Bernard H 110 The Bernard H 110 was a single engine , single seat monoplane floatplane fighter designed for a French Navy competition . It flew in 1935 but had only made four test flights when the Bernard company was declared bankrupt , preventing further development . Design and development . In the early 1930s the French Navy became interested in catapult launched floatplane fighters and the Société des Avions Bernard produced the twin float Bernard H 52 in response , deriving it from their earlier Bernard 20 , 74 and 260 land based fighter aircraft . The " H " stood for the new Naval " Hydravion " class . The Navy did not adopt the H 52 but put forward a specification which called for supercharging to 4 , 000 m ( 13 , 100 ft ) and a stalling speed of less than 100 km / h ( 62 mph ) . This brought designs from four manufacturers ; one of these , the Bernard H 110 , was a H 52 development , slightly larger and with a more powerful engine . The Bernard H 110 had a mid mounted cantilever wing . In plan , it was straight tapered with elliptical tips . Following the methods used on earlier Bernard aircraft , the wing was a single piece structure which incorporated part of the fuselage . In the place of spars it had six span - wise cells formed from vertical alloy plates separated by spacers close to the wing surface . Each cell was separated from the next by wider spacers , all of which were shaped to the airfoil profile . The H 52 was metal skinned but the H 110 was fabric covered as the Navy found this easier to repair . The cells were vertically expanded at the centre of the wing structure to form the cockpit area of the fuselage between the engine and the rear part . On its trailing edge the wing carried horn balanced ailerons and inboard flaps , with pilot controlled , full span Handley Page slots on the leading edge . The rear fuselage , beginning just behind the open cockpit and the trailing edge of the wing , was built around four longerons . These connected , via four steel members in the wing centre section , to the engine mountings . The fuselage tapered rearwards to a mid set tailplane and fin . The rudder and separate elevators were both balanced . Ahead of the wing leading edge , the 530 kW ( 710 hp ) Hispano - Suiza 9Vbs nine cylinder radial engine was enclosed by a long chord cowling with small superimposed fairings , two per cylinder , for the valve mechanisms and drove a three blade propeller . The H 100 had a pair of floats close in length to that of the fuselage and fitted with mid - length steps and water rudders at the stern . They were made from " védal " , duralumin plated with pure aluminium to improve their salt water resistance . Each float was mounted by five streamlined struts , two outwards and upwards to the wing and three upwards to the lower fuselage . This arrangement left the central fuselage to carry bombs if required . The H 110 carried a pair of Darne 7 . 5 m ( 0 . 295 in ) calibre machine guns , mounted in the wings just above the floats and firing outside the propeller disc . The H 110 flew from the Seine in June 1935 without incident , taking off with slots open in six seconds . Three more flights were made before S . A . B . was declared bankrupt . The H 110 then became the property of the administrators and was scrapped and the Navy ordered the Loire 210 .