The Aviméta 121 (sometimes referred to with the ambiguous designation Aviméta 21The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft 1982, p.378Claveau 1991, p.40) was a prototype French bomber aircraftLiron et al. 2000, p.26 flown in 1928. It was built to a 1926 French Army requirement for a new ("multi-seat combat") aircraft for bombing and reconnaissance. The Aviméta 121 was not selected for production, and only a single prototype was built.Bondoux 2007, p.27 A proposed torpedo bomber seaplane version remained unrealised.
Design The Aviméta 121 was a shoulder-wing, strut-braced monoplane of conventional layout.Liron et al. 2000, p.26–27 Power was supplied by two W12 piston engines mounted in nacelles on the leading edge of the wings. These drove four-bladed tractor propellers. The main units of the fixed, tailskid undercarriage were enclosed in large aerodynamic sponsons. The pilot sat in an open cockpit, but the bombardier had an enclosed position in the nose. Defensive armament included two open machine-gun positions, one in the nose, and the other behind the cockpit.
Unusually for the time, construction was of metal throughout, more specifically, a special alloy developed by Aviméta and branded Alférium.
Development In 1926, the French Army issued a specification for a new ("multi-seat combat") aircraft for bombing and reconnaissance. Several French manufacturers responded with designs including the Amiot 140, Aviméta 120, Blériot 137, Breguet 410, Dyle et Bacalan 20, Nieuport-Delage NiD.53, and SPCA 30, and the Army ordered prototypes of several of these.Liron n.d. The Aviméta 120 was designed to be powered by Gnome-Rhône Jupiter radial engines, but the prototype ordered in 1927 as the Aviméta 121 was powered by the Lorraine 12Eb W-12 engine instead.
The prototype flew in 1928, first piloted by Adjutant Louis Moutonnier. The Aviméta 121 was found to be too heavy and unmaneuverable,Liron et al. 2000, p.27 and the Amiot 140 was ordered for production instead (as the Amiot 143). Losing this contract was part of the reason Aviméta withdrew from aircraft manufacturing.Passaqui 2020, p.19
A seaplane version was proposed as a torpedo bomber, and although one pontoon was constructed, this project went no further.
Variants Aviméta 120 Original design with radial engines (not built) Aviméta 121 Prototype with W engines (1 built) Seaplane version (proposed but not built)
Specifications (Aviméta 121 prototype)
Notes References
Bibliography
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