File:Mb-150.jpg
The Bloch MB-150 was a low-wing, all metal monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear and closed cockpit developed in as a contendor in the 1934 French air ministry competition for a new fighter design. Although the competition was won by the prototype M.S.406, development proceeded culminating in the first attempted flight in 1936. Unfortunately, the plane proved unable to leave the ground! With modifications consisting of a strengthened wing of greater area, revised landing gear, and installation of a 701 kW (940 hp) Gnome-Rhone 14No radial engine with a three-blade constant speed propeller, the now-designated MB-150.01 finally flew in October of 1937.
Handed over to the Centre d'Essais du Materiel Aerien (CEMA) for service trials, its performance proved sufficiently interesting to warrant further development. This brought, at the very beginning of 1938, a small increase in wing span and installation of a Gnome-Rhone 14N-7 engine. When trials were completed in the late spring of 1938, SNCASO was awarded an order for a pre-production batch of 25 of these aircraft.
No such production of the MB-150.01 ever occured, the plane being totally unsuitable to mass production. Redesign would lead to the Bloch MB-151 and Bloch MB-152 prototypes.
Model History
Bloch MB-150: Prototype (1 built)
Total production (including prototypes): 1
Active Service
None
See Also