Loire 30

The Loire 30 a.k.a.Loire 300 was a French three-seat night reconnaissance monoplane designed and built by Loire Aviation of St. Nazaire.

Design and development
The Loire 30 was designed to meet a French Air Force requirement for a three-seat night reconnaissance aircraft. It was a cantiliver high-wing monoplane and powered by three 230 hp Salmson 9Ab radial engines strut-mounted above the wing. The pilot had an enclosed cockpit with an open cockpit at the nose and amidships, both fitted with pivot-mounted 7.7mm (0.303 in) machine-guns. Only one Loire 30 was produced in 1932 but it failed to gain an order and was relegated to experimental use.

Loire 301
After rejection in its original role the sole Loire 30 / Loire 300 was modified with a large windowless turret fitted in the nose and re-designated Loire 301. The purpose of the turret is uncertain; the favoured theory of some references is an armoured turret housing a large calibre gun; another theory is an airborne blind flying training simulator.