Loire 50 / 501

A three-seat parasol-wing flying-boat for liaison or training duties, the Loire 50.01 prototype first flew on 7 September 1931. After being sunk in an accident it was recovered and on 24 March 1932 was flown as an amphibian, the two main wheels retracting to a horizontal position clear of the water. In summer 1933 its 172kW Salmson 9Ab radial was replaced by a 261kW Hispano-Suiza 9Qd radial, and it was then redesignated Loire 50bis. Six series Loire 501 amphibians, closely resembling the Loire 50bis and retaining its crew arrangement, were delivered in 1935 to various sections de servitude (general-duty flights) at French naval air stations, the last surviving Loire 501 reported at Karouba (Bizerta, Tunisia) in August 1941.