the aircraft left for New Caledonia but crashed at Tontouta Airport near Noumea. The crew was unharmed by its rough landing at Tontouta. The aircraft was dismantled and shipped back to France by sea.
The Biarritz was later repaired, equipped with more powerful engines, and went on to perform services in Europe and Africa, including transporting Pierre Cot, the French Air Minister, between Moscow and Paris; plus undertaking several flights in Africa including to the island of Cape Verde. Returning from North Africa it crashed at Blaisy-Bas in the Cote-d’Or on 30 October 1933.