It may seem strange that with France situated conveniently to deploy long-range strategic bombers against virtually any European target, as well as against many other targets in Africa, the Armee de I'Air was not equipped with such aircraft at the outbreak of World War II. This was not due to any reluctance on the part of the French air force to operate such a type, but rather for the same reason that the United States Army Air Corps was not well equipped with Boeing B-17s at that time. Quite simply stated, any allocation of funds could procure more small aircraft than large aircraft, and for some-peculiar reason governments of that era seemed more interested in quantity, rather than smaller numbers of carefully selected aircraft of special potential.
Following absorption of Bloch into the nationalised aviation industry as a component of SNCASO in 1936, the design team which had been brought together by Avions Marcel Bloch was involved with a derivative of the earlier but unused 12-passenger Bloch M.B.160. The resulting Bloch M.B.161.01 prototype (F-ARTV) was flown for the first time during September 1939, and a satisfactory result of early tests brought an order from Air France; it was to be almost seven years before the first was delivered. This was due primarily to delaying tactics of the French industry, anxious to ensure that none of the 20 ordered by Germany in 1942 should be delivered. Consequently, it was not until 17 September 1945 that the redesignated SE.161.1 was flown for the first time. Its configuration was that of a cantilever mid-wing monoplane of all-metal construction, having a high-mounted tail-plane with endplate fins and rudders, retractable tailwheel landing gear, and power provided by four 858kW Gnome-Rhone 14N-44/45 radial engines in wing leading-edge nacelles. Standard accommodation was provided for a crew of four and 33 passengers, but in 1951 Air France converted some of its SE.161s to a high-density seating arrangement for a maximum of 44 passengers.
Bloch 161.1s, by then named Languedoc, entered regular service on Air France's Paris-Algiers route on 28 May 1946, and on the Paris-Oran-Casablanca and Paris-Marseilles routes in June and July respectively. By October most had been withdrawn because, in addition to problems with their landing gear, they were unsuitable for winter operation. When they re-entered service from March 1947, they had acquired Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines, de-icing equipment, cabin heating and other modifications. They had also acquired the changed designation SE.161.P7.
When production ended a total of 100 Languedocs had been built and, despite landing gear problems that persisted for almost four years, they saw extensive service, not only with Air France but also with the French air force and navy. In addition, five were supplied to the Polish national airline Polskie Linie Lotinicze (LOT).

Technical data

SE. 161 "Languedoc"
Type Short and middle distance passenger aircraft
Manufacturer SNCASE, Toulouse factory
Power plant initially: four Gnome-Rhone 14N-radial motors with 1,150 PS each, later: four air-cooled 14-cylinder-radial engines Pratt and Whitney R-1830/92 (Twin Wasps) from 1,200 PS (882 kW) each. Starting performance with 3-bladed-propellers with 3.5 m diameter.
Year of construction 1946
Perfermance
Top speed 439 km/h
Travel speed 375 km/h
Landing speed 135 km/h
High Altitude 7800 m
Rate of climb 5 m/sec
Max. Operational range 3200 km
Operational range with full payload 1800 km
Operational range with 33 passengers on board 2500 km
Fuel consumption during flight 750 l/h
Weight
Empty weight 12 650 kg
Max. Take-off weight 22 940 kg
Useful load 3 923 kg
Dimensions
Span 29,38 m
Length 24,24 m
Height 5,13 m
Wing span area 111,27 qm
Passenger Capacity 33-45 passengers
Crew 55 people, 1 cabin attendant
Production availability 100 items

….A Caselle Torinese, dove venne trasferito il comando del 13º Gruppo (Ten. Col. Vincenzo Dequal) i piloti restarono inattivi fino al mese di luglio 1943, quando ricevettero una decina di MC 202. Al gruppo, appena iniziata l'attività di volo sui nuovi aerei, arrivo l'ordine di trasferirsi in Sicilia, ma qui i 202, atterrati da pochi minuti, vennero distrutti dal bombardamento di una formazione nemica.
I piloti superstiti vennero così inviati all'aeroporto di Metato (Pisa) per svolgere servizio d'allarme con i pochi caccia Dewoitine D 520 catturati sugli aeroporti francesi….