Farman F.51

The Farman F.51 was a French maritime reconnaissance flying boat of the 1920s, designed and built by Farman. It was an unequal-span, four-bay biplane flying boat with a crew of four: a pilot, a co-pilot, a navigator and an observer who also served as gunner. Two Lorraine 8bd water-cooled V-8 piston engines of 275 horsepower each were mounted in tractor configuration, and defensive armament was four 7.7 mm machine guns in the bow and midships cockpits, with provision for 400 kilograms of bombs. A sister version with the same engines in a pusher arrangement was designated the Farman F.50, even though that number had already been used in 1919. The French Navy tested the F.51 but it failed to win any orders, and Farman briefly considered a civil version before the project was abandoned. Brazilian Naval Aviation is the only recorded operator.