The last fighter design of Andre Herbemont to bear the
SPAD appellation, and intended to participate in the 1934 fighter competition, the Bleriot SPAD 710 was a
single-seat, single-bay biplane embodying a number of
interesting features. Of all-metal construction with a
duralumin monocoque fuselage and an 860hp Hispano-
Suiza 12Ycrs 12-cylinder Vee liquid-cooled
engine, it had a proposed armament of one engine-mounted
20mm cannon, four wing-mounted 7.5mm
machine guns and one aft-firing 7.5mm gun in the rear
fuselage. Furthermore, the Bleriot SPAD 710 embodied
inward-retracting main undercarriage members, a
completely enclosed cockpit with aft-sliding canopy
and a V-type or "butterfly" tail assembly. The initial
flight took place in April 1937, and, on 8 June, 300km/h was exceeded in level flight with the undercarriage
extended. A week later, on 15 June, tail flutter
developed at an altitude of only 200m and the
aircraft crashed, killing the pilot, Louis Massotte.
Further development was then abandoned.
W.Green, D.Swanborough "The Complete Book of Fighters", 2000
