Bleriot-SPAD 71

The Type 71 was, like the Type 41, a single-seat derivative of the 1918 SPAD S.XX two-seater, but was intended specifically to participate in the Spanish Concurso de aviones which was to result in the selection of combat aircraft for the Aeronautica Militar Espanola from competing indigenous and foreign types. A staggered single-bay biplane with a sweptback upper wing and unswept lower wing, the Bleriot SPAD 71 was powered by a 300hp Hispano-Suiza HS 8Fb eight-cylinder water-cooled engine, carried an armament of twin 7.7mm MAC (Vickers) machine guns and was flown to Spain for evaluation in January 1923. In the fighter contest it was bested by the Nieuport 29 and no further development was undertaken.