Bernard SIMB AB 14
# Bernard SIMB AB 14

The Bernard SIMB AB 14 was a 1920s French single-seat sesquiplane fighter aircraft designed and built by the Société Industrielle des Métaux et du Bois (SIMB). With a reluctance of the French authorities to purchase monoplanes the Bernard 14 was designed as a sesquiplane with Y-form struts bracing the wings on each side. It was powered by a Hispano-Suiza 12Hb inline piston engine and had a fixed tailskid landing gear. While on a test flight on 22 February 1926 the aircraft suffered a catastrophic structural failure of the upper wing and the only Bernard 14 was destroyed.

## Specifications

Data from

General characteristics

* Crew: 1
* Length: 7.40 m (24 ft 3 in)
* Wingspan: 12.50 m (41 ft 0 in)
* Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)
* Wing area: 27 $m^2$ (290 sq ft)
* Empty weight: 1,240 kg (2,734 lb)
* Max takeoff weight: 1,800 kg (3,968 lb)
* Powerplant: 1 × Hispano-Suiza 12Hb inline piston engine, 370 kW (500 hp)
* Propellers: 2-bladed

Performance

* Maximum speed: 230 km/h (140 mph, 120 kn)

Armament

* Guns: Two fixed 7.7mm (0.303in) synchronised machine-guns
