Today, in the MSFS2024 Marketplace, I caught sight of this (1-day) Free Trial Latécoère 28; the classic (French) long-distance monoplane of the 1930s, simulated by Red Wing Simulations. This is a fascinating airplane that I recall well from my earliest times in the hobby, thanks to freeware (FSX) versions available in the library. So, naturally, it piqued my interest, especially after my last post, where I just flew the Air France A320, because there is a connection between Latécoère and Air France. During Latécoère's operating life, it became the main-stay of Air France's predecessor, Aéropostale, which heavily used this a/c to establish intercontinental air-mail services to the Continents of Africa and South America. Just as several major U.S. airlines (e.g., UA, AA, TWA, and US Airways) had originated as airmail services; Aéropostale, a pioneering mail-service company, founded in Toulouse, France, (locale of my flight today), was one of the primary genetic foundations of Air France.

And here is another curious coincidence that happened to me today. After I completed a flight of this Latécoère earlier in the day, I happened to visit the local mall (though I rarely visit the malls, in these days of on-line shopping), and there inside the mall, I found an Aéropostale store...🙂...The two Aéropostale entities (of identical name) are differentiated in the Wiki, as follows:

1. Aéropostale (aviation), a defunct French airmail company
2. Aéropostale (clothing), a U.S. apparel retailer

The U.S. clothing retailer, Aéropostale, founded in 1987, was (apparently) inspired by the history and adventurous spirit of the pioneering French airmail company, Aéropostale. That's the connection between the two Aéropostales. The original Aéropostale (airline) was dissolved in 1932, and its assets were merged with other companies to form the national airline, Air France, a year later, in 1933.

Anyway, Aéropostale (clothing), being a retailer of casual apparel and accessories, principally aimed at young adults and teenagers; while in the mall today, my teen chose to visit this store. Meanwhile, as I pondered about Latécoère, Aéropostale, and Air France...🙂..., I noticed a Starbucks store nearby, so, I ordered for myself a cup of coffee and a 3-pack of "Madeleine French Cookies"...🙂...to go with the coffee...too many French associations all together in my day today...🙂...from Latécoère SIM aircraft to Aéropostale Clothing Store to French Madeleine Cookie...and, of course, not to mention the Ziegler (father-son) duo and Air France A320 of my previous post...Oh well...

Here is yet another fascinating fact about Latécoère 28: One of its famous pilots was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the well-known French writer, poet, and aviator. Coincidentally, just a month or so ago, I was looking for my copy of "The Little Prince", of course, the English Translation version, but could not find it anywhere, so, I had (promptly) gone to the local book-store and picked up a brand new copy, which I'm holding now in my hand; published by MARINER Books, priced $11.99....🙂...inviting me to read it again...

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry flew the Latécoère 28 for Aéropostale, as he explored and identified long-haul air-mail routes, from Paris all the way to Chile and Argentina. The Latécoère 28 was the main a/c for the company's air mail services. With this airplane, it became possible to send a letter from Paris to Santiago (Chile) in the 1930s in super-fast four days... (wow...🙂...) ...instead of weeks or months that a steamer would have taken! Compared to the earlier model (Aéropostale) airplanes that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was used to flying before, the (closed-cockpit) Latécoère 28 felt so incredibly advanced to him that he is quoted to have said:

"Aéropostale has lost much of its charm since the advent of reliable motors and radiotelegraph. Now our engines are foolproof, and there is no reason to know our route because the direction-finder indicates it for us. Frankly, flying under these conditions is a bureaucrat's affair.”

...🙂...Apparently, from his perspective, the sense of challenge and adventure in the airmanship was gone. I could not help wondering what he would have said if he were to be placed in the ultra-modern and ultra-automated cockpit of an Airbus A350...surrounded by FBW...🙂...; btw, the A350 is an airliner I've lately got to know very well and flown plenty...🙂...thanks to iniBuilds...

