Post by Diarist on Jul 18, 2015 17:50:38 GMT 1
The Supermarine Southampton is a 1920s British flying boat. One of the most successful flying boats of the post-war period it is a development of the Supermarine Swan, which is used for a 10 passenger service between England and France.
Design and development
The Southampton was designed by the team of R. J. Mitchell. Due to the success of the Swan, the Air Ministry ordered six Southamptons direct from the drawing board, which was very unusual. As the Swan had acted in effect as a prototype, development time was short.
The Southampton is a two-engine biplane flying boat, with the tractor engines mounted between the wings. The Southampton Mk I has both its hull and its wings manufactured from wood. The Southampton Mk II has a hull with a single thickness of metal (duralumin) (the Mk I has a double wooden bottom). This change gave a weight saving of 900 lb (409 kg) allowing for an increase of range of approximately 200 mi (320 km). In 1929, 24 of the Mk I were converted by having newly built metal hulls replacing the wooden ones. Some of the later aircraft were built with metal wings and were designated as Southampton Mk III. There are three positions for machine guns, one in the nose and two staggered in the rear fuselage.
The first flight of a production aircraft was made on 10 March 1925, and delivery to the RAF started in the middle of 1925.
Operational history
Southamptons first entered RAF service in August 1925 with No. 480 (Coastal Reconnaissance) Flight at RAF Calshot. In a series of "showing the flag" flights, the type quickly became famous for long-distance formation flights; the most notable was a 43,500 km (27,000 mi) expedition in 1927 and 1928. It was carried out by four Southamptons of the Far East Flight, setting out from Felixstowe via the Mediterranean and India to Singapore.
Further Southamptons were sold to a number of other countries. Eight new aircraft were sold to Argentina, with Turkey purchasing six aircraft and Australia buying two ex-RAF Mk 1 aircraft. Japan also purchased a single aircraft which was later converted into an 18 passenger cabin airliner. One RAF aircraft was loaned to Imperial Airways, with British Civil Registration G-AASH, for three-months from December 1929 to replace a crashed Short Calcutta on the airmail run between Genoa and Alexandria. In all, 83 Southamptons were constructed, excluding the three-engined Southampton MK X which was a single prototype.
Royal Air Force:
No. 201 Squadron RAF
No. 203 Squadron RAF
No. 204 Squadron RAF
No. 205 Squadron RAF
No. 209 Squadron RAF
No. 210 Squadron RAF
Southampton Mk. I
Source: Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Southampton
Design and development
The Southampton was designed by the team of R. J. Mitchell. Due to the success of the Swan, the Air Ministry ordered six Southamptons direct from the drawing board, which was very unusual. As the Swan had acted in effect as a prototype, development time was short.
The Southampton is a two-engine biplane flying boat, with the tractor engines mounted between the wings. The Southampton Mk I has both its hull and its wings manufactured from wood. The Southampton Mk II has a hull with a single thickness of metal (duralumin) (the Mk I has a double wooden bottom). This change gave a weight saving of 900 lb (409 kg) allowing for an increase of range of approximately 200 mi (320 km). In 1929, 24 of the Mk I were converted by having newly built metal hulls replacing the wooden ones. Some of the later aircraft were built with metal wings and were designated as Southampton Mk III. There are three positions for machine guns, one in the nose and two staggered in the rear fuselage.
The first flight of a production aircraft was made on 10 March 1925, and delivery to the RAF started in the middle of 1925.
Operational history
Southamptons first entered RAF service in August 1925 with No. 480 (Coastal Reconnaissance) Flight at RAF Calshot. In a series of "showing the flag" flights, the type quickly became famous for long-distance formation flights; the most notable was a 43,500 km (27,000 mi) expedition in 1927 and 1928. It was carried out by four Southamptons of the Far East Flight, setting out from Felixstowe via the Mediterranean and India to Singapore.
Further Southamptons were sold to a number of other countries. Eight new aircraft were sold to Argentina, with Turkey purchasing six aircraft and Australia buying two ex-RAF Mk 1 aircraft. Japan also purchased a single aircraft which was later converted into an 18 passenger cabin airliner. One RAF aircraft was loaned to Imperial Airways, with British Civil Registration G-AASH, for three-months from December 1929 to replace a crashed Short Calcutta on the airmail run between Genoa and Alexandria. In all, 83 Southamptons were constructed, excluding the three-engined Southampton MK X which was a single prototype.
Royal Air Force:
No. 201 Squadron RAF
No. 203 Squadron RAF
No. 204 Squadron RAF
No. 205 Squadron RAF
No. 209 Squadron RAF
No. 210 Squadron RAF
Southampton Mk. I
Source: Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Southampton