N.C.223.3

N.C.223.3

LeO 451 early

N.C.223.3

LeO 451 early

France

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.7	3.0	2.3

Class:

Bomber

Long Range bomber

Research:7 900

Purchase:10 000

Description

The N.C.223.3 is a rank II French bomber with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB), 3.0 (RB), and 2.3 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.73 "Vive la France".

The N.C.223.3, as a derivative of the Farman F.220 plane model, looks strikingly similar to the F.222.2 bomber, yet different as well. The biggest difference is the twin rudder on the tail that helps improve stability and yaw control. The plane's overall design was also made more aerodynamic as part of the improvement, the nose section is made a tad shorter, and the plane uses Hispano-Suiza 12Y-29 engines rather than the previous Gnome Rhone model. Defensive armaments were also improved with two Hispano cannons as the rear ventral and dorsal turret armament.

The N.C.223.3 is made distinctive with its push-pull engine configuration, stacking the engine on each side in tandem for the effect where the forward engine "pulls" the plane while the rear engine "pushes" the plane. This lowered the amount of engines having to protrude from the wing, while keeping the engine centreline so that one failed engine in a side will not prevent the other from providing a similar thrust force.

In the default camouflage scheme, the N.C.223.3 is coated in the French standard aircraft tri-color camouflage, which consisted of Vert (Green), Brun Mat (Matt brown), and Gris Bleu foncé (Dark blue gray). The underside of the aircraft was painted in Gris Bleu Clair (Light blue gray). The French roundel is present twice on the left side, one on the N.C.223.3 fuselage and one on top of the wing. Final note of appearance is the French national tri-colour markings on the tail plane and rudder.

General info

Flight performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 4,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	383	369	8000	29.8	30.4	4.4		520
Upgraded	417	400		28.3	29.0	9.0	6.4

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
450	320	520	___	260	~4	~3

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 250	< 250	< 300	> 340

Compressor	Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
Setting 1	3,400 m	910 hp	1,022 hp

Survivability and armour

• No armour
• Self-sealing fuel tanks (4 in each wing)

Armaments

Suspended armament

The N.C.223.3 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 52 x 50 kg G.A. MMN. 50 bombs (2,600 kg total)
• 5 x 200 kg No.1 bombs + 7 x 100 kg No.1 bombs (1,700 kg total)
• 15 x 200 kg No.1 bombs + 12 x 100 kg No.1 bombs (4,200 kg total)

Defensive armament

The N.C.223.3 is defended by:

• 1 x 20 mm Hispano 404 cannon, dorsal turret (240 rpg)
• 1 x 20 mm Hispano 404 cannon, ventral turret (240 rpg)
• 1 x 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine gun, nose turret (1,000 rpg)

Usage in battles

Like its predecessor, the F.222.2, the N.C.223.3 is a heavy hitting bomber with okay manoeuvrability at low altitude and low air speed, and can carry a staggering 52 x 50 kg bombs. Combined with its frequent presence in Ground Strike matches with only light vehicles, it will make short work of any (or even all) groups of armoured cars and AAA it crosses paths with. However, the ability to carry larger bomb loads later in its upgrade tree turns it into an exceptionally capable base killer, often time wiping out bases solo. As of update 1.97, 5 of the 200 kg No.1 bombs can destroy a base, so with the upgraded bombload you should be able to easily destroy 3 bases, and keep all 12 100kg No.1 Bombs for the enemy airfield, or to destroy the fourth base in some maps . However, it is still capable of turning entire columns of medium tanks to flaming scrap if escorted in higher level battles, with Hispano gun turrets available if an enemy tries to attack the plane.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Turret 7 mm	200 GPs
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7 mm MGs (turret)
III	Wings repair	Engine		Turret 20 mm	200 GPs S5
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 20 mm cannons (turret)

