On the 10th July 2006 on the “What Cockpit? Mk II” thread I posed the following photograph of the cockpit of the Bloch 220 as the challenge.
Following Philthy’s correct identification I uploaded the following photograph of the aircraft:-
DH106 rightly came back with:-
“But the cockpit windows look the wrong shape. Note in the aircraft piccie there's 2 large frontal windows with a central pillar and these windows are almost vertical. In the cockpit shot, there's 3 smaller windows that have considerable vertical sweepback. The side struts are also raked in the cockpit shot but vertical in the a/c shot.
Any comments ?”
Unfortunately no definite answer could be given as the all the photographs found on the internet appeared to give contradictory answers.
However there is an explanation regarding these differences. In July 1986 an article by John Stroud was published in Aeroplane Monthly under the heading of “Wings of Peace” in this article John discusses the Bloch 120 and 220. In this article a similar photograph of the aircraft’s flight deck was published with the following description:- “flight deck of the early Bloch 220, probably the prototype with three-panel windscreen.”
In the article John Stroud states :-
“ Bloch 220 No 2 F-AOHB
Gascogne made its first flight in May 1937 and four were completed and delivered by the end of the year. They were F-AOHC
Guyenne, F-AOHD
Auvergne, F-AOHE
Aunis and F-AOHF
Saintonge c/ns 3-6. All these had three-section windscreen which like those on the prototype, sloped aft from the base. Crews complained that the frames obstructed their view when taxying and from aircraft No 7 (F-AOHG) the slope was steepened to near vertical and there were only two panes with a central frame. The earlier aeroplanes were modified to have two panes but the slope was not altered.”
This photograph shows No 8 aircraft F-AOHH
Savorie with near vertical windscreen and next to it F-AOHC
Guyenne.
My thanks to John Stroud’s article for clarifying the situation.
