PIERRE BREGERIE COLLECTION
No. 11483. Breguet Bre 19 TR Super Bidón "Point d’Interrogation"
Source unknown

Breguet Bre 19 TR Super Bidón

07/31/2012. Originally this was the third and final Bre 19 TR (for transatlantic), which first flew July 23, 1928. Subsequently it was converted into a Bre 19 Super Bidón involving many changes: longer fuselage, increase in distance between the wings, new wing struts, dual controls, increased fuel capacity and a radio.

Named Point d'Interrogation (Question Mark) the aircraft was used by WW I ace Dieudonné Costes and Maurice Bellonte in an attempt to cross the Atlantic westbound. Seventeen hours after leaving Paris for New York on July 13, 1929, they returned due to adverse weather. However, they set a world distance record September 27 to 29, 1929, flying 4,909 mls (7,905 km) from Paris to Qiqihar, China, in 51 flying hours. A year later, September 1 to 3, Costes and Bellonte flew from Paris to New York in 37 hrs 12 min.

The Point d'Interrogation was donated to the musée de l'air in 1938.

Created July 31, 2012