Potez 62 / 65

The prototype Potez 62 civil airliner, based on the military Potez 54, made its maiden flight on 28 January 1935. It retained the strut-braced high-set wing of the Potez 54, which was married to a redesigned fuselage of excellent aerodynamic form. Pilot and co-pilot were seated side-by-side in a control cabin with, to their rear, two cabins accommodating up to 16 passengers. The Potez 621, flown later in 1935, introduced 537kW Hispano-Suiza 12Xrs Vee engines and 2° sweepback on the wings. Production totalled 23, four of the 14 machines built as Potez 62s later being converted to Potez 621 standard, and in 1937 nine Potez 62s were re-engined with 671kW Gnome-Rhone 14N16/17 radials.

The type interested the Armee de I'Air, which ordered a troop transport version, the Potez 65 or Potez 650 TT, which had accommodation for a crew of three plus 14 fully-equipped troops or, if equipped as an ambulance, with provision for six stretchers, four seated patients and one medical attendant. Two orders totalling 15 aircraft were received by Potez, the first of them being delivered in late 1935. Powered by 537kW Hispano-Suiza 12 Xirs I or HS 12Xbrs l/grs I engines, and with a maximum take-off weight higher than that of the Potez 62, the military version had maximum speed reduced to 300km/h.