BOAC Solents

[Pondskater]

In the link that you have given they talk about the engines facing outward.
Shorts left them like this when they swept the wings back on the Sunderland as it helps with asimetric thrust should an engine fail in flight.

I've only recently realised that the Shetland was similarly built with the engines facing slightly outwards as well - presumably for the same reason.

[TASSE]

Yes. A lot of aircraft were, even single engined types. An glaring example is the Walrus.

TASSE.

[shortsolent]

Attn Allan K
Ref G-ANAJ Not sure what you mean by Solent 1.I'm not sure any were ever produced as that mark.
the Shorts book i have (by Donald Hannah) quotes" S45 solent 2 , first proposed civil version of the S45 was the Solent 1 for 30day or 20 night pax. The MSAP instead ordered twelve Mk 2s for BOAC fitted for 34 day pax.etc"
I have good photo of this aircraft at Funchal(British Commercial Aircraft by Paul ellis). It's stated as been a 3 and certainly has the V strut floats. Trust this helps
Graham

[Pondskater]

Hi Graham,

You are quite right in saying the Solent 1 never went into service in that configuration, but the first aircraft converted was Seaford NJ201 (OZZA) which was evaluated for civil use as Short Solent G-AGWU, although not fully converted.

Chris Barnes (Shorts Aircraft since 1900, Putnam, 1967) notes that 12 new build were ordered using the proposed Solent 1 layout (30 day or 20 night) but BOAC requested a day passenger only layout which became the Solent 2 - which agrees with the info you have from Hannah. G-AGWU was not used, but did test the modifications for the service aircraft, including the new float struts.

The conversion of the six Seaford to Solent 3 was to yet another different spec with 39 passengers. And we know the Solent 4 was built to order for TEAL.

When Aquila Airways needed more aircraft, they acquired the old NJ201/G-AGWU but she was re-registered as G-ANAJ City of Funchal. She was converted by the airline, not Short Brothers, apparently to Solent 3 standard, but there seem to have been some variations. There is logic in accepting that G-AGWU was the Solent 1, even if not fully converted. But when the airline brought her into use as G-ANAJ, was she really a full Solent 3 spec or an awkward hybrid? I don't know. The answer may lie in the Ministry of Civil Aviation airworthiness files for her, which I've not yet seen, hence my earlier question.

And to add to the confusion, look at the CAA records on G-info.
The page for G-ANAJ says "Solent Mk3": http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?c ... gmark=ANAJ
But, the pdf scan of the register entry clearly states "Solent Mk1": http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-ANAJ.pdf

If these things didn't happen, research would be sooo much simpler. Does anybody have evidence of the interior layout for G-ANAJ to compare with the Solent 3s?

AllanK

[Kenny230]

This lives with 230 Sqn... Repairs at Calcutta (a replacement float) were instrumental in the Chindit rescue, code-named Operation River, in 1944...
Just setup an outside image hoster... like many folks, used to use foto (up-chuck-in-a) bucket but not going to be held hostage so deleted everything from it and said sayonara...

[dogsbody]

Kenny230, the image is not visible. Would you be so kind as to try to re-post it?


Chris

[Kenny230]

Edited as above and detail of name...

[dogsbody]

There it is. I can see the first one, too. Nice one!


Chris

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Hi Richard
In the link that you have given they talk about the engines facing outward.
Shorts left them like this when they swept the wings back on the Sunderland as it helps with asimetric thrust should an engine fail in flight.

TASSE.

Not the four S.45A Solent Mk.4 built for TEAL (SH.1556, SH.1557, SH.1558, SH.1559).

George Bolt, the chief engineer of TEAL, insisted on the engines being inline with the line of flight. He also insisted on the more powerful 700-series Bristol Hercules engines.

He got his way, with the British Government clearing the way for the military 700-series Hercules to be used in civil aircraft, and the structural changes were made to the design of the Solent 4's to get the engines in line with direction of travel, instead of facing outwards.

The result was that not only could the Solent 4s carry a heavier load, but they were also considerably faster than the Solent 2 and Solent 3 flying-boats.

And, getting the 700-series Hercules engines cleared for civil use was of benefit to the Bristol B.170 Freighter.