The aircraft was designed to be able to seek patients or casualties by scouting, even at high altitudes, during military operations in mountainous countries, like then-French Morocco over the Atlas Mountains.
The M.B.80 prototype was an angular cantilever low-wing monoplane, powered by a single 89kW Lorraine 5Pc engine, and with fixed wide-track divided landing gear to facilitate operations from unprepared strips. Its pilot was seated forward in an open cockpit and behind him in the rear fuselage, under easily accessible panels, was accommodation for a single stretcher.
The main design feature made it possible to transport a casualty lying prone, in a compartment placed between the pilot and the engine. The wings could also be adapted to hold casualties, remaining constantly under the sight of the pilot and connected to him by an Aviaphone communication system.
The MB.80 made its first flight at the beginning of summer 1932 in Villacoublay, piloted by Zacharie Heu. An all-metal monoplane with low wings, it was equipped with a French Lorraine 5 Pc of 88.24 kW (120 hp) which allowed him to reach a speed of 190 km/h (119 hp) at an altitude of 6,400 meters (21,000 ft). It was able to take off in 70 meters (230 ft) and to land in 95 meters (312 ft). In a 1932 test, the MB.80 carried out 209 landings in one and a half days without any problems.
The aircraft was built without any assistance from the government, but an initial order of 20 was placed by the Ground French Forces (the French Armée de l’Air was founded in 1933), and it was one of the aircraft that relaunched Marcel Bloch in the aeronautical construction industry.
The production model was called the MB.81.
Engine: Lorraine 5 PC, 120 hp
Maximum speed: 190 km/h
Ceiling: 6400 m
Take-off distance: 70 m
Landing distance: 95 m
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