Bleriot-SPAD 91-7

Despite the "Jockey" being abandoned, Andre Herbemont persisted with the development of the Type 91 series fighters and, in October 1930, designed a new version. This, while retaining a fuselage similar to that of the Type 91-4, employed an entirely new wing arrangement of inverted sesquiplane configuration. Ailerons were fitted to the lower wing only, this having a span of 8.65m compared with the 7.00m of the upper wing. Designated Bleriot SPAD 91-7 and powered by a 500hp Hispano-Suiza 12Mc 12-cylinder Vee water-cooled engine, the new model was flown for the first time on 23 December 1931. On 2 June 1932, it established a 500km closed-circuit record of 308.78km/h. It was subsequently fitted with a supercharged Hispano- Suiza 12Xbrs engine as the Type 91-8, a variable-pitch Ratier propeller being adopted and a max speed of 360 km/h being reportedly achieved. The prototype was first flown in its Type 91-8 form on 20 August 1932, and in the following December was leased to Hispano-Suiza as a test-bed for the company's engine-mounted 20mm cannon, which was duly fitted, together with a large-diameter Levasseur fixed-pitch propeller, the designation then being changed to Type 91-9.

3-View

A three-view drawing (1672 x 1182)