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Strong defensive firepower
• Currently has the largest payload available from any other Rank I bomber, rivalling even Rank III and IV heavy bombers
• Engines away from the wing-fuselage
• Addition of takeoff flaps make taking off from an airfield easier than in the F.222
• Durable
• Has two pilots
• Somehow fast, despite its size
• Internal payload doesn't really affect its performance except for its rate of climb
• Can potentially win games by outright destroying the airfields when played in groups
• Large wings but are not littered with fuel tanks
• Default payload of 52 x 50 kg bombs makes short work of artillery, light tanks, armoured cars and trucks crucial to many games this bomber finds itself in
• Spawn at a very high altitude making it almost impossible for planes to get up to it before it dops the bombs

Cons:

• Low maneuverability at high speeds
• Massive target
• Poor acceleration
• Weak from the front
• 20 mm turrets don't carry a lot of ammo and have a very long reload
• No armour protection
• Roll rate starts stiffening at ~320 km/h
• Tail design creates blind spots for gunners
• You need to invest a large amount of crew points to be effective in the N.C.223.3, especially the gunners and reload time
• Being a Rank I, it has a 0.3 multiplier for SL rewards, so you will find yourself in a hard time earning SL with the N.C.223.3, despite it being able to earn a lot of it by base bombing

History

Farman Aviation Works began working on the F.220 bomber design in 1925. This aircraft was based on a successful earlier design of the F.211 which was a parasol wing, four-engine monoplane utilizing tractor and pusher engines. While the F.211 never entered production, it served as a base for the F.220 to be designed and built from. The first successful flight of the F.220 happened on 26 May 1932.

The F.220 was a success in of itself, however, Farman made several modifications to improve the design which included a new vertical stabilizer, rebuilding the nose and ventral turret to fully enclose them and upgrading the old V-engines to new radial versions. After these modifications, the new version of the F.220 made its maiden flight in 1933.

In 1936, another variant, the F.222 first flew and this bomber incorporated retractable landing gear which reduced drag and was not available on earlier versions. A total of twenty-four aircraft of this version where produced and began service in Armee de I’Air in 1937 and was tasked with performing night bombings raids over Germany in May and June of 1940.

The F.222.2 bomber which is featured in the game had a redesigned nose and changed out the engines from Gnome-Rhône 14Kdrs engines to Gnome-Rhône 14N-11 engines.

The later F.223 which came after the F.222 saw significant changes, not only to name as it became NC.223 after Farman was absorbed into Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre (SNCAC) which was the nationalization of both Farman Aviation Works and Hanriot in 1936. The aircraft’s tail section was reworked and went from a single vertical stabilizer to a twin-stabilizer setup and the fuselage was refined to be more aerodynamic. Another upgrade came in the form of changes to the ventral and dorsal turret weapons. The Mle 33 7.5 mm machine guns were replaced with the more powerful H.S. 404 20 mm autocannons.

On 7 June 1940, a variant (NC 223.4) of the French Naval Aviation was the first allied bomber to fly into Germany and bomb Berlin, the flight dropped eight 250 kg and 80 x 10 kg bombs on Germany’s capital. While the ordinance was not much, the psychological impact was the goal and the raid was reproduced three days later. NC 223 bombers continued to serve in bombing roles until June 1940 when they were transferred to North Africa to fulfill the role of transport aircraft.

The one in-game was a bomber version with different, weaker engines than the original NC. 223 (910 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Y-29 engines instead of the 1,100 hp engines on the NC. 223). 8 of them were built.

Media

The Shooting Range #71 - Metal Beasts section at 00:33 discusses the N.C.223.3.

The Shooting Range #131 - Pages of History section at 05:23 discusses the N.C.223.3.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] NC.223.3: let nobody leave unsatisfied!

Farman Aviation Works (Avions Farman)
Bombers	F.222.2 · N.C.223.3*
	* Originally the F.223, it was redesignated NC.223 when Farman Aviation was absorbed into the nationalized SNCAC

France bombers
Farman	F.222.2 · N.C.223.3
Latécoère	Late 298D
Potez	Potez 633
Liore et Olivier	LeO 451 early · LeO 451 late
Bloch	M.B.174A-3 · M.B.162 · M.B.175T
American	V-156-F · Martin 167-A3 · ▄A-35B · ▄SB2C-5 · B-26C · ▄PBY-5A Late · ▄PB4Y-2
British	Lancaster MR.7