Lioré et Olivier LeO 45

what is it?

Lioré-et-Olivier LeO 45 was a French medium bomber that was used during and after the Second World War. It had been designed for the new Armée de l'air as a modern medium bomber capable of performing independent strategic operations, unlike the majority of previous French bombers. The LeO 45 was a low-wing monoplane, all-metal in construction, equipped with a retractable undercarriage and powered by two 1,060 hp Gnome-Rhône 14N engines.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 22.5 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 495 km/htop speed
• range 2,900 kmwithout refuelling
• size 11.4 tmax take-off weight
• built 561made in total

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 89 years ago, in 1937.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 22.5 m: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 2,900 km: 16× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.0× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1937-01-15

introduced

1938

retired

1957

status

retired

number built

561

role

medium bomber

origin

🇫🇷 France

makers

Lioré et Olivier

engines

2× Gnome-Rhône 14N−48 / Gnome-Rhône 14N−49

crew

4

length

17.2 m

wingspan

22.5 m

height

5.2 m

max take-off weight

11.4 t

top speed

495 km/h

cruise speed

420 km/h

range

2,900 km

ceiling

9,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.