Bernard 70


The Bernard 70 was a 1920s design for a French single-seat monoplane fighter aircraft by the Société des Avions Bernard. It was not built but was developed into a racing monoplane designated the Bernard S-72,. It was further developed into single-seat fighters, the Bernard 74-01 and Bernard 74-02, although only two of the fighters were built.

Design and development

The Bernard S-72 was a wooden stressed skin constructed cantilever low-wing monoplane powered by a Gnome-Rhône 5Bc radial engine and had a fixed tailskid landing gear. Flown by Paillard, the Bernard S-72 participated in the 1930 Coupe Michelin race. On 29 June, he took off from Le Bourget, landed successively in Reims, Nancy, Strasbourg, Dijon and Clermont-Ferrand, but unfortunately had to retire near Lyon as a result of engine failure. The S-72 was re-engined with a Gnome-Rhône 7Kb and re-designated the Bernard S-73. The S-73 was then developed into the Bernard 74 single-seat fighter and retained the Titan-Major engine. Two prototypes were built with the first flying in February 1931, powered by a 280 hp Gnome-Rhône 7Kbs radial engine, the second was fitted with a Gnome-Rhône 7Kd engine and first flew in October 1931. The first prototype 74 was re-engined with a Gnome-Rhône 9Kbrs radial engine and re-designated the Bernard 75 it was later used as a pilot-trainer. No further aircraft were built.

Variants

;Bernard 70
;Bernard S-72
;Bernard S-73
;Bernard 74-01
;Bernard 74-02
;Bernard 75

Specifications (Bernard 74.01)