Fly Past

18 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS

SINGAPORPORE III

1934 TO 1941

SHORT

Type: Six-crew general reconnaissance fl ying boat

First fl ight: June 15, 1934, entered service November 1934

Powerplant: Four 675hp (503 kW) Rolls-Royce Kestrel piston engines

Dimensions: Span 90ft (27.43m), length 23ft 7in (7.19m)

Weights: Empty 20,364lb (9,237kg), all-up 32,900lb (14,923kg)

Max speed: 136mph (219km/h) at 5,000ft (1,524m)

Range: 1,235 miles (1,987km)

Armament: Three Lewis guns in bow, midships and tail positions. Bomb load:

2,200lb (998kg)

Replaced: Supermarine Southampton

Taken on charge: 37

Replaced by: Short Sunderland, Consolidated Catalina

SHORT SINGAPORE III

1918 2018

T

he Singapore III formed the

mainstay of the RAF’s flying

boat squadrons throughout

the second half of the 1930s, and

remained in service into the early

years of World War Two.

It was the last of the Short biplane

flying boats and the immediate

predecessor to the famous Sunderland

sub-hunter. The aircraft traces its

history to the original Singapore (also

known as the Short S.5) of 1926. The

initial machine was a twin-engined

flying boat with a wooden hull but

differed from later versions in having

just a single tail fin.

A Singapore was loaned to English

aviation pioneer Sir Alan Cobham

for his 23,000-mile (37,014km)

flight around Africa in 1927–28,

and the type paved the way for the

four-engined Singapore II of 1930.

PUSH-PULL

POWERPLANTS

Like its successor, the Singapore II

was unusual in having two engines

mounted in a tractor position, and

two set up as ‘pushers’; this tandem

configuration reduced both drag

and asymmetric problems in the

event of an engine failure.

The single example was first flown

on March 27, 1930 and although

the Singapore II never went into

production, it paved the way for the

Singapore III. The first four of these

were ordered by the Air Ministry

according to Spec R.3/33 in August

1933. Pre-production airframes
      were sent to the Marine Aircraft
      Experimental Establishment for
      trials and, following their successful
      conclusion, an order was placed for
      33 further examples.
      Compared to earlier variants, the
      Singapore III had an all-metal hull

Above

The sleek push-pull

design of the Kestrel

engines is evident in

this photograph of the

sole Singapore II.