SABCA S.11 SABCA S.11 The SABCA S.11 or SABCA S.XI was a prototype Belgian airliner of the 1930s. It was a three-engined high-winged monoplane intended for service in the Belgian Congo, but only a single example was built. In 1926, the Belgian government issued a specification for an all-metal trimotor airliner to replace the wooden Handley Page W.8 biplanes used by Belgian airline SABENA in the Belgian Congo. To meet this requirement, Sociétés Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aéronautiques (SABCA) offered a high-winged monoplane, the S.XI, designed by Henri Jullien, its chief engineer, which was intended to fly in 1928. The S.XI had
Sabena had a domestic network that was mainly used by businessmen who wanted to be in their coastal villas for the weekend. In 1938, the airline purchased the new Savoia-Marchetti SM.83, a development of the S.M. 73 with a speed of 435 km/h (270 mph), although it flew services at a cruising speed of about 400 km/h (250 mph). At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Sabena's fleet totalled 18 aircraft. Its mainstay fleet type was the Savoia-Marchetti SM.73 airliner (it had 11 of the type) and the Junkers Ju 52/3m airliner (it had five). Sabena also had just