The Dewoitine D.338 was a French passenger airliner that first flew on 9 August 1935. Powered by three Hispano-Suiza 9V-16 engines (license built versions of the Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9), it entered service with Air France on 13 July 1936 on the route from Paris to Marseille via Lyon.
Designed to carry up to 22 passengers, it had a range of 2,000km (1,200 miles) and cruised at 260km/h. Like all aircraft of the time, the service ceiling was not particularly high, at 16,100 feet.
Dewoitine D.338 Video
Following on from the last video about the versatile Bristol 170, this time we head over to France for a look at the Dewoitine D.338. The first one minute and 10 seconds of the video below show the plane in action.
A lot is packed into the minute, including ground shots as well as air to air photography. When the aircraft swings around on the ground it looks like one of the staff was almost taken out by a propeller.
A Look Inside
In the late 1930s, the plane was operated in Europe and all the way to Hong Kong and Saigon in Asia. They also saw service in South America and Africa, working the Air France network.
Overall Thoughts
There were 30 Dewoitine D.338’s built in Toulouse for Air France. Interestingly the capacity depended on the routes. There was seating for 22 passengers within Europe, 15 for services to Africa, and 12 for services to the Far East (with a note “including 6 in chaises longues”). Sadly there are no surviving examples of this aircraft, so it’s not possible to see what one was like.
Did you know about this French airliner? What do you think of the video? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
Enjoying the series? Check out the index to all the “Does Anyone Remember…” articles.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Featured image via MilitaryAviations.net.
Remember them? Hell, I’m in the research gathering stage necessary to build a radio control model of one in 1/12 scale (1″ equals 1 foot, so an 8′ or nearly 2.5 meter wingspan.) The most important piece needed is an accurate set of scale 3-views so I can design/create the plans to build it!
An excellent set of these 3-views do exist and were published along with a detailed story about the D-338 in a 2-Issue article in the French language magazine ‘Le Fana de L’ Aviation’ featured in the June of 1989 (Issue No 235) and July of 1989 (No 236) editions, but I’ve tried every Internet domestic and International vender source for aviation magazine back-issues and I’ve not found anyone with the two specific magazine Issues I need. Very frustrating, as I am from the USA and especially as I don’t speak or read
French. There is likely a source for the magazines/documents I need somewhere in France or in the French National Archives (or equivalent of the US Library of Congress) but my boots are on the wrong side of the pond to do the legwork. Very sad…
All I need is a good clear PDF image of the needed 3-views to send to my local print shop and then I can let my drafting skills create the accurate plans and start cutting wood!
Know any rabid French 30 to 40 year old aviation magazine collectors/hoarders?
I would suggest contacting @AviationMarlene on Twitter / X. The account posts all about French aviation and is generally how I’ve discovered these more obscure French aircraft. The person who does that account might be able to look it up or find it for you, as they are based in France and definitely speak English. Good luck with your project – if you do manage to get it built, I’d love for you to let me know, so I can do an article – even if it’s just a link to it flying on YouTube or something. Good luck!!
Hi, not sure if you’ve already seen this but this One Mile At A Tine review of the Ethiopian Airlines transit hotel might be helpful for your Australia trip via Ethiopia! https://onemileatatime.com/reviews/ethiopian-skylight-in-terminal-hotel-addis-ababa-airport/
Oooh, I hadn’t, I was waiting for that to come out – thank you for the heads up! A shame he did the in terminal hotel though, as I plan on going to the other one. However, as one of the people commenting on his post has said, “it’s magnitudes nicer” with a pool and all the rest of it, so I’ll certainly be availing of the facilities there.