Category:Potez 62 & 65 family

Potez 62 civil airliner above the military Potez 65.

On the civil side, Air France ordered six Potez 62 on September 1934, a transitional aircraft while waiting for the (delayed) Dewoitine 338. Potez hurried to modify a Potez 54 bomber (brand new fuselage) and was able to delivered the prototpe in four months and all the new airliners before June 1935. So Air France ordered 15 new airframes this time powered by the more reliable inline Hispano Suiza 12X engines (type 621) used to transport 14 to 16 passengers.
On the military side of the story, l'Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) wished a transport plane close to types already on strengh. So this time Potez made the reverse process : building a military airframe from the civil one. The type 65 inherited the 62 layout with a strongest airframe, wider cargo door and military components (radio, ...). On May 1937, the first French operational paradrop mission occured. Unlike the Luftwaffe, this practice did not spread on a large scale as only 15 military airframes (mark 650) were built. Further four (or six ?) aircratfs (named 651) fitted with Gnome-Rhône 14K radial engines were orederd by Romania for use until 1944. Under the French roundel, the type proved reliable but slow and was extensively used during the Syrian Campaign (1941 fightings between Vichy (French) troops and Commonwealth (and a handfull Free French) armies).
Less fifty airframes of all kind have been built.

This page lists all films that feature the Potez 62 / 65 family.

See also

• Potez 62 on Wikipedia.
• Potez 65 on Wikipedia.