Caudron C.714s to Finland Caudron C.714 in front of the Aircraft Factory at Tampere1940. Notice the old Finnish Air Force national insignia, the blue swastika, which dates back to 1918, when Swedish count Eric von Rosen donated the first aircraft for the Finnish Air Force. The blue swastika was the old hindu lucky sign that the Rosen family used and had nothing to do with the later Nazi swastika. French Caudron-Renault 710 fighter. The French developed the Caudron-Renault 710 fighter that flew for the first time in July 17, 1936. The 713 version was developed from the 710 and it flew in December 1937 with performance that was close to the Morane-Saulnier M.S. 405/406. It is worth noting that weighing 1665 kg the C.713 reached 470 km/h at 4000 m. The model was called the "Cyclone". Few months later a new "Cyclone" version, the C.714-01 (serial number 7875) followed. The wing airfoil profile was new, the fuselage was strengthened and instead of two cannons the fighter had four machine guns in the wing gondolas. Extremely good results had been achieved in test shootings. It wasn't until November 5, 1938 until the CEMA tests that an order for 20 aircraft was placed for the C-R.C.714 and an option for 180 more. Later the order was decreased to 83 aircraft. It took until January 1940 to deliver the first five unarmed aircraft temporarily for the French Air Force without radios. In mid-February they were given to the Polish pilots in their flight training at Lyon-Bron. French general Denain suggested that the Polish squadron 145 would be sent to help Finland with their C.714s. He calculated that the squadron would be ready in a month to go to fight the Winter War with the Finns. In the mean time the French government decided to help the Finns as effective as possible: the C.714s destined to Bron were diverted to Le Havre harbour for shipment to Finland. On the 12th of March 1940 the first six aircraft were already on their way to Finland when the information about the armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union was received. The deliveries were halted. Ten aircraft were in containers at Le Havre waiting to be lifted to the ships and three more were on their way from Paris. In addition to the six C.714 on their way to Finland 40 other aircraft existed. Eight of them were at service in Lyon-Bron, 19 having their weapons installed and 19 otherwise unserviceable. 2nd Lt. Dobrzinski was lost in a C.714 accident on the 19th of May 1940. The German attack to France in May 1940 was fateful also for the French Air Force. The Polish squadron 145 loses five pilots dead and four wounded in a very short period. Nine aircraft are lost in the air and nine more on the ground. Still, the C.714 was a pleasure to fly and more agile than its competitors. By the end of June 1940 the factory had produced 53 series production aircraft. The six C.714 aircraft arrived in Finland in their containers. The local Aircraft Factory received them during 24 - 28 May 1940. They were assembled at Tampere, where the runway turned to be a bit short for these new fighters. The aircraft were delivered to Reconnaissance Squadron 30 at Pori. When Lt. Nurminen was flying the acceptance test flight for CA-554 at Tampere he overshot the runway. The landing gear Collapsed and the propeller was bent. The aircraft was fixed and few test flights were flown and then a ferry flight to Pori. On the 5th of March 1941 LeLv 30 returned CA-554 and three other C.714s to the Aircraft Factory because flying with them was prohibited (CA-553 and CA-556 probably never served at LeLv 30). The operations with the C.714s were limited to test flights. In September 1941 flights with the fighters were prohibited. They were scrapped in December 30, 1949. CA-556 was transferred to the maintenance personnel school. CA-555 at Squadron 30 in autumn 1940 Caudron C.714 technical numbers: Engine: Renault 12R03, 450 hp Wingspan: 8,87 m Empty weight: 1395 kg Takeoff weight: 1880 kg Range: 900 km Max speed: 460 km/h (5000 m) Weapons: four 7,5 mm guns The camouflage for the Caudrons was French: the underside was light blue/grey and the upper surfaces darker blue/grey with olive spots. The upper side was finished with some medium-brown spots. The French tricolor was under the tail camouflage. In addition to the standard serial number the aircraft had been numbered in France with a single number serial number that was painted in black on every aircraft piece in some of the containers. Finnish Air Force numbers: CA- 551 (2.) CA-552 (7.) CA-553 (5.) CA-554 (4.) CA-555 CA-556 (6.) Information combined and translated from: Caudron C.714 "Ranskalainen visiitti", O.Anttonen, Suomen Siivet 6/1973 Suomen Ilmavoimien Lentokoneet 1939 - 72, K. Keskinen 1972 Fighter Squadron 21 photo archives Home Latest Topic | Air Warfare | Conferences/Air Shows | Fighter Tactics | Fighter Aircraft | Missiles | Fighter Aviation Topic | Fighter History | Warbirds | Magazines | Current News | Links | Physiology | Photo Gallery | Bibliography | SIIVET - Wings | What's New J Lindberg. Copyright © 1997-2006 Fighter Tactics Academy. All rights reserved. Revised: tammikuu 01, 2006.