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Short Solent
The Short Solent was a passenger flying boat produced by Short Brothers in the late 1940s. It was developed from the Short Seaford (Short Sunderland Mark IV) military flying boat design, which was too late to serve in World War II.
The first Solent flew in 1946. New Solents were used by BOAC and TEAL, production ending in 1949. Second-hand aircraft were operated until 1958 by a number of small airlines such as Aquila Airways.
Contents
History
The Short S.45 Solent was a high wing monoplane flying boat of aluminium construction. Power was povided by four Bristol Hercules[1] engines but later a few were re-engined with four Bristol Centaurus sleeve-valve radial piston engines.
The Solent 2 introduced by BOAC could carry 34 passengers and 7 crew. Between 1948 and 1950, BOAC operated their Solents on the three-times weekly Southampton to Johannesburg scheduled service down the Nile and across East Africa. The journey took four days, including overnight stops. The last Solent-operated service on the route departed from Berth 50 at Southampton on 10 November 1950, bringing BOAC's flying-boat operations to an end.[2]
Tasman Empire Arways Limited (TEAL) operated a total of five Solent 4s between 1949 and 1960 on their scheduled routes between Sydney, Fiji and Auckland. The last TEAL Solent service was flown between Fiji and Tahiti on 14 September 1960 [3] by ZK-AMO "Aranui", which is now preserved. The TEAL Solents could carry 45 passengers and all versions of the type provided a great deal of space and luxury compared with contemporary or modern land-based aircraft.
Several Solents served Aquila Airways on their routes from Southampton to Madeira and the Canary Islands using ex BOAC and TEAL aircraft. G-AKNU, an Aquila Solent 3, crashed near Chessell, Isle of Wight on 15 November 1957, after it experienced loss of power to two engines.[4] British commercial flying-boat operations ceased on 30 September 1958 when Aquila Airways withdrew its Madeira service.
One Solent, a Mk IV formerly used by TEAL on the Coral Route, connecting South Pacific Islands to New Zealand has been fully restored and preserved at the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland. This is often said to be the only survivor of the type but an ex-BOAC Solent 3, later owned by Howard Hughes, has been rescued and is in the United States at Oakland Aviation Museum in Oakland, California.[5]; it is this Solent which appears briefly (and anachronistically) in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Variants
- Solent 2: civilian version for BOAC of the S.45 Seaford
- Solent 3: converted S.45 Seaford
- Solent 4: powered by Bristol Hercules 733
Production
Reference:[6]
- Solent 2 : 12 aircraft (Rochester)
- Solent 3 : 7 aircraft (6 at Queen's Island, Belfast, 1 at Hamble)
- Solent 4 : 4 aircraft (Belfast)
Operators
- Trans-Oceanic Airways
- South Pacific Airlines
The only military use of the Solent was evaluation at the United Kingdom Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment in 1950.
Specifications (Solent 2)
Data from Barnes and James[7]
General characteristics
- Crew: 7
- Capacity: 34 passengers
- Length: 87 ft 8 in (26.7 m)
- Wingspan: 112 ft 9 in (34.3 m)
- Height: 34 ft 3¼ in [8] (10.45 m)
- Wing area: 1,487 ft² (138.1 m²)
- Empty weight: 47,760 lb (21.670 kg)
- Loaded weight: 78,000 lb (35,400 kg)
- Powerplant: 4× Bristol Hercules 637 radial piston, 1,690 hp (1,261 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 273 mph (237 knots, 440 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 244 mph[8] (212 knots, 393 km/h)
- Range: 1,800 miles (1,565 naut mi, 2,900 km)
- Service ceiling: 17,000 ft[8] (5,200 m)
- Rate of climb: 925 ft/min[8] (4.7 m/s)
Incidents and accidents
- On 15 November 1957, a Aquila Airways Short Solent flying boat, registration G-AKNU, crashed at Chessel Down, England, killing 45 out of the 58 on board.
References
- ↑ National Archives Airworthiness Division Type Records
- ↑ Template:Harvnb
- ↑ Template:Harvnb
- ↑ Flight, 8 August 1958, p. 208
- ↑ Solent at the Oakland Aviation Museum, Oakland, California
- ↑ Barnes and James, pp. 407-409
- ↑ Barnes and James, p. 412
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Jackson 1988, p.160.
- Barnes, C.H.; James D.N. (1989). Shorts Aircraft since 1900. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-819-4.
- Jackson, A.J (1988). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 3. London: Putnam. ISBN 0 85177 818 6.
External links
Template:Short Brothers aircraft
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| This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Short Solent". |
