The Casmuniz 52 was a twin-engine light transport aircraft. It was the first all-metal aircraft built in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, only the prototype was built.

Design and development

The plane began to be designed by Willibald Weber in 1951, an Austrian

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

born in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

in 1925, and where work for

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

until 1944. In 1949, he moved to Brazil, and worked for Cássio Muniz S/A. He was based on the Aero 45, which he had already maintained and designed a five-seat twin-engined cabin monoplane which was first flown in April 1952. A low-wing cantilever monoplane with a 185 hp (138 kW) Continental E185 flat six engines mounted on the leading edge of wing. It had a tailwheel landing gear.

Operational history

It was registered with the prefix “PP-ZPD” and taken for airworthiness tests at

Campo de Marte Campo de Marte Airport is the first airport built in São Paulo, Brazil, opened in 1929. It is named after Champ de Mars, in Paris, which in turn got its name from Campus Martius, in Rome. During a transitional period, the airport is jointly o ...

, which lasted from the late-1953 to the beginning of 1954. After accumulating 200 flight hours, the aircraft was sent to the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, where it received its certification in 1955. The company offered

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...

the proposal of creating an assembly line for its aircraft in Brazil, so that they could also produce the Casmuniz 52 in series, the proposal was refused because the American company was already negotiating a factory in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. After, the airplane was sold to Weber that left the company to found the OMAREL, where he made modifications and used the airplane intensively from 1957 until 1958. With the end of his company's activities, the airplane passed by several owners. In 1960, the plane was sold to a

air charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...

company, and change the prefix to “PT-AZU”. Operating in the northern and northeastern region of Brazil, where it accumulated several hours of flights, and transported all kinds of cargo, until it crashed in 1968 in São Marcos Bay, near

São Luís, Maranhão São Luís (, ''Saint Louis'') is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Maranhão. The city is located on São Luís Island, Upaon-açu Island (Big Island, in Tupi language, Tupi Language) or São Luís island, Ilha de São Luís ...

Specifications (Casmuniz 52)

References

* * * * {{Weber aircraft 1950s Brazilian civil utility aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1952 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft W-141