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Short S45 Solent

1946 COLD WAR

Brief S45 Solent History

The golden age of flying spanned the interwar years and introduced air travel to the masses. This resulted in large aircraft with boat-like fuselage that could take off and land on water, with long-range and stable flight characteristics.

This has opened up many routes around the world for passengers to fly (even overnight) on these machines, with many manufacturers offering different designs with very similar configurations. One such company was Short Brothers, which initially rose to prominence by supplying aircraft during World War I (1914-1918) and capable airships for the British military prior to World War II.

One of their most important contributions to World War II was the Short S. 25 Sunderland, which first flew in 1937 and was adopted in 1938. Throughout the war, the RAF built and served 777 prototypes. From this design was born the 1944 Short S. 45 Seaford, of which 10 examples emerged and served RAF Coast Command as a maritime anti-ship platform - albeit too late to be used in WWII.

Development of the product line was continued with the Short S. 45 Solent, which also did not enter service in World War II and made its first flight on November 11, 1946 (the war ended in September 1945).

A characteristic of these types of aircraft is that the Solent has a deep, boat-like fuselage that enables it to land and take off on water. This forced a raised empennage as well as a high-mounted wing, the latter of which brought the engine's propeller blades above the water. The tail is a single vertical tail (with a rounded tip and a large area design) with a low horizontal plane. Buoyant legs were added to the wing's outermost engine units to cover the pitch of the aircraft on the water. The cockpit is layered, giving both pilots an impressive view from the front of the fuselage and unobstructed views of the inboard engines from their respective positions.

The sides of the fuselage are dotted with rectangular viewing windows, while the plane is dominated by aluminum. Approved boarding and disembarkation gates.

A typical crew of 7 (pilot, co-pilot, navigator, radio operator, flight engineer and two flight attendants) with a maximum capacity of 34 in passenger seats.

Beginning with "Solent 2", Solent has produced three major releases. This was delivered to British Overseas Airways (BOAC) in twelve examples, all built at the Rochester factory. The Solent 2 is powered by 4 Bristol Hercules 637 radial piston engines with 1,690 hp each. This gives the aircraft a top speed of 273 mph, a range of 1,800 miles, a service ceiling of 17,000 feet and a rate of climb of 925 feet per minute. Measurements include a length of 87 feet, 8 inches, a wingspan of 112 feet, 9 inches, and a height of 34 feet, 3.75 inches.

The kerb weight is 47,760 pounds, and the fully loaded weight is 78,000 pounds.

"Solent 3" has seven samples, six of which were completed at Isle of Queens and the last at Humble. These are transformations of existing Seaford models.

The "Solent 4" differed by the installation of 4 Bristol Hercules 733 series engines, 4 of which were built in Belfast.

Operators on the S. 45 Solent route (together with Aquila Airways and BOAC in the UK) include South Pacific Airlines in the US, Trans-Oceanic Airways in Australia and Tasman Empire Airways Limited in New Zealand. Solent saw no formal military service during his tenure, although it was assessed by the British Sea Aircraft Experiment in 1950.

There are 23 Solent aircraft in total, of which 16 are "new build" models and the remaining 7 are converted directly from Seaford.