__NOTOC__ The Blériot 5190 was a French

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) ...

mail plane The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

of the 1930s, a large parasol-wing monoplane flying boat. It was of slightly unusual design, with a low-profile hull and the crew compartment housed in the thick pylon that supported the wing. The four engines were arranged with three along the leading edge of the wing, and the fourth on the centreline of the trailing edge. It was constructed for a French government contract to carry airmail to South America. The first example, christened '' Santos-Dumont'' flew on 3 August 1933 and by the end of 1934 had completed two proving flights across the South Atlantic, with Lucien Bossoutrot at the commands and the future French Admiralty Chief of Staff Henri Nomy as flight engineer. In February 1935 with Aéropostale's only other transatlantic mailplane, the Latécoère 300 '' la Croix du Sud'', out of commission for maintenance, the ''Santos-Dumont'' entered service. From then until April, she carried all of France's transatlantic mail at the rate of one crossing per week until rejoined by ''la Croix du Sud'' and a new Farman F.220 named '' Le Centaure''. As part of this small fleet, the ''Santos-Dumont'' continued in this role until June 1937. Altogether, by that time, she had made 38 crossings of the Atlantic. In the meantime, the French government had ordered a further three 5190s from Blériot, and the company had borrowed heavily in order to build the aircraft. Suddenly, the contract was cancelled without explanation or compensation, forcing the firm into bankruptcy.

Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot ( , also , ; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of t ...

himself died of a heart attack soon afterwards, on 1 August 1936.

Operators

; * Aéropostale

Specifications

References

* * Blériot 5190 at French websit
aviafrance.com

External links

Historic video footage of Blériot 5190 taking off and in flight
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bleriot 5190 5190 1930s French mailplanes Flying boats Parasol-wing aircraft Four-engined push-pull aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933 Alberto Santos-Dumont