What was the "Super Bidon"?

Short answer

It was a version of the Breguet 19 with a modified fuselage and huge fuel capacity: the French Super Bidon was the third Br.19 TR Hispano, named Point d'Interrogation, with an 18.3 m wingspan and 5,370 litres of fuel. The Spanish Cuatro Vientos, which flew to Cuba in 1933, was a Br.19 TF Super Bidon.

Published: November 1, 2026 · Updated: November 1, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Breguet 19 A2Peyot (CC BY SA), vía commons

A Breguet 19 stretched for fuel

The French Super Bidon was the third Br.19 TR Hispano, named Point d'Interrogation, with a modified fuselage, a wingspan of 18.3 m (60 ft) and a total fuel capacity of 5,370 litres (1,420 US gal). In the same family, the second Spanish Bidon was named Jesús del Gran Poder and flew from Seville to Bahía, in Brazil. That CASA-built Br.19 TR Bidon is preserved at the Museo del Aire in Cuatro Vientos, Madrid. About 700 Breguet 19s were built under licence by Spain's CASA, Japan's Nakajima, Belgium's SABCA and the Yugoslav factory in Kraljevo.

The Cuatro Vientos

Another aircraft, with an enclosed cockpit, was built in Spain in 1933; named Cuatro Vientos, it flew from Seville to Cuba. It was a purpose-built Br.19 TF Super Bidon, which Mariano Barberán y Tros de Ilarduya, Lieutenant Joaquín Collar Serra and Sergeant Modesto Madariaga flew from Spain to Cuba in 1933. It left Seville at 4:40 on 10 June 1933 and reached Camagüey at 20:45 local time on 11 June, after 7,320 kilometres and 39 hours and 55 minutes of flight.