Loire 210 Seaplane Fighter

The Loire 210 was designed to meet a 1933 French Navy requirement for a single-seat catapult-launched fighter seaplane. The prototype first flew at Saint Nazaire on 21 March 1935. The fuselage came from the earlier Loire 46 fitted with a new low-wing which was foldable for shipboard stowage. It had a large central float and two underwing auxiliary floats and was powered by a single nose-mounted Hispano-Suiza 9Vbs radial engine.

The prototype was evaluated by the French Navy against the Bernard H 110, Potez 453 and Romano R.90 with the 210 achieving a production order for 20 aircraft in March 1937. The production aircraft were fitted with four wing-mounted Darne machine guns. The aircraft entered service with the French Navy in August 1939, within three months five aircraft had been lost due to structural failure of the wing. All the remaining aircraft were grounded and withdrawn from use.

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