French Caudron C.714 fighter aircraft in Finnish service. Date unknown but likely before 1941.
The C.710 series of fighters was built to specifications given by the French Air Force in 1936 to quickly build up number of modern aircraft that the French could utilize. They were to have wooden construction and were supposed to be built rapidly in large numbers, without upsetting the production of planes that were already in production.
The original C.710 model was developed from an existing series of racing airplanes; one common feature of all the models was a very long nose that set the cockpit very far back on the aircraft. The C.710 was powered by a Renault 12R-01, which was a supercharged, inverted, and air-cooled V12 engine that resulted from putting together two 6Q engines. Its landing gear was fixed and spatted, and the vertical stabilizer was a rounded design instead of the more common angular designs that were currently in use by most military aircraft. It first flew on July 18, 1936, with promising results. It was able to reach a level speed of 470km/h during flight testing.
Further development followed with more powerful engines, different armament mixtures, and retractable landing gear. The C.714 Cyclone was the final variation, with the primary changes being a strengthened fuselage, a new wing airfoil profile, and four MAC 1934 7.5mm machine guns instead of the two 20mm cannons in under-wing gondolas. It was powered by the new 12R-03 version of the engine, with a new carburetor that could operate in negative g-forces.
The French ordered 20 initially with options for a further 180; production started in the Paris suburbs in 1939. Deliveries did not start until January 1940, and after a series of tests with the first production examples it became apparent that the design was innately flawed. Although light and fast, its wooden construction did not allow for a more powerful engine to be fitted; the original engine seriously limited climb rate and maneuvorability with the result that it was withdrawn from service in February 1940. In March the original production order was reduced to 90, and 80 were diverted to Finland to aid in the Winter War.
On May 18, 1940, 35 of the aircraft were delivered to the pilots of the Polish Warsaw Squadron stationed in France, and after just 23 sorties the adverse opinions of the fighter were confirmed by the pilots who reported that it was seriously underpowered and was no match for the Bf109.
On May 25, just a week after it was introduced, the French Minister of War ordered all C.714s to be withdrawn from active service. However since the French authorities had no other aircraft to offer, the Polish pilots ignored this order and continued flying their Caudrons. In spite of flying a fighter hopelessly outdated compared to the Bf109Es they were facing, they managed to score 12 confirmed victories and 3 unconfirmed, in three battles between the 8th and 11th of June 1940, losing nine in the air and nine more on the ground.
