The one-off Surrey AL.1 G-AALP was a side-by-side trainer designed by Joe Bewsher and powered by a 95 hp Salmson A.C.7 radial engine. It was built by Surry Flying Services at Croydon in 1929 and registered to F.J.Grant for a couple of years before returning to its maker.
The biplane was unused at Croydon for several years before being sold to Bertram Arden in May 1938 and kept at Honiton Clyst, Devon. It was noted still intact there in early 1974.
Engine: Salmson AC.7 Wingspan: 28.09 ft Length: 20.00 ft.
The Supermarine Walrus amphibian designed by Reginald Mitchell was a private venture development of the 1922 Seagull I, and first flew as the Seagull V on 21 June 1933.
An order for twenty-four followed from the Royal Australian Air Force, as the Seagull V, who required a reconnaissance amphibian that could be catapulted, with full operational load, from warships.
The Australian government prompted evaluation by the Royal Navy’s No. 702 Catapult Flight, which in turn led to an initial contract for 12 Walrus Mk I aircraft being placed by the Air Ministry in 1935.
Following further trials, during which a Walrus was catapulted fully loaded from HMS Nelson, production orders for 204 aircraft with the 474kW Pegasus II M2 radial were placed, and the flying-boat entered Fleet Air Arm service in 1936.
Walrus 1
All the metal hulled Walrus Mk I aircraft were manufactured by the parent company Supermarine. However, with Spitfire fighter production building up, responsibility for construction was transferred to Saunders Roe Ltd.(Saro). Most ASR Walruses were the wooden hulled MkII built by Saro which provided a marked improvement in take off and landing on water. When production ended in January 1944 Saro had built 461 of the total of 746.
It was the first British squadron service aircraft to have a fully retractable main undercarriage and a completely glazed cockpit.
Early in World War II Walrus amphibians were serving aboard battleships and cruisers of the Royal Navy all over the world as components of No. 700 Squadron, as well as with Nos 701, 711, 712 and 714 Squadrons, their principal duties being over-the-horizon search for enemy shipping; they were also employed for gunnery spotting, antisubmarine and convoy protection duties. A Walrus was even catapulted from the cruiser HMS Dorsetshire to bomb a target in Italian Somaliland on 18 November 1940.
The work for which the Walrus (affectionately known as the Shagbat) will be best remembered was air/sea rescue, serving in this role with Nos 269, 275, 276, 277, 278, 281 and 282 Squadrons at stations in the United Kingdom, and with Nos 283, 284, 292 and 294 Squadrons in the Middle East. Called out in any weather, day or night, Walrus air/sea rescue aircraft frequently alighted in enemy coastal waters to pick up ditched Allied airmen from their dinghies, sometimes putting down in minefields where rescue launches could not venture. The Walrus rescued more than 7500 Allied airmen.
The Walrus was slowly replaced in service from 1944 onwards by the tractor Mercury-powered Sea Otter, although No. 624 Squadron was re-formed at Grottaglie in Italy in December that year with Walrus aircraft for minespotting duties. A total of 740 Walrus aircraft was built, production of the Walrus Mk I with metal-clad hull being terminated at Supermarine after 287 had been completed; thereafter production was switched to Saunders-Roe who built 453 Walrus Mk II aircraft with wooden hulls before finally ending in January 1944.
The Walrus was used mainly by Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
Walrus Mk I Engine: 1 x Bristol Pegasus VI, 559kW, 775 hp Max take-off weight: 3266 kg / 7200 lb Empty weight: 2223 kg / 4901 lb Wingspan: 13.97 m / 46 ft 10 in Length: 11.35 m / 37 ft 3 in Height: 4.65 m / 15 ft 3 in Wing area: 56.67 sq.m / 609.99 sq ft Max. speed: 217 km/h / 135 mph Ceiling: 5210 m / 17100 ft Range: 966 km / 600 miles Armament: 2-3 Vickers K 7.7mm machine-guns Bombload: 272kg Crew: 3-4
Walrus Mk I Engine: Bristol Pegasus II M2, 764 hp Length: 37.5 ft / 11.43 m Height: 15.256 ft / 4.65 m Wingspan: 45.833 ft / 13.97 m Wing area: 609.996 sq.ft / 56.67 sq.m Max take off weight: 7166.3 lb / 3250.0 kg Weight empty: 4873.1 lb / 2210.0 kg Max. speed: 117 kts / 217 km/h Cruising speed: 82 kts / 152 km/h Service ceiling: 18537 ft / 5650 m Wing loading: 11.69 lb/sq.ft / 57.0 kg/sq.m Range: 521 nm / 965 km Crew: 4 Armament: 2 MG Vickers
Designed to the same specification, R. 24/31, as the Saro London, the Supermarine Stranraer twin-engine biplane flying-boat prototype, originally known as the Singapore V, was powered by Bristol Pegasus HIM radials driving two-blade wooden propellers and first flew in mid-1935, but was immediately renamed Stranraer.
