Caudron-Renault CR.710 Cyclone (series)

Single-Seat, Single-Engine Monoplane Fighter [ 1940 ]

Fewer than 100 examples of the Caudron-Renault CR.710 Cyclone monoplane fighter series were built during World War 2 - seeing service with France, Poland, and Finland.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 01/11/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

VIEW SPECIFICATIONS [+]

By the time of World War 2 (1939-1945), the French aero-concern of Caudron was no stranger to making airplanes. It began formal operations back in 1909 and went on to produce a healthy stable of aircraft types to see service in the First World War (1914-1918). Fast-forward to 1933 and the company was acquired by Renault to begin operations under the name of "Caudron-Renault" and this covered successive designs that led up to the German occupation of France in 1940. One product of this brand label during the pre-war/wartime period became the "CR.710" - a sleek racer-like single-seat, single-engine monoplane fighter of all-modern design.

In the lead-up to its war with neighboring Germany, the French Air Force made an attempt to modernize its fighting capability and this resulted in designs such as the CR.710 coming to the forefront in 1936. Like other powers of the day, thought turned to developing an "economically-minded" fighter which was to rely on wood for much of its construction as wood prove more readily available and much cheaper to build with. The CR.710 competed against the likes of the ANF-Mureaux 190 design and the French air ministry saw enough of the Caudron-Renault offering to contract for three prototypes. Its design was attributed to one Marcel Riffard.

The CR.710 - or "Cyclone" as it was also known - flew for the first time on July 18th, 1936 and was powered by an in-house Renault 12R-01 (paired Renault 6Q) supercharged inverted V12 air-cooled engine of 500 horsepower. This was fitted to the nose and drove a three-bladed propeller in "puller" arrangement. The cockpit was set well-behind the long-running nose and a unique framing arrangement attempted to provide the pilot with good vision out-of-the-cockpit. The fuselage tapered towards the tail in a traditional way and was capped by a well-rounded vertical fin along with mid-mounted horizontal planes. The undercarriage was of typical "tail-dragger" configuration though fixed in flight. The main legs were spatted for aerodynamic efficiency.

On the whole, the look of this aircraft was reminiscent of the speedy racers consistent with the 1930s period - sleek, slim and of a well-contained profile. This is owed to the fact that the CR.710 was derived from the Caudron "Coupe Deutsch" racing monoplane where performance was key (though not so much military combat flying). As a combat platform, the CR.710 was outfitted with 2 x 20mm Hispano-Suiza HS.9 autocannons contained in underwing pods, one gun to a wing.

In testing from 1937 onward, the CR.710 prototype was able to reach speeds of nearly 295 miles-per-hour and progressive updates to the engine fit produced the "CR.711" and "CR.712" designations. Next arrived the "CR.713' and this form came complete with a retractable undercarriage and revised, squared-off rudder. It took to the air for the first time on December 15th, 1937 and went on to forge the production-minded "CR.714" (both the CR.710 and CR.713 prototypes were lost in crashes in February 1938).©MilitaryFactory.com

The CR.714 recorded its first-flight (formally as the "CR.714.01") on July 6th, 1938 with changes that included a switch to 4 x 7.5mm MAC 1934 series medium machine guns in the wings as standard armament (from the original twin underwing cannons). The weapons system was added to the flyable design in November of 1938 and, as soon as November 5th, French authorities placed an order for twenty of this mark and held on to a future option for 180 more units. The first example was unveiled on June 10th, 1939 and included changes to the landing flaps (now with reduced chord), the wing members (now with reduced camber), and a Renault 12R-03 engine (which permitted greater maneuvers at-speed).

The French Air Force was ultimately not impressed with the CR.714 so the aircraft (and its production units) was passed on to Finland which found itself in desperate need for a modern monoplane fighter (the Soviets had invaded on November 30th, 1939 to spark the "Winter War"). Eighty were planned for the transition to Finland but just six ultimately made the journey and none were to see formal combat operations against the Soviets. Two Polish fighter-training squadrons of the Polish Air Force-in-Exile also received the type and the service managed to fly these examples under operational conditions during the war.

Beyond the CR.714, which was the only version of the CR.710 lot to make it to any sort of meaningful production, their proved other related offshoots/variants of the line. The "CR.720" was proposed as a dedicated trainer form set to carry a down-rated engine of just 100 to 220 horsepower while the "CR.760" was to be developed with the Italian Isotta-Fraschini "Delta" engine of 750 horsepower output. This version flew for the first time in May of 1940 but was destroyed by its handlers ahead of the German advance. The "CR.770" became another proposed offshoot of the line and this model carried a Renault Model 626 16-cylinder engine of 800 horsepower. This entry flew for the first time in November of 1939 but, again, the example was destroyed by the French ahead of the Germans advance.

