Two different four-engine aircraft were given this designation. The first, the MB 162 “Raid”, was a derivative of the MB 160 intended for long-distance air races. The other MB 162 was a heavy bomber designed by Henri Déplante and Lucien Servanty in response to the A20 programme for a category B5.
Two different four-engine aircraft were given this designation.
The first, the MB 162 “Raid”, was a derivative of the MB 160 intended for long-distance air races. As it was not ready in time for the 1937 Istres-Damascus-Paris race, it was replaced by the MB 160 and subsequently abandoned.
The other MB 162 was a heavy bomber designed by Henri Déplante and Lucien Servanty in response to the A20 programme for a category B5 (five crew) bomber able to operate by day and by night. Three examples were ordered in 1937. The aircraft, slightly smaller than the B-17 but offering comparable performance, had little in common with the MB 160 and MB 161. The wing, in particular, was completely different. A full-scale mockup was displayed in public at the Paris Air Show in late November 1938.
Construction of the prototype in Courbevoie was delayed until the end of 1939. It was assembled at Villacoublay after being transferred by road in the spring of 1940 and made its first flight on 1 June 1940, powered by four 1,100hp Gnome & Rhône 14 N 48/49de engines. It was then rapidly ferried to Bordeaux in an attempt to escape from the advancing enemy forces. It was captured there when the Germans occupied the Mérignac airfield. Taken over by Focke-Wulf, it apparently performed a number of test flights and perhaps some undercover missions to drop off secret agents. It was based at Finow in Germany until June 1944.
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