Blériot 5190

Blériot Aéronautique · France · first flew 1933 · transport aircraft

The Blériot 5190 was a French transatlantic mail plane of the 1930s, a large parasol-wing monoplane flying boat. It had four Hispano-Suiza 12N engines.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, straight
E — Engines	4 × piston, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	26 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Large parasol-wing monoplane flying boat
Low-profile hull with the crew compartment housed in the thick pylon supporting the wing
Three engines along the wing leading edge and a fourth on the trailing edge centreline

Look for a huge parasol-wing flying boat with a low hull and the crew housed in the wing pylon. One of the four engines sits behind the wing.

Specifications

The Blériot 5190 has a length of 26 m (85 ft).
It has a wingspan of 43 m (141 ft).
Its maximum speed is 210 km/h (130 mph).
Typical crew: 4.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

It was built for a French government contract to carry airmail to South America. The first example, Santos-Dumont, flew on 3 August 1933 and by the end of 1934 had completed two proving flights across the South Atlantic.

Variants

Only one was completed. The government ordered three more, but the contract was cancelled and they were never finished.

Where you'll see it

Santos-Dumont entered service in February 1935 and carried all of France's transatlantic mail for a time. It continued in this role until June 1937 and made 38 crossings of the Atlantic.

Related aircraft

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