In Australian Service – The Shorts Flying Boats

Part Nine in a Series Examining the Airliners That Established Civil Aviation in Australia

Amongst all the aircraft to have entered service in Australia over the past few decades, the Short family of large flying boats must surely be the most evocative. Most aircraft enthusiasts can barely resist the temptation to watch an aircraft taking off when the application of power signals that this is about to happen. However, the sight of a large four-engine flying boat slicing through the water, leaving a white foamy wake and then gently lifting skywards, leaves most of its land-based brethren behind in the ‘watch the take-off’ stakes.

The Short Sandringham was a member of a distinguished line of four-engined monoplane flying boats that commenced with the famous S. 23 Empire. An advanced machine for its time, the Short S. 23 was an all-metal aircraft with a performance comparable to landplane airliners. A new era was ushered in on 4 July 1936 when John Lankester Parker took the prototype G-ADHL ‘Canopus’ from Rochester on her maiden flight. The four 920 hp Bristol Pegasus XC engines gave a 200 mph maximum speed and a 165 mph cruising speed. Loaded weight was 40,500 lb and endurance was 4½ hours. Later versions were to significantly improve on these figures.

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