The CAMS 51 was a transport

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

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 licence ...

(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 type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

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 (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

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 photography), signals intelligence, as ...

, 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 British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

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