1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Latécoere 300 Croix-du-Sud 2: Anonymous Unknown author· Public domain
what is it?
The Latécoère 300 series of aircraft were a group of civil and military flying boats. They were manufactured by French aircraft manufacturer Latécoère in the 1930s. A single Latécoère 300 was built; it was flown for the first time in 1931 and sank the same year.
How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · 44 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 95 years ago, in 1931.
- Top speed is 1.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 44 m: about 10 cars parked nose to tail.
- Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1931-12-17
- introduced
- 1934
- number built
- 7
- role
- civil and military flying boat
- origin
- 🇫🇷 France
- makers
- Latécoère
- engines
- 4× Hispano-Suiza 12Ydrs2
- crew
- 8
- length
- 26.1 m
- wingspan
- 44 m
- height
- 8 m
- max take-off weight
- 24 t
- top speed
- 240 km/h
- cruise speed
- 185 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 4,999 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q2632272, Wikipedia: Latécoère 300 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.