BLOCH MB 152C.1 - FRENCH ARMÉE DE L’AIR - 1940

Description

The production of the MB151 starts very slowly, a hood of a diameter mast is adopted on all the models: this improved the cooling, but penalized performances already unflattering. The Bloch MB151 is relegated to training, while the production of the Bloch MB152 follows its course with two different engines: either a GR 14 N-25 of 920 CV or a GR 14 N-49 of 1050 CV (See details production chapter). After a difficult start of equipment due to a lack of equipment, particularly propeller, the delivery of the Bloch MB152 accelerated and, at the end of the fighting, 632 Bloch 152 and derivatives were taken into account by the Air Force , Including 9 Bloch MB155. This last version, based on the MB152, is profoundly reworked (see chapter versions). The first MB155 series was stolen on April 3, 1940, but only 10 out of the 400 ordered were completed before the Armistice. The occupant nevertheless authorizes the construction of 19 cells almost completed on the assembly lines. The latest in the family, the Bloch MB157 is built around the engine Gnome & Rhone 14 R-Meteor. This version is described on the page dedicated to this aircraft. The result of the losses, at the end of the Battle of France, was 80 Bloch MB152 lost, 8 of which by accident, to which must be added 4 Bloch MB151 of which 2 lost per accident. The balance sheet of this aircraft is 150 sures victories for 36 likely, which is far from negligible given the superiority of the Luftwaffe. The Bloch 152 remaining after the Armistice have equipped the Fighter Groups maintained in the Free Zone. Thus, during the invasion of the free zone by the Germans in November 1942 after the disembarkation of the Allies in North Africa, there were still nearly 300 aircraft of the series. The Germans recovered about 180 for its training equipment, or to equip its ally, Romania. (Scale : 1/48e)