The ultimate form of the Cyclone series fighters was to become the "CR.780". It was slated to carry a Renault Model 468 series 12-cylinder engine of 500 horsepower driving a pair of three-bladed propeller units in contra-rotating fashion. Proposed armament centered on 2 x Hispano-Suiza HS.404 autocannons coupled with 2 x 7.5mm MAC 1934 machine guns. The CR.780 never made it beyond Caudron-Renault drawing boards.

In all, between 60 to 90 of the CR.710 fighter family were actually built. The last examples were flown by Finland into 1941.©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

Service Year

1940

Origin

France

Status

RETIRED
Not in Service.

Crew

1

Production

90
UNITS

Caudron-Renault - France

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Finland (limited); France (limited); Poland (limited)

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Air-to-Air Combat, Fighter
General ability to actively engage other aircraft of similar form and function, typically through guns, missiles, and/or aerial rockets.

Length

28.4 ft
(8.65 m)

Width/Span

29.4 ft
(8.97 m)

Height

9.4 ft
(2.87 m)

Empty Wgt

3,086 lb
(1,400 kg)

MTOW

4,145 lb
(1,880 kg)

Wgt Diff

+1,058 lb
(+480 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the Caudron-Renault CR.714 Cyclone production variant)

Installed: 1 x Renault 12R-03 V-12 air-cooled piston engine developing 500 horsepower and driving a three-bladed propeller unit at the nose.

Max Speed

286 mph
(460 kph | 248 kts)

Ceiling

13,123 ft
(4,000 m | 2 mi)

Range

559 mi
(900 km | 1,667 nm)

Rate-of-Climb

1,360 ft/min
(415 m/min)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the Caudron-Renault CR.714 Cyclone production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

ORIGINAL (CR.710 - CR.713):
2 x 20mm Hispano-Suiza HS.9 autocannons in underwing pods one pod per wing).

LATER (CR.714):
4 x 7.5mm MAC 1934 machine guns in wing installations (two per wing member).

PROPOSED (CR.780):
2 x 20mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 autocannons.
2 x 7.5mm MAC 1934 machine guns.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft medium machine gun

Graphical image of an aircraft automatic cannon

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

CR.710 "Cyclone" - Base Series Designation; Renault 12R-01 air-cooled engine of 450 horsepower; prototype lost February 1938.

CR.711 - Increased engine power.

CR-712 - Increased engine power.

CR.713 - Model of December 1937; retractable undercarriage; revised tail rudder; Renault 12R-01 engine; prototype lost in February of 1938.

CR.714 - Model of April 1938; revised wings, flaps, reinforced fuselage, and Renault 12R-03 engine.

CR.720 - Proposed dedicated trainer with down-rated engine of 100 to 200 horsepower output.

CR.770 - Proposed fighter version with Renault Model 626 16-cylinder engine of 800 horsepower

CR.780 - Proposed fighter version with Renault 468 12-cylinder engine driving contra-rotating propeller arrangement; armament of 2 x 20mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 autocannons and 2 x MAC 1934 machine guns.

General Assessment

Firepower

Performance

Survivability

Versatility

Impact

Values are derrived from a variety of categories related to the design, overall function, and historical influence of this aircraft in aviation history.

Overall Rating

The overall rating takes into account over 60 individual factors related to this aircraft entry.

68

Rating is out of a possible 100 points.

Relative Maximum Speed

Hi: 300mph

Lo: 150mph

This entry's maximum listed speed (286mph).

Graph average of 225 miles-per-hour.

City-to-City Ranges

NYC

LON

PAR

BER

MOS

TOK

SYD

LAX

NYC

Caudron-Renault CR.714 Cyclone operational range when compared to distances between major cities (in KM).

Max Altitude Visualization

Design Balance

The three qualities reflected above are altitude, speed, and range.

Aviation Era Span

Showcasing era cross-over of this aircraft design.

Unit Production (90)

90

36183

44000

Compared against Ilyushin IL-2 (military) and Cessna 172 (civilian).

>>

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery

1 / 1

Image of the Caudron-Renault CR.710 Cyclone (series)

Image from the Public Domain.

Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies

2024 Military Pay Chart Military Ranks DoD Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content; site is 100% curated by humans.

Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, WDMMA.org (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), WDMMW.org (World Directory of Modern Military Warships), SR71blackbird.org, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane, and MilitaryRibbons.info, cataloguing military medals and ribbons. Special Interest: RailRoad Junction, the locomotive encyclopedia.

©2023 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Content ©2003-2023 (20yrs)