In the context of Saint-Exupéry's comment above, I now invite you to examine the close-up cockpit and avionics shot, below, of this a/c, and decide for yourself. As the primary instruments, it has an RPM Meter, a Vertical Speed dial, an Altimeter, a Clock, and an Anemometer (that measures wind speed). In the days of Saint-Exupéry, together with the Clock, the Anemometer was used to help estimate the distance traveled over the ground (and the airspeed of the a/c). 

This a/c SIM has a (quaint) Autopilot function that I found effective, for holding my altitude and heading (see close up shot of the vintage cockpit "EFB" on which you can turn the Autopilot capability on/off) e.g., to turn off the Autopilot, you just click that "TAKE BACK CONTROL" (Red "A") sign either on the EFB or on the front flightdeck.

For this post, I flew this Latécoère 28, eastward from (LFBO) Toulouse–Blagnac Airport for about 100 miles, stopping just short of reaching the foothills of the Cévennes range of mountains (see MSFS EFB Map). The region is scenic and rather well-rendered by MSFS scenery.

Hope you enjoy this collection of images of this classic French airplane that was once considered among the most advanced airplanes of the early 1930s, flying here in the command of yours truly; over these gentle hills, rolling meadows and scattered towns (see images below) ...of the (pretty) French countryside... 

Thanks for viewing...!

Edited November 9, 2025Nov 9 by P_7878

Nice set of shots, what a historc aircraft, fine sharing !

cheers 😉

Edited November 9, 2025Nov 9 by pmplayer

5 hours ago, pmplayer said:

Nice set of shots, what a historic aircraft, fine sharing !

cheers 😉

Thanks, pmplayer.

Indeed, quite a historic aircraft, and also one-time (considered) so modern...🙂... 

I wish the cockpit textures were fully up to the MSFS standards...still, being the only one around, it did it for me today.

My one-day trial in the Marketplace has now expired, though...🙂...

Cheers...!

What an interesting plane. Love the interior decor!

50 minutes ago, John F said:

What an interesting plane. Love the interior decor!

Appreciated the comment, John.

Agree, a very interesting airplane, and, of course, nice interior decor and colorful wall-paper…🙂…

There seemed to be an abundance of Clocks, Chronometers and such, in the cabin; must have been useful, as it flew long-haul, across oceans and continents…

19 hours ago, P_7878 said:

Aéropostale, a pioneering mail-service company, founded in Toulouse, France, (locale of my flight today), was one of the primary genetic foundations of Air France.

Wow, I didn't know about that. I knew that the Argentina branch of Aéropostale (for which also Saint-Exupéry flew) ended up being one of the foundations of Aerolíneas Argentinas. Nice pics, BTW!

Thanks, Luis.

Very good point…🙂…and you’re exactly right. I actually wished to mention this fascinating aspect of Aeropostale and Saint-Exupery.

The Aeropostale gave rise to two major Airlines of today: Air France and Aerolineas Argentinas.

To think that Latecoere and Saint-Exupery could connect Paris to Buenos Aires (an astounding 7,000 miles apart) in the early 1930s, is an endearing testament to both this remarkable airplane and this intrepid aviator.

wow, that interior! too bad the exterior looks so strange.

But nice shots!

27 minutes ago, jankees said:

wow, that interior! too bad the exterior looks so strange.

But nice shots!

Thanks for chiming in, Jan...!

I wish I could have captured a couple of shots of the elaborate interior, and the passengers seated therein. All gentlemen were sporting (period) mustache ...🙂...one of them even had a cigarette dangling sideways from the mouth...🙂...it would have been a bit hard seating next to that individual, while on a long-haul passage on this airliner...

Regarding the external textures, I picked the red livery that I liked, and, indeed, it shows up a bit strange when the golden (MSFS) sunlight is reflecting off its rough surface ...🙂...A metallic paint would have looked much better I think...I also wished to try the floatplane (28.3) model of the Latécoère...

Anyway, today, I was (starkly) reminded that my Free Trial has ended... (see below).

Oh well...it was certainly fun as long as it lasted...🙂...until maybe one day I make this airplane part of my permanent hangar...