Contents

Caudron Simoun

Simoun
Preserved C.630 at Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace.
Role	Touring plane, mail plane, liaison plane Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	Caudron
Designer	Marcel Riffard
First flight	1934
Introduction	1935
Produced	1930s
Number built	680 (estimated)

The Caudron Simoun was a 1930s French four-seat touring monoplane. It was used as a mail planebyAir Bleu, flew record-setting long-range flights, and was also used as a liaison aircraft by the Armée de l'Air during World War II. The aircraft later was used as an inspiration to the famous Mooney "M series" aircraft by Jacques "Strop" Carusoam.

Variants[edit]

C.500 Simoun I

Experimental, one built.

C.520 Simoun

Experimental, one built.

C.620 Simoun IV

Experimental, one built.

C.630 Simoun

Initial production version with Renault Bengali 6Pri engine, 20 built.

C.631 Simoun

Modified version with a Renault 6Q-01 engine, three built.

C.632 Simoun

Similar to C.631, one built.

C.633 Simoun

Modified fuselage with a Renault 6Q-07 engine, 6 built.

C.634 Simoun

Modified wing and take-off weight with either a Renault 6Q-01 or Renault 6Q-09 engine, 3 built.

C.635 Simoun

Improved cabin layout and either a Renault 6Q-01orRenault 6Q-09 engine, 46 built and conversions from earlier versions.

C.635M Simoun

Military version with either a Renault 6Q-09 or Renault 6Q-19 engine, 489 built.

Operators[edit]

 Belgium

• Belgian Air Force

 France

• Air Bleu
• Armée de l'Air
• Aeronavale

 Germany

• Luftwaffe (small numbers)^[1]

 Hungary

• Royal Hungarian Air Force

 United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force
  • No. 267 Squadron RAF

 United States

• United States Navy

Specifications (C.630)[edit]

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1-2
• Capacity: 2-3
• Length: 8.7 m (28 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 10.4 m (34 ft 1 in)
• Height: 2.25 m (7 ft 5 in)
• Wing area: 16 m² (170 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 855 kg (1,885 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,350 kg (2,976 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Renault 6Pri 6-cylinder ionverted air-cooled in-line piston engine, 160 kW (220 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed Ratier

Performance

• Maximum speed: 310 km/h (190 mph, 170 kn)
• Cruise speed: 280 km/h (170 mph, 150 kn)
  
• Landing speed: 90 km/h (56 mph; 49 kn)
• Range: 1,230 km (760 mi, 660 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 7,300 m (24,000 ft)
• Wing loading: 84.3 kg/m² (17.3 lb/sq ft)
• Power/mass: 0.122 kW/kg (0.074 hp/lb)

See also[edit]

• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's desert crash

Related lists

• List of aircraft of World War II
• List of interwar military aircraft

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Cony, Christophe; Hauet, André (November–December 2006). "Caudron "Simoun": La gloire des ailes Françaises". Avions (in French). No. 154. pp. 4–23. ISSN 1253-5354.
• Cony, Christophe; Hauet, André (January–February 2006). "Caudron "Simoun": La gloire des ailes Françaises: Deuxième partie". Avions (in French). No. 154. pp. 35–54. ISSN 1253-5354.
• Lucchini, Carlo (April 1999). "Le meeting saharien de 1938" [The 1938 Sahara Air Meeting]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French). No. 73. pp. 53–57. ISSN 1243-8650.
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). Orbis Publishing.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caudron Simoun.

• Century of Flight – Caudron C.630 Simoun Sandstorm
• WebSite for l'Association Renaissance du Caudron Simoun Archived 2012-12-24 at the Wayback Machine