Bréguet 941

The Breguet 941 is a French four-engine turboprop short takeoff and landing (STOL) transport aircraft developed by Breguet in the 1960s. Although widely promoted, both by Breguet in France and by McDonnell Aircraft and McDonnell Douglas in the United States, it was not built in large numbers; only one prototype and four production aircraft were built.

Design and development

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the French aviation pioneer Louis Charles Breguet developed a concept for a short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft using four free-turbine turboshaft engines to drive a common powershaft, which, in turn drove four oversize propellers, which were evenly spaced along the leading edge of the wing with large, full-span, slotted flaps, with the arrangement known as "l'aile soufflée" or blown wing.

An initial, experimental prototype, powered by four Turbomeca Turmo II engines, the Breguet 940 Integral, first flew on 21 May 1958, and was used to prove the concept, demonstrating excellent short field performance. This led to an order being placed in February 1960 for a prototype of an aircraft employing the same concept, but capable of carrying useful loads. This aircraft, the Breguet 941, first flew on 1 June 1961.

Testing of this prototype resulted in an order for four improved production aircraft, the Breguet 941S for the French Air Force, first flying on 19 April 1967. These were fitted with more powerful engines and a modified rear cargo door to allow for air-dropping of stores.

Br 942

Breguet intended to develop the 940 genre further by adding a pressurised fuselage with airline seating as the Breguet Br 942. Wings, landing gear, empennage and engines were essentially similar to the Br 941, but were to be mated to a new 3.1 m (10 ft 2.0 in) diameter circular section fuselage, with airline seating for 40 first/business class or up to 60 economy class passengers.