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Posted by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. - 309C
on 11/3/2009, 6:24 pm
74.44.81.74
Short Rangoon
The Short Calcutta was a three-engined biplane flying boat developed to meet a civil Imperial Airways requirement for a "boat" to work the Mediterranean legs of the airline's services to and from India. Derived from the Short Singapore I military flying boat, the Calcutta first flew in 1928 and was the first stressed-skin, metal-hulled flying boat produced in any numbers, although the production run was only five. These durable aircraft were still in service as late as 1939 serving as training aircraft for civilian flying boat crews.
On 1 August 1928, a Calcutta flew to London and was set down in Westminster where the aircraft was moored and inspected by politicians including Winston Churchill. This demonstrated the aircraft's flexibility and gave those in charge of the nation's military budgets to see at close quarters how their money could be spent. Also this made it clear that if this large flying boat could land right in the middle of London it could do the same anywhere with the right stretch of water.
It was from the reliable Calcutta that a military version was developed to meet Air Ministry specification R.18/29 - this aircraft became the Short Rangoon having been first known as the Calcutta (Service Type). The prototype, registration S1433, first flew on 24 September 1930, with Short's Chief Test Pilot, John Lankester Parker at the controls. The Rangoon differed mainly from the civil version by having military equipment such as gun mounts, guns and bombs, as well as bigger fuel tanks and freshwater tanks to allow the aircraft and crew to operate in tropical conditions.
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