GIANT BRITISH FLYING-BOAT

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21536, 27 July 1935, Page 17

GIANT BRITISH FLYING-BOAT

A 31-TON SHIP LIVING QUARTERS FOR TEN .MEN LONDON, June 22. Information about the structure and performance of the biggest aeroplane yet built in Great Britain—the 31-ton Short Sarafand six-en-gined flying-boat—is now divulged. A detailed description placed at the disposal of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors, Ltd., by the Short Company reveals details which mark a forward step of great importance in the development of marine aircraft that in due course will skim the cream of ocean traffic from the surface ship and supplant in many duties the destroyer and the light cruiser. Six Rolls-Royce Buzzard watercooled engines, each developing up to 930 horse-power, provide the power. They are mounted in three tandem nacelles between the biplane wings. The maximum attainable speed, with full disposable load of more than li tons on board, is 150 miles an hour. The range in still air, carrying full military* load, is 1450 miles, which provides an ample margin for non-stop journeys between England and Gibraltar. The ake-off run, with no helping wind, lasts 47 £ seconds, and the full load service "ceiling" is 13,000 feet. The Sarafand is eminently seaworthy. It has been moored out for long periods in gales of 50 miles an hour without trouble. Its size enables it to take off and descend on water that is far too rough for smaller craft. The metal structure has withstood successfully the effects of salt water corrosion and of extreme heat.

From tip to tip the wings span 120 ft. The length of the machine in the normal flying attitude is a few inches less than 90 feet, and its height, also in flyinc attitude, is 334 feet. - The t.qil unit is larger than the mam lifting surfaces of many acoolanes, measuring 41 feet in span. The hull, built entirelv of aluminium alloys, is nearlv 90 feet J n »*> and has a maximum depth of 1$ feet Ev.h of th» .wine-tin floats, which stabilises thp craft on the water, is more than 20 feet long. For Long-range Patrol The exceptional hull capacity provides roomy accommodation for equipment "and the crew of 10 men. In the bow compartment is mounted a machine-gun, or, alternatively t a IJ-pounder quicknrer of the kind carried by the Blackburn Perth boats which are flown by some Royal Air Forae squadrons. A hatch is fitted! for the bomb-sight, i Mooring gear is also carried in this forward compartment; the size of the ground anchor obliges use of a winch. Immediately aft of the bow comDartment is the pilots' cockoit, which Is totally enclosed and fitted with a sliding roof and windows. The second pilot's place •is not essential, because an automatic robot pilot is installed. Under the pilots' compartment is a passage way leading from the bow* to the wardroom. Here are mounted the navigator's chart board and table, and the engineer's control panels. The roomy "ompartment between the main wing spars is normally used as the officers' quarters. The nine "stations" on the boat are linked by telephone.