CAMS 33


The CAMS 33 was a reconnaissance flying boat built in France in the early 1920s. It was designed in response to a French Navy requirement for new flying boats for various roles.

Design and development

Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine submitted prototype aircraft in two categories for the Navy requirement - as both a reconnaissance aircraft and a transport. The design was a conventional biplane flying boat with equal-span unstaggered wings and two engines mounted in a single nacelle in tractor-pusher configuration on struts in the interplane gap. Accommodation consisted of an open cockpit for two, plus open bow and dorsal gun positions on the reconnaissance machine, or an enclosed cabin for seven passengers on the transport version.

Operational history

The transport was passed over, but the armed reconnaissance version was accepted for production as the 33B. Twelve aircraft were eventually produced for the French Navy, these equipping Escadrille 1R1 at Cherbourg-Chantereyne. Yugoslavia purchased another six machines. The 33T prototype flew under civil registration for a few years, but was unable to attract customers.

Operators