CAMS 55
| CAMS 55 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Reconnaissance flying boat |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
1928 |
| Commissioning: |
1930 |
| Production time: |
1928-1935 |
| Number of pieces: |
110 |
The CAMS 55 is a French flying boat that was mainly used in the 1930s.
development
The CAMS 55 was created as a further model of a series of flying boats that began in 1927 with the CANT 51 due to a request by the French Navy for a type for reconnaissance and coastal surveillance. The first prototype, the CAMS 55.001 , received two HS 12Lbr engines with 447 kW (608 hp). It was completed in 1928 and then completed the maiden flight with its designer Maurice Hurel. Subsequently, a total of four test models were produced, two equipped with Jupiter star engines and designated CANT 55J and two CANT 55H with Hispano-Suiza engines. In 1930 these aircraft were sent to the Escadrille 3E1 stationed in Berre-l'Étang for troop trials . The Navy criticized the low top speed and rate of climb during the evaluation, but ordered series production due to the good flight characteristics and seaworthiness .
The first series, named CAMS 55/1 , comprised 43 copies and, like the prototype, was equipped with HS-12Lbr drives. At the same time, the CAMS 55/2 , equipped with Jupiter 9Akx licensed motors from Gnome-Rhône , appeared , of which 29 were built.
The CANT 55/3, intended as a long-range reconnaissance aircraft, appeared in 1932 as a special version . In contrast to the series versions made of wood, it received an all-metal hull. On January 4th it crashed in the early testing phase in the CAMS branch in Sartrouville shortly after take-off into the Seine , killing test pilot Antoine Brunel. The development was therefore stopped. Another version not put into production was the CAMS 55/6 with light metal support floats and hull passages made of duralumin and verdal alloys, which reduced the mass by 400 kg compared to the series. Due to financial bottlenecks, however, there was no transfer to production.
The last series variant appeared in 1934 as the CANT 55/10 . It received two Mistral Kbr star engines with reduction gears and enlarged fuel tanks to increase the range. 32 units were built, four of which were equipped for use in the tropics overseas .
The last version, the CAMS 55/14, with a metal hull and wooden support floats was also developed in 1934 . It remained a one-off.
The CANT 55 was widely used in the French Navy in the first half of the 1930s. Fifteen escadrilles were equipped with her at the wedding. After the introduction of the Bizerte long-range reconnaissance device in 1936, however, the importance of the type decreased and it was increasingly only used for coastal surveillance. At the beginning of the western campaign in 1940, 20 CANT 55/10 were still in use. The last of these flew at the Escadrille 20S in Tahiti and were retired in January 1941 and then scrapped.
construction
The CAMS 55 is a single-legged, tensioned double - decker in a composite construction with predominant use of wood. The two-stage, keeled hull consists of a plywood planked Ash wood construction. The supporting structure consists of the three-part upper wing and the two-part lower wing of the same depth and span with two box spars each and is made of wood with fabric covering. All four wings are foldable and equipped with ailerons . In the middle of the upper wing there are two lubricant reservoirs with oil coolers. Below that, in a tandem nacelle, are the engines with propellers in a push or pull configuration. The lower part of the fin, which is covered with plywood, forms a unit with the rear fuselage, on which the horizontal fin, which struts up and down, and the upper part of the fin, both of which consist of a wooden frame covered with fabric, are placed. All rudders of the supporting and tail unit consist of a metal frame with a fabric covering.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data (CAMS 55/1) | Data (CAMS 55/10) |
|---|---|---|
| crew | 5 | |
| length | 14.99 m | |
| span | 20.40 m (top and bottom) | |
| height | 5.60 m | |
| Wing area | 113.45 m² | |
| Preparation mass | 4834 kg | 4310 kg |
| military payload | 806 kg | 820 kg |
| Fuel mass | 1260 kg | 1230 |
| Takeoff mass | 7000 kg | 6400 kg |
| Wing loading | 62 kg / m² | 56.8 kg / m² |
| Power load | 6.4 kg / hp | 6.46 kg / hp |
| Area performance | 9.6 hp / m² | 8.8 hp / m² |
| drive | Two water-cooled twelve-cylinder - V-engines with push / pull propellers |
two air-cooled nine-cylinder radial engines with tension / compressed air screws |
| Type | Hispano-Suiza 12 Lbr with 550 PS (405 kW) each | Gnome-Rhône 9 Kdr each with 500 PS (368 kW) |
| fuel | 620 l each in two underwing float tanks 200 l each in three auxiliary fuselage tanks |
|
| Top speed | 200 km / h at an altitude of 1500 m | 195 km / h at 1500 m altitude |
| Landing speed | 100 km / h | |
| Rise time | 6.5 min at 1000 m 13 min at 2000 m |
11.5 min at 1500 m 28 min at 2500 m |
| Summit height | 3500 m | 3400 m |
| Range | 2000 km | 1375 km |
| Armament | a 7.7 mm twin machine gun Lewis with 1000 rounds in the bow stand a 7.7 mm twin machine gun Lewis with 800 rounds in the fuselage stand |
|
| Drop ammunition | two 75 kg G-2 bombs at underwing outstations | |
literature
- Ulrich Israel: Flying Boats of the Second World War . German Military Publishing House, Berlin 1972, p. 58/59 .
- Peter All-Fernandez (ed.): Aircraft from A to Z . Volume 1: Aamsa Quail-Consolidated P2Y. Bernard & Graefe, Koblenz 1987, ISBN 3-7637-5904-2 , p. 359 .
- Werner von Langsdorff : Handbook of aviation . Born in 1939. 2nd, unchanged edition. J. F. Lehmann, Munich 1937, p. 242/243 .
