The Lioré et Olivier LeO H-47 was a flying boat airliner built in France in 1936. Designed in response to a French air ministry specification for passenger transports to service transatlantic routes to South America, it was a conventional, high-wing design with the cabin and flight deck fully enclosed within a streamlined hull. The four engines were mounted in two tractor-pusher pairs on the upper wing.

The prototype H-47 first flew from Antibes of 25 July 1936, and was destroyed in a crash in May 1937 that was attributed to a wingtip float breaking away whilst the aircraft was in flight. Nevertheless, Air France went ahead with the purchase of five similar (though strengthened) machines, designated H-470, which were put into service as mailplanes. These machines were impressed into the French Navy at the outbreak of the Second World War.

The four remaining aircraft remained in use with the Vichy Frech Navy following the French Armistice, being used for transport between France and Tunisia, before being transferred to Dakar in Senegal in June 1941. The last H-470 was scrapped in August 1943 when stocks of spares ran out.

Operators

• France
• Air France
• French Navy

Specifications

Notes

References

• Green, William (1968). War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Five Flying Boats. London: Macdonald.
• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
• (1936). "Civil Types in Paris". Flight p.552. Retrieved on 2008-10-02.
• (1936). "For the South Atlantic". Flight p.419. Retrieved on 2008-10-02.
• (1937). "Atlantic Aspirants". Flight pp.372—376. Retrieved on 2008-10-02.