A production contract was placed in August 1935 for seventeen aircraft. It also underwent comparative trials with the London on No. 210 Squadron in October and November 1935, during which it was found to be somewhat underpowered.
Production deliveries of aircraft powered by a pair of Pegasus X radials driving a three-blade Fairey Reed metal propeller started December 1936, and the type was declared operational in April 1937 with No. 228 Squadron at Pembroke Dock, remaining with this squadron until April 1939.
In December 1938 Stranraers joined No. 209 Squadron at Felixstowe, and later moving to Invergordon and Oban for patrols over the North Sea until supplanted by the Lerwick the following year.
No, 240 Squadron was the only other RAF Coastal Command squadron to fly the Stranraer, converting to the aircraft in June 1940 at Pembroke Dock for short-range patrol work over the Western Approaches. The Stranraers were eventually replaced by Catalina ‘boats in March 1941, continuing to serve in a training capacity until October 1942.
Although RAF Stranraers did not serve at overseas stations, a total of 40 aircraft was licence-built by Canadian-Vickers between 1939 and 1941, and served in the coastal reconnaissance/anti-submarine role with the RCAF until finally replaced by the Consolidated Canso (Catalina) from 1943.
Eight were in service with the Canadians at the outbreak of war. Hese aircraft were used for patrol duties both on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. They were finally retired from service in February 1945.
After retirement from service use, several Stranraers were registered for civil use. Queen Charlotte Airlines continued to use Stranraers into the 1950s, operating from Vancouver and providing a service along the pacific coast of British Columbia.
Engine: 2 x Bristol Pegasus X, 652kW Max take-off weight: 8600 kg / 18960 lb Empty weight: 5100 kg / 11244 lb Wingspan: 25.91 m / 85 ft 0 in Length: 16.71 m / 55 ft 10 in Height: 6.63 m / 22 ft 9 in Wing area: 135.36 sq.m / 1457.00 sq ft Max. speed: 266 km/h / 165 mph Cruise speed: 169 km/h / 105 mph Ceiling: 5640 m / 18500 ft Range: 1600 km / 994 miles Armament: 3 x 7.7mm machine-guns Bombload: 450kg
All-metal reconnaissance flying-boat developed from the Southampton in 1932 and powered by two 391kW Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIIS radial engines mounted in nacelles applied directly to the undersurface of the upper wing centre-section. Fourteen were built for the RAF, entering service in 1935.
By the mid-twenties the RAF was desperate to replace their First World War vintage Felixstowe flying boats and had almost given up the search when R J Mitchell’s development of his civilian Swan design was offered. It proved an immediate success and established not only the name of the designer but that of the company in military circles.
The first eighteen Southamptons delivered were Mk Is with wooden hulls. However a lengthy marine research programme had convinced the Royal Air Force of the superior qualities of metal over wood and so the final forty-eight were delivered as Southampton MkIIs with metal hulls and powered by two 335kW Napier Lion V engines. In a programme begun in 1929 all surviving wooden-hulled Southamptons were re-built with metal hulls.
Southamptons first entered service in August 1925 and quickly became famous for long-distance formation flights, ‘showing the flag’ in many parts of the world. The most notable was a 43500km (27000 mile) cruise of the Far East Flight’s four Southamptons from Felixstowe to Singapore via the Mediterranean and India in 1927 and 1928.
