The CAMS 51 was a transport

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

built in France in the mid-1920s. Designed as a private venture by

Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine (CAMS) was a French manufacturer of flying boats, founded in Saint-Ouen in November 1920 by Lawrence Santoni. History Initially the company built Società Idrovolanti Alta Italia (SIAI) designs under licenc ...

(CAMS), it was a conventional

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 ...

with two

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

s mounted in a tractor-pusher installation in the interplane gap. One example (the 51C) was sold to Aéropostale, which used it for tests in preparation for

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

services. CAMS also built a militarised version as the 51R3 in the hopes of interesting the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

in it as a

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using Aerial photography, photography), signals ...

, but no order was forthcoming. A final aircraft was built as a record-breaking machine originally designated 51-3 R that broke the world payload-to-altitude record on 18 August

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

by lifting 2,000 kg to 4,684 m (15,368 ft). This aircraft was later used as a pathfinder for French airmail routes to South America.

Operators

; * Aéropostale

Specifications (51C)

References

*
aviafrance.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cams 51 51 1920s French mailplanes Flying boats Biplanes Twin-engined push-pull aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1926