CAMS 55

__NOTOC__ Infobox Aircraft
name=55


caption=
type=Reconnaissance flying boat
manufacturer=CAMS
designer=Maurice Hurel
first flight=1928
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user=French Navy
more users=
produced=
number built=112
variants with their own articles=

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

A single prototype was followed by two machines 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 (1 built)
* 55J - engine test version with Gnome et Rhône licence-built Bristol Jupiter engines (2 built)
* 55H - engine test version with Hispano-Suiza 12Lbr engines (2 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 (1 built)
* 55/6 - version with all-metal hull and floats, saving 400 kg (882 lb) of structural weight; deemed too expensive to produce (1 built)
* 55/10 - version with geared Gnome et Rhône Jupiter engines and increased fuel tankage (32 built, including 4 tropicalised machines)
* 55/11 - long-range patrol version (1 built)
* 55/14 - version with all-metal hull (1 built)

pecifications (55/10)

aerospecs
met or eng?= met

crew=Five
capacity=
length m=15.03
length ft=49
length in=4
span m=20.40
span ft=66
span in=11
swept m=
swept ft=
swept in=
rot number=
rot dia m=
rot dia ft=
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dia m=
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width m=
width ft=
width in=
height m=5.41
height ft=17
height in=9
wing area sqm=113.5
wing area sqft=1,221
swept area sqm=
swept area sqft=
rot area sqm=
rot area sqft=
volume m3=
volume ft3=
aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=4,590
empty weight lb=10,119
gross weight kg=6,900
gross weight lb=15,212
lift kg=
lift lb=

eng1 number=2
eng1 type=Gnome et Rhône licence-built Bristol Jupiter engines
eng1 kw= 373
eng1 hp= 500
eng1 kn=
eng1 lbf=
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eng2 number=
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max speed kmh=195
max speed mph=121
max speed mach=
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
range km=1,875
range miles=1,165
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=3,400
ceiling ft=11,155
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=2.2
climb rate ftmin=433
sink rate ms=
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armament1=2 × trainable .303 Lewis guns in open bow position
armament2=2 × trainable .303 Lewis guns in open dorsal position
armament3=2 × 75 kg (165 lb) bombs carried under lower wing
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References

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ee also

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sequence=
* ← 52 - 53 - 54 - 55 - 56 - 57 - 58 →

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