Potez 630
Contents
Description
The Potez 630 is a rank II French twin-engine fighter with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB), 2.3 (RB), and 1.7 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.73 "Vive la France".
The Potez 630 is best used as an energy fighter. This aircraft is a heavy fighter with a sluggish climb rate. While piloting this aircraft, you will want to stay down in the mid to lower altitudes and dive on targets from those areas. Attempting to climb and shoot will just cause you to be a slow and large target for someone to shoot at. After levelling off from a dive, the Potez 630 will start to lose the energy that was built up and will bleed energy even faster if the plane is taken into a vertical loop or a turn. The key is when reaching the bottom of your dive (whether you hit your target or not) you need to start to climb again in preparation for another dive to build more energy for another attack. If you find yourself low and slow, turn your plane away from the enemy and begin to climb.
General info
Flight performance
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 4,000 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 409 | 394 | 9500 | 22.9 | 23.6 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 450 |
| Upgraded | 445 | 426 | 21.1 | 22.0 | 11.2 | 8.3 | ||
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 | + | - | ||
| 0 | 295 | 360 | 360 | 240 | ~9 | ~6 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 360 | < 360 | < 330 | > 280 |
| Compressor (RB/SB) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Setting 1 | ||
| Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | WEP Engine power |
| 4,200 m | 720 hp | 787 hp |
Survivability and armour
- No armour plate & bulletproof glass
- Self-sealing fuel tanks: inner wings
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Offensive armament
The Potez 630 is armed with:
- 2 x 20 mm Hispano 404 cannons, chin-mounted (90 rpg = 180 total)
The cannons are arranged in the belly of the fuselage right under the pilot's seat. Each is armed with the same amount of ammunition, which means that all guns will fire together until empty.
Defensive armament
The Potez 630 is defended by:
- 1 x 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine gun, dorsal turret (1,000 rpg)
Usage in battles
The Potez 630 was developed to be a multi-role aircraft capable of control/direction, interception/bomber escorting and night fighting, however, it never really measured up to what was expected. This aircraft was originally outfitted with Hispano-Suiza engines (which the current 630 in the game utilises), however, due to problems and poor performance, the French later changed these engines out for Gnome-Rhone 14-cylinder radials. The Potez 630 in the game utilises the weaker Hispano-Suiza engines which in-turn explains why this aircraft has a poor climb rate and energy retention problems.
While the Potez 630 may be lacking in the power department, it does have a very streamlined fuselage and very responsive control surfaces which allow the aircraft to be quite manoeuvrable. Along with manoeuvrability, the 630 is outfitted with two belly-mounted 20 mm Hispano 404 cannons with 90 rounds of ammo each (180 total). These rounds can be depleted after about 7 seconds of continuous fire, so short and well-aimed shots should be made. There is a dedicated gunner at the rear which utilizes a 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine gun. The Potez 630 does not have the option to mount any other weapons (there are no options in the tech tree for this) such as bombs or gun pods.
Manual Engine Control
| MEC elements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
| Oil | Water | Type | ||||
| Not controllable | Controllable Not auto controlled |
Not controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Not auto controlled |
Combined | Not controllable 1 gear |
Not controllable |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Very manoeuvrable for a heavy fighter
- Good cannon armament (against fighters, bombers, AAA and trucks)
- Starts with an air-spawn on all maps
Cons:
- Small amount of cannon ammunition; depletes in about 7 seconds under continuous fire
- Large target
- No armour, pilot and engines vulnerable to machine gun fire
- Sluggish climber, slow level flight
- Bad energy retention in turns and especially in vertical loops
- Engines prone to overheating when not using MEC
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
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
| Potez (SNCAN) | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | Potez 630 · Potez 631 |
| Bombers | Potez 633 |
| France twin-engine fighters and strike aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Twin-engine fighters | Potez 630 · Potez 631 · VB.10C-1 · VB.10-02 |
| Strike aircraft | Br.693AB2 · ▄AD-4 · ▄AD-4NA |
| Netherlands | |
| Twin-engine fighters | ◗Fokker G.IA |
| Strike aircraft | ◘Firefly F.Mk.IV |
