World War-II (1939-45).
From 1918 to 1939 aircraft got larger and larger in size and with this were enabled to fly further. It was British Imperial Airways, operating out of London-Croydon airport who took advantage of all of the latest British aircraft types. The Handley Page converted bombers were the height of luxury flying and they had the additional cargo space for mail.
HP 0/400 Twin-engined carried 12 passengers, The Vickers Vimy was similar and both were scrapped by 1924.
By 1928 the Shorts three-engined Calcutta flying boat was in service carrying 15 passengers and two pilots at 110mph. By 1930 the HP42 was capable of 38 passengers and just before 1939, shorts had in service the first 16 sleeper cross-Atlantic flying boat.
It was not until the second world war that there was a demand for mass production air transport and aircraft such as the Douglas DC-3/47 came to the fore. Other large aircraft in the war years were the Shorts Sunderland flying boats, which were a massive improvement on the Handley-Pages.
Showing posts with label BOAC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BOAC. Show all posts
Thursday, 19 June 2014
Thursday, 29 November 2012
Flying Boats. Part-Two.
The days of the flying boats are not over yet?
This is perhaps one of the greatest feats in the aviation world to take-off and land from water. Many early aircraft in the 1920/30's were adapted to have floats, but it was the Shorts Sunderland that became the flagship carrier of the British BOAC.
World-war-II (1939-45) saw a increased demand on all sides for dedicated flying boats, such as the U.S. Catalina, and British Walrus, while several Italian and German types were also deployed. The flying boats were of great use at Sea to attack submarines and proved to be an invaluable tool.
After the war several nations went on to develop their own types of boats. The U.S. the UH-1 Albatross, Japan, the Kawasaki PS-1 and Russia their Beriev family BE-12/15, 606.
Today Canada builds the CL-215/415, while the Russians have developed the first jet powered flying boat, the Beriev A-40 and a civil version the BE-200. Many nations continue to use their world war-II boats and 1950's developments are still flying, such as the Mongoose.
This is perhaps one of the greatest feats in the aviation world to take-off and land from water. Many early aircraft in the 1920/30's were adapted to have floats, but it was the Shorts Sunderland that became the flagship carrier of the British BOAC.
World-war-II (1939-45) saw a increased demand on all sides for dedicated flying boats, such as the U.S. Catalina, and British Walrus, while several Italian and German types were also deployed. The flying boats were of great use at Sea to attack submarines and proved to be an invaluable tool.
After the war several nations went on to develop their own types of boats. The U.S. the UH-1 Albatross, Japan, the Kawasaki PS-1 and Russia their Beriev family BE-12/15, 606.
Today Canada builds the CL-215/415, while the Russians have developed the first jet powered flying boat, the Beriev A-40 and a civil version the BE-200. Many nations continue to use their world war-II boats and 1950's developments are still flying, such as the Mongoose.
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