Bratu 220
title: "Bratu 220" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["aircraft-manufactured-in-france", "1930s-french-airliners", "three-engined-push-pull-aircraft", "high-wing-aircraft", "cidna-aircraft", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1932", "three-engined-piston-aircraft", "aircraft-with-fixed-conventional-landing-gear"] topic_path: "geography/france" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratu_220" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Bratu 220 |
| image | Bratu 220.jpg |
| aircraft_type | Passenger aircraft |
| designer | Romulus Bratu |
| status | prototype |
| number_built | 1 |
| first_flight | 26 November 1932 |
| :: |
| name = Bratu 220 | logo = | logo_size = | image = Bratu 220.jpg | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Passenger aircraft | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = | manufacturer = | design_group = | designer = Romulus Bratu | builder = | issuer = | status = prototype | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 26 November 1932 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded =
The Bratu-220 was a Franco-Romanian prototype three-engine airplane of the 1930s, built in France.
Development and usage
The aircraft was designed in 1929 by Romulus Bratu, a Romanian engineer who worked in France. Quite unusual was its arrangement, with one engine in a fuselage front, and the other two in a common nacelle over a wing, in a push-pull configuration. A model was tested in a laboratory of St. Cyr Aeronautical Institute. Parts of the plane were made in a factory at Athis-Mons, and assembled in the CIDNA workshops at Le Bourget airport.
The prototype was flown on 26 November 1932 and after tests, received a French airworthiness certificate. The plane had high useful load 4500 kg and could fly on two engines. In March 1933 it was shown to the French Minister of Air Pierre Cot.
Description
The Bratu-220 was a high-wing cantilever monoplane of wooden construction, with closed cab, three engines, and a fixed landing gear. Its sparless wing, with slightly swept leading edge, straight rear edge and rounded tips, was basing on a geodetical structure of crossing ribs. The crew sat in a cab before the wing. Next and below in the fuselage, under the wing, there was a cabin for 10 passengers, with rectangular windows and access doors in front and at the rear. The landing-gear was of the conventional-type, with a tailwheel.
A single Gnome-Rhône Jupiter 420 hp radial engine was mounted in the nose of the fuselage, while two Gnome-Rhône Titan 230 hp radial engines were in a common nacelle on struts above the fuselage and wing. All engines drove two-blade propellers and had no covers.
Specifications
|ref= |prime units?=met General characteristics
|genhide=
|crew=2 |capacity=10 passengers |length m=17.37 |length ft= |length in= |length note= |span m=25 |span ft= |span in= |span note= |upper span m= |upper span ft= |upper span in= |upper span note= |mid span m= |mid span ft= |mid span in= |mid span note= |lower span m= |lower span ft= |lower span in= |lower span note= |swept m= |swept ft= |swept in= |swept note= |dia m= |dia ft= |dia in= |dia note= |width m= |width ft= |width in= |width note= |height m= |height ft= |height in= |height note= |wing area sqm=83 |wing area sqft= |wing area note= |swept area sqm= |swept area sqft= |swept area note= |volume m3= |volume ft3= |volume note= |aspect ratio= |airfoil= |empty weight kg=4400 |empty weight lb= |empty weight note= |gross weight kg=9000 |gross weight lb= |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg= |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity= |lift kg= |lift lb= |lift note= |more general= Powerplant
|eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Gnome et Rhône 9A |eng1 type=9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine |eng1 kw= |eng1 hp=420 |eng1 shp= |eng1 kn= |eng1 lbf= |eng1 note= |power original= |thrust original= |eng1 kn-ab= |eng1 lbf-ab=
|eng2 number=2 |eng2 name=Gnome et Rhône 5K Titan |eng2 type=5-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engines |eng2 kw= |eng2 hp=230 |eng2 shp= |eng2 kn= |eng2 lbf= |eng2 note= |eng2 kn-ab= |eng2 lbf-ab=
|eng3 number= |eng3 name= |eng3 type= |eng3 kw= |eng3 hp= |eng3 shp= |eng3 kn= |eng3 lbf= |eng3 note= |eng3 kn-ab= |eng3 lbf-ab= |more power=
|prop blade number= |prop name= |prop dia m= |prop dia ft= |prop dia in= |prop dia note=
|rot number= |rot dia m= |rot dia ft= |rot dia in= |rot area sqm= |rot area sqft= |rot area note= Performance
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=200 |max speed mph= |max speed kts= |max speed note= |max speed mach= |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed kts= |cruise speed note= |stall speed kmh= |stall speed mph= |stall speed kts= |stall speed note= |never exceed speed kmh= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed kts= |never exceed speed note= |minimum control speed kmh= |minimum control speed mph= |minimum control speed kts= |minimum control speed note= |range km= |range miles= |range nmi= |range note= |combat range km= |combat range miles= |combat range nmi= |combat range note= |ferry range km= |ferry range miles= |ferry range nmi= |ferry range note= |endurance= |ceiling m= |ceiling ft= |ceiling note= |g limits= |roll rate= |glide ratio= |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |time to altitude= |sink rate ms= |sink rate ftmin= |sink rate note= |lift to drag= |wing loading kg/m2= |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note= |disk loading kg/m2= |disk loading lb/sqft= |disk loading note= |fuel consumption kg/km= |fuel consumption lb/mi= |power/mass= |thrust/weight=
|more performance= Armament
|armament= specific parameters, remove this parameter-- |guns= |bombs= |rockets= |missiles= |hardpoints= |hardpoint capacity= |hardpoint rockets= |hardpoint missiles= |hardpoint bombs= |hardpoint other=
|avionics=
References
Bibliography
References
- "Romanian Aeronautical Constructions 1905 - 1974".
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