Short S.41

Last updated

Short S.41
Charles Rumney Samson b322bdd7fb o.jpg
Role Floatplane
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer Short Brothers
First flight2 April 1912
Introduction1912
Primary user Royal Naval Air Service
Number built3 (S.41, S.51 and S.52)
Developed from Short S.36

The Short S.41 was a British single-engined biplane built for the Royal Navy in 1912. Capable of being operated either on wheels or floats, it was successful enough for a further two similar aircraft to be built, with the type remaining in use until the early years of the First World War.

Contents

Development and design

In 1912, the Short S.36 tractor biplane, built for Francis McClean, was loaned to the Royal Navy for use at its Naval Flying School. Impressed by the S.36, the Admiralty ordered two similar tractor biplanes, capable of operating on either wheels or floats, the smaller Short S.45, like the S.36, powered by a 70 hp (52 kW) Gnome Lambda, and the larger Short S.41 powered by a 14-cylinder, twin-row 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome double Omega rotary engine. [1]

The S.41 was an unequal-span two bay tractor biplane with a slim rectangular section fuselage mounted between the wings. [2] It was first flown by Charles Rumney Samson on 2 April 1912 with a wheeled undercarriage, and shortly afterwards was fitted with floats, consisting of two main pontoons under the fuselage and smaller floats at the wingtips and tail, and was delivered to the Navy. [3]

Following the operational flights made during 1912, S.41 was returned to the factory for an overhaul and the fitting of folding wings, which were hinged so that they folded back horizontally alongside the fuselage, reducing storage space required for stowage aboard ship. At this time it was given the RNAS number "10". In November 1913 it underwent further modifications, being used to perfect a development of the folding mechanism which allowed the wings to be unfolded from the cockpit: at the same time new wings, similar in pattern to those of the Short Admiralty Type 81 were fitted.

The folding wing mechanism for shipborne aircraft had been designed by Horace Short, and was the subject of a series of patents [4]

Operational history

The S.41 was flown successfully at the Fleet Review at Weymouth on 8 May, being based on the Battleship HMS Hibernia. [5] It was also used by Samson to carry out survey flights of potential sites for seaplane stations, which led to the establishment of the seaplane station at Felixstowe, [6] and for early trials with use of radio from aircraft. [5]

The success of the S.41 was such that two similar aircraft, constructor's numbers S.51 and S.52, [7] also powered by the two-row Gnome, were ordered by the RNAS, [8] with serial numbers 20 and 21: These were first flown in April 1913. [9] These aircraft differed in detail from the first aircraft: the wing section was improved, double-acting ailerons were fitted and the overhanging section of the upper wing was braced by kingposts rather than struts.

Like 10, they were used for trials of airborne radio, as well as carrying out tests of beaching gear. [5] They remained in use at the start of the First World War, where, despite the unreliability of the twin-row Gnome, [10] they were used for anti-submarine patrols early in the war, 20 continuing in use from the seaplane station at Great Yarmouth until July 1915. [2] [11]

Variants

A single aircraft, similar in design to the S.41 but slightly smaller, was built by Shorts and exhibited at the 1913 Aero Show at Olympia, London, featuring a number of refinements including manganese-steel tube interplane struts and provision for starting the engine from the cockpit. This had the Shorts manufacturer's number S.53, and was later bought by the Admiralty and given RNAS No. 42, thereby becoming known as the Admiralty Type 42. It was first flown as a seaplane but later fitted with a wheeled undercarriage: in this form it was one of the aircraft which were sent to Ostend at the outbreak of World War I: it was written off by Samson on 28 September 1914 when it crashed on takeoff due to engine failure. [12]

Operators

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom

Specifications (S.41 seaplane)

Commander Samson's Hydroplane2.jpg

Data from Shorts Aircraft since 1900 [13]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related lists

Notes

  1. ↑ Barnes 1967, pp. 79–80.
  2. 1 2 3 Bruce 1957, pp. 472–473.
  3. ↑ Barnes 1967, p.80.
  4. ↑ Patents secured by Short Brothers including patents nos. 1792/13, 15727/13 and 28610/13, 5290/14, 20537/14 and 9276/15, see Barnes and James, pp. 92, 110
  5. 1 2 3 Bruce Flight 14 December 1956, p. 923.
  6. ↑ Barnes 1967, p.82.
  7. ↑ Barnes 1989, pp. 529.
  8. ↑ Barnes 1967, p.83.
  9. ↑ Barnes 1967, pp. 88–89.
  10. ↑ Barnes 1967, p. 97.
  11. ↑ Flight 14 December 1956, p. 924.
  12. ↑ Barnes 1967
  13. ↑ Barnes 1967, p.87.

Related Research Articles

Sopwith Tabloid

The Sopwith Tabloid and Sopwith Schneider (floatplane) were British biplanes, originally designed as sports aircraft and later adapted for military use. They were among the first successful types to be built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. The "Tabloid", so named because of its small size, caused a sensation when it made its first public appearance.

