French Aircraft, 1939-1942

Book excerpt: KEYNOTE: * A study of all of the fighters, bombers, reconnaissance and observation aircraft utilised by the French Air Force between 1939 and 1942 In May 1940, contrary to preconceived ideas, France possessed many aircraft, balancing her fleet between outdated machines, which were thus quite vulnerable, and truly modern aircraft, which were nonetheless too weak in number and suffered from many defects that new models most often incur. Breffort and Jouineau have joined forces again to provide a newly expanded edition from two volumes of the Avions & Pilotes collection under the same title. This complete panorama of fighter aircraft of the period extends from the beginning of WWII to the dissolution of the Vichy Regime's aviation program. From Amiot to Potez, all the fighters, bombers, reconnaissance and observation aircraft utilized by the French Air Force between 1939 and 1942, whether they were produced in France or purchased abroad, are presented here in alphabetical order; an overview made complete with the presentation of the principle prototypes that were built, but never made it to the production line due to a variety of circumstances. illustrated throughout