1/72 Caudron C-445 France - 4 decal v. for France

4 decal variants

1. Caudron 445 Goéland of a Polish Training Division, France, 1940

2. Caudron 445 Goéland, Aeronavalé, Rochenfort, France, May 1940

3. Caudron 445 Goéland, La Sénia, Algeria, January 1943

4. Caudron 445 Goéland, former Vichy transport aircraft, 1944


The aircraft was developed in response to a need for a fast, economical, and comfortable transport aircraft. The first C.440 took off on June 17, 1935, and even the initial tests confirmed its exceptionally successful design. The eight-seat aircraft, with a cockpit for two pilots, was powered by a pair of inverted, in-line, air-cooled Renault Bengal Six six-cylinder engines, each producing 132 kW. This was followed by three C.441s equipped with more powerful Renault 6Q-01 engines, each producing 162 kW, which were also installed in a counter-rotating configuration in the subsequent civilian version, the C.444. The C.445 prototype, which underwent test flights in 1936 and was also equipped with 6Q engines, featured a wing with a dihedral angle increased by 1°. The long-range racing aircraft modified from the C.445 was designated the C.445R. The C.448 variant was again equipped with more powerful 6Q-02 and 6Q-03 engines, each rated at 176 kW (left-rotating and right-rotating), and its takeoff weight thus increased from 3,500 kg to 3,700 kg.