Short Type 184

The Short Admiralty Type 184, often called the Short 225 after the power rating of the engine first fitted, was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo carrying folding-wing seaplane designed by Horace Short of Short Brothers. It was first flown in 1915 and remained in service until after the armistice in 1918. A Short 184 was the first aircraft to sink a ship using a torpedo, and another was the only British aircraft to take part in the Battle of Jutland.

Avro Type D

The Avro Type D was an aircraft built in 1911 by the pioneer British aircraft designer A.V. Roe. Roe had previously built and flown several aircraft at Brooklands, most being tractor layout triplanes. The Type D was his first biplane.

The Short Admiralty Type 74 was a single-engined biplane tractor seaplane with non-folding wings, which saw service with the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War.

Bristol Gordon England biplanes

The Bristol Gordon England biplanes were a series of early British military biplane aircraft designed by Eric Gordon England for the Bristol Aeroplane Company that first flew in 1912. Designed for easy ground transport, the aircraft could be quickly disassembled.

The Sopwith Admiralty Type 807 was a 1910s British biplane seaplane designed and built for the Admiralty by the Sopwith Aviation Company.

Sopwith Type 860

The Sopwith Admiralty Type 860 was a 1910s British biplane seaplane torpedo bomber designed and built for the Admiralty by the Sopwith Aviation Company.

Short Type 827 British two-seat reconnaissance floatplane

The Short Type 827 was a 1910s British two-seat reconnaissance floatplane. It was also known as the Short Admiralty Type 827.

Short Type 320

The Short Type 320, also known as the Short Admiralty Type 320, was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo-carrying "folder" seaplane of the First World War.

The Short N.2B was a prototype British patrol seaplane of the First World War, designed and built by Short Brothers. A single-engined biplane intended to replace Short's successful Type 184, only two were built, the Fairey III being preferred.

The Sopwith Three-seater was a British aircraft designed and built prior to the start of the First World War. One of the first aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company, it was operated by both the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), being used briefly over Belgium by the RNAS following the start of the War.

The Short Sporting Type Seaplane was a single-engined biplane seaplane which first flew in 1919, Shorts' first post-World War I aircraft. Originally designed to a Royal Air Force (RAF) specification issued during the war for two training seaplanes, three aircraft were produced as a commercial venture. Only the first was sold, the other two being cannibalised for parts and then scrapped in 1924.

The Short S.45 — also known as the Short T.5 after its naval serial number — was a training biplane built for Britain's Royal Navy by Short Brothers in 1912. It was the forerunner of another three identical aircraft delivered to the Royal Navy and Royal Flying Corps during 1912 and 1913. The Royal Naval Air Service was still operating the type when World War I broke out in 1914.

Short S.27

The Short S.27 and its derivative, the Short Improved S.27, were a series of early British aircraft built by Short Brothers. They were used by the Admiralty and Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps for training the Royal Navy's first pilots as well as for early naval aviation experiments. An Improved S.27 was used by C.R. Samson to make the first successful take-off from a moving ship on 9 May 1912.

Short Admiralty Type 81

The Short Admiralty Type 81 was a series of British two-seat floatplanes built prior to the First World War, and used by the Royal Naval Air Service in the early years of the war. They were powered by 160 hp (120 kW) Gnome Lambda-Lambda 14 cylinder two-row rotary engines and had folding wings to aid storage on ship, hence the popular name Short Folder, shared with a number of other seaplanes made by Short Brothers.

The Sopwith Special torpedo seaplane Type C was the first British aircraft designed to drop torpedoes. A single-engine biplane floatplane, it flew in July 1914 but proved unable to lift the design load and was soon abandoned.

The Short S.80 was an early British floatplane built by Short Brothers for Frank McClean to undertake an aerial expedition up the Nile to investigate the cataracts between Aswan and Khartoum. After a successful flight to Khartoum it was returned to England, where it was used for training by the RNAS. When built it was the largest successful aircraft that had been constructed in Britain. It was also known as the Short Nile Pusher Biplane Seaplane.

Short S.36

The Short S.36 was a British two-seat tractor biplane, built by Short Brothers for Francis McClean in 1911. It was later developed into the Short S.41 and Short S.45, which were the first of a long series of similar aircraft built for the RNAS and RFC.

The Short S.47 Triple Tractor was one of a series of experimental twin-engined aircraft built by Short Brothers in 1912. It acquired its name because the two engines drove three tractor propellers.

The Bristol-Burney seaplanes were a pair of experimental seaplanes produced by a collaboration between Lt. Dennistoun Burney and the Bristol and Colonial Aeroplane Company during 1912–14. The aircraft, neither of which was successfully flown, featured a novel hydroplane undercarriage. Although not a success, their development was the basis of Burney's later invention of the paravane.

References

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Short S.41 at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.