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The Dewoitine D.33 was a single-engine low cantilever wing aircraft built by Emile Dewoitine and designer Vautier. The two attempts of Marcel Doret and Joseph Le Brix to fly from Paris to Tokyo unfortunately failed with the destruction of two airplanes. The D.33 was the origin of a line of multi-engined airplanes that had some success in their day, the D.332, D.333 and D.338.
Dewoitine's initial idea was to build a plane (the D.18) capable of crossing the North Atlantic from the east to the west, winds being more favorable in that direction.
The large cantilever wing incorporated all 16 fuel tanks (8,000 liters) and this was supposed to provide some buoyancy in the event of a ditching. The wing area was 78 m².
The crew of three had the essentials to live correctly for about one hundred hours, and the thin fuselage incorporated toilets and a berth.
The 650 hp Hispano-Suiza 12 Nb engine had a displacement of 36 liters and the fixed pitch Ratier propeller was initially mounted directly on the crankshaft.
With the use of the Hispano-Suiza 12 Nbr engine coupled to the propeller via a reducer, the tests demonstrated a possible cruising speed of 215 km/h, with a reduction in fuel consumption of around 10%.
The empty mass was less than 3,200 kg.
The first flight was made by Marcel Doret on November 20, 1930 and three records were established in March 1931: those of distance and duration with a 2 tons load, (4,670 km in 32 hours and 17 minutes), and that of speed on 2.000 km with this same load (151 km/h).
On June 10, 1931, the D.33-01 beat the record for distance in closed circuit, having traveled 10.372 km in 70 hours and 11 minutes and that of speed over 10.000 km (149.9 km/h).
Attempts to link Paris to Tokyo - "Le Trait d'Union"
The Doret, Le Brix and Mesmin crew flew off Le Bourget on the morning of 12 July 1931. After flying over the Brussels-Evere airfield, the aircraft entered Germany at an altitude of 400 m. Moscow was reached after 13 hours of flight, or 2,600 km carried out at an average speed of 200 km/h. Above the Ural mountains, the plane had to divert north to avoid weather. Doret then corrected his course to fly south of Lake Baikal.
After 49 hours of flight, the engine had a sudden drop in power, and as the plane inexorably lost altitude, Le Brix and Doret decided to stop the record attempt. Le Brix and Mesmin jumped in parachute and Doret tried landing the plane, but because of poor visibility, the plane hit trees and was destroyed. The crew was saved and had traveled more than 8,000 km before the accident.
The second attempt, carried out in September 1931, was even less successful, since it ended in the Ural mountains. Marcel Doret could jump from the plane after (it seems) a crankshaft rupture. He was the only one to survive, Mesmin not carrying his parachute and Le Brix not having jumped.
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