CAMS 55

55
Role	Reconnaissance flying boat
Manufacturer	CAMS
Designer	Maurice Hurel
First flight	1928
Primary user	French Navy
Number built	112

The CAMS 55 was a reconnaissance flying boat built in France in the late 1920s which equipped the French Navy throughout the 1930s.

Design and development

The CAMS 55 design was derived from the unsuccessful CAMS 51 and followed the familiar Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine (CAMS) formula of a conventional biplane flying boat configuration with tandem tractor-pusher engines mounted in the interplane gap. The cockpit was open, and there were open gun positions in the bow and amidships. The bow also incorporated an observation balcony with windows sloped to afford a good downward view.^[1]

Operational history

A single prototype was followed by two aircraft to compare different engine installations, one with air-cooled radials and the other a liquid-cooled V engine; in the end, the French Navy ordered some of each. Eventually, 15 escadrilles were equipped with CAMS 55s of various subtypes, replacing the Latham 47 in some units, and in turn being relegated to secondary duties when the Breguet Bizerte became available in 1936. Twenty-nine remained in service at the outbreak of World War II, with the last examples serving with Escadrille 20S in Tahiti until January 1941.

Variants

55.001 - prototype with Hispano-Suiza 12Lbr engines (one built)
55J - engine test version with Gnome et Rhône licence-built Bristol Jupiter engines (two built)
55H - engine test version with Hispano-Suiza 12Lbr engines (two built)
55/1 - production version with Hispano-Suiza 12Lbr engines (43 built)
55/2 - production version with Gnome et Rhône licence-built Bristol Jupiter engines (29 built)
55/3 - version with all-metal hull for French Navy requirement for long-range flying boat. Prototype destroyed early in test programme (one built)
55/6 - version with all-metal hull and floats, saving 400 kg (882 lb) of structural weight; deemed too expensive to produce (one built)
55/10 - version with geared Gnome et Rhône Jupiter engines and increased fuel tankage (32 built, including four tropicalised machines)
55/11 - long-range patrol version (one built)
55/14 - version with all-metal hull (one built)

Operators

France

French Navy

Specifications (55/10)

Data from

General characteristics

Crew: five
Length: 15.03 m (49 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 20.40 m (66 ft 11 in)
Height: 5.41 m (17 ft 9 in)
Wing area: 113.5 m² (1,221 ft²)
Empty weight: 4,590 kg (10,119 lb)
Gross weight: 6,900 kg (15,212 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Gnome-Rhône Jupiter radial engines, 373 kW (500 hp) each each

Performance

Maximum speed: 195 km/h (121 mph)
Range: 1,875 km (1,165 miles)
Service ceiling: 3,400 m (11,155 ft)
Rate of climb: 2.2 m/s (433 ft/min)

Armament

2 × trainable .303 Lewis guns in open bow position
2 × trainable .303 Lewis guns in open dorsal position
2 × 75 kg (165 lb) bombs carried under lower wing

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to CAMS aircraft.

Notes

↑ Taylor 1986, p. 226.

Bibliography

Taylor, Michael J. H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989. ISBN 0-517-69186-8.
World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing, File 891, Sheets 02–03.

Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine

CAMS 30 CAMS 31 CAMS 33 CAMS 36 CAMS 37 CAMS 38 CAMS 46 CAMS 50 CAMS 51 CAMS 52 CAMS 53 CAMS 54 CAMS 55 CAMS 58 CAMS 80 CAMS 90 CAMS 100 CAMS 110 CAMS 120

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