The Southampton flying-boat was one of the most successful ever used by the Royal Air Force. With a reputation for reliability, its service life of eleven years was surpassed only by that of the Sunderland.
Southampton Mk II Engines: 2 x Napier Lion VA W-12, 373kW Max take-off weight: 6895 kg / 15201 lb Empty weight: 4082 kg / 8999 lb Wingspan: 22.86 m / 75 ft 0 in Length: 15.58 m / 51 ft 1 in Height: 6.82 m / 22 ft 5 in Wing area: 134.61 sq.m / 1448.93 sq ft Max. speed: 174 km/h / 108 mph Ceiling: 4265 m / 14000 ft Range: 1500 km / 932 miles Armament: 3 x 7.7mm machine-guns Bombload: 500kg
Shortly after World War I, Supermarine received two Air Ministry contracts to Specification 21/22, one in 1921 for a five-seat military seaplane and the other in 1922 for a commercial seaplane, the former named Scylla and the latter Swan.
The aircraft were equal-span, two-bay biplanes with monoplane tail units and triple fins and rudders. The raised cockpit seated the two-crew side-by-side.
The Scylla N174 emerged as a monoplane, but was apparently converted to triplane configuration in 1923, when it carried out taxi trials at Felixstowe. There is no evidence that it ever flew.
Swan
The Swan N175 was completed as planned in 1924, but as a maritime reconnaissance flying-boat biplane. After completing its flight trials, it was converted to civilian use. An Air Ministry Specification R18/24 was issued for a development, later built by Supermarine as the first Southampton.
Engine: 2 x 2 x 450hp Napier Lion IIB Max take-off weight: 5820 kg / 12831 lb Wingspan: 20.90 m / 69 ft 7 in Length: 17.06 m / 56 ft 12 in Height: 7.95 m / 26 ft 1 in Max. speed: 175 km/h / 109 mph Ceiling: 3089 m / 10150 ft Range: 1400 km / 870 miles Crew: 2 Passengers: 10
R.J. Mitchell joined Supermarine in 1917 and was responsible for a racing design, the Sea Lion was developed from the Baby, an earlier aircraft designed to meet an Admiralty experimental requirement to compete in the 1919 Schneider Trophy race, but was badly damaged by an underwater obstruction.
Mitchell went on to redesign the Sea Lion (II) biplane flying boat (itself a derivative of the Sea King fighter), powered by a strut-mounted single pusher engine. The new Sea Lion won the 1922 Schneider race in Naples at 145.62 mph. The Sea Lion (III) was fitted with an uprated engine for the 1923 event at Cowes, but only managed third place. Mitchell was well aware of the need to decrease drag and moved on to design the S.IV.
Sea Lion II Crew: 1 Engine: 1 x 450hp Napier Lion V12 Max take-off weight: 1425 kg / 3142 lb Wingspan: 9.75 m / 32 ft 0 in Length: 7.54 m / 25 ft 9 in Max. speed: 233 km/h / 145 mph
The Sea Otter amphibious biplane was designed to replace the Walrus on reconnaissance and general duties, including air-sea rescue. It was produced before World War II and went into service with the RAF and FAA during the war. A total of 290 was built. After the war a number were modified for civil use with the normal military equipment removed. Power was provided by one 637kW Bristol Mercury 30 radial, giving a maximum level speed of 241km/h.
Engine: 1 x Bristol Mercury XXX, 638kW / 843 hp Max take-off weight: 4530 kg / 9987 lb Empty weight: 3080 kg / 6790 lb Wing loading: 16.4 lb/sq.ft / 80.0 kg/sq.m Wingspan: 14.02 m / 46 ft 0 in Length: 12.01 m / 39 ft 5 in Height: 4.93 m / 16 ft 2 in Wing area: 56.67 sq.m / 609.99 sq ft Max. speed: 130 kt / 241 km/h / 150 mph Cruise speed: 87 kt / 161 km/h / 100 mph Ceiling: 4875 m / 16000 ft Range: 900-1160 km / 559 – 721 miles Armament: 3 x .303in / 7.7mm machine-gun Crew: 2 Payload: 2 pax
All Aero 