The Caudron C.61 was a French three-engined civil transport

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

aircraft built by the French aeroplane manufacturer

Caudron The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...

. It was constructed of wood and covered in fabric.

Development

The prototype C.61 (F-ESAE) had a freight hold and cabin for six passengers. The

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

also included a wheel beneath the nose to prevent nose-overs on landing. For the production C.61s the cabin size was increased to accommodate eight passengers.

Operational history

50th Anniversary of First Romanian Aerophilately Exhibition

In 1923, six C.61s were bought by

Compagnie Franco-Roumaine de Navigation Aérienne CFRNA ("The French-Romanian Company for Air Transport"; ; ) was a French–Romanian airline, founded on 1 January 1920. Its name changed on 1 January 1925 to CIDNA ("The International Air Navigation Company"; ). Using French-built Potez aircra ...

(CFRNA) to run between

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

and

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Variants

;C.61: Initial production variant. ;C.61bis: In 1924 many C.61s were modified to take Salmson CM.9 radial engines outboard, increasing the maximum loaded weight to . ;C.81:1923 trimotor airliner ;C.83:1924 Unbuilt trimotor project ;C.183:1923 trimotor airliner

Operators

Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne CFRNA ("The French-Romanian Company for Air Transport"; ; ) was a French–Romanian airline, founded on 1 January 1920. Its name changed on 1 January 1925 to CIDNA ("The International Air Navigation Company"; ). Using French-built Potez aircra ...

Specifications (C.61)

Accidents

*after 1923 (date unknown) - C.61 was lost when it came down at sea *July 3, 1926 - C.61 operated by Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne crashes in Czechoslovakia

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{Caudron aircraft 1920s French airliners C.061 Biplanes Trimotors