| S.45A Solent | |
|---|---|
 The Aquila Airways Solent III, G-AKNUSydney, taking-off fromFunchal | |
| General information | |
| Type | passenger flying boat |
| Manufacturer | Short Brothers and Harland |
| Primary users | BOAC |
| Number built | 16 (and 7 convertedS.45 Seafords) |
| History | |
| First flight | 11 November 1946 |
| Developed from | Short Seaford |
TheShort Solent is a passengerflying boat that was produced byShort Brothers in the late 1940s. It was developed from theShort Seaford, itself a development of theShort Sunderland military flying boat design.
The first Solent flew in 1946. New Solents were used byBOAC andTEAL, production ending in 1949. Second-hand aircraft were operated until 1958 by a number of small airlines such asAquila Airways.
The Short S.45 Solent was a high-wing monoplane flying boat of aluminium construction. Power was provided by fourBristol Hercules[1] engines.
The aircraft could be fitted for 24 passengers with day and night accommodation or 36 day passengers. The cabins (four on the lower deck and two on the upper) could be used to sleep four or seat six. The upper deck included a lounge/dining area next to a kitchen; the lower deck had two dressing rooms, toilets and three freight compartments. The flight crew was five (two pilots, navigator, and radio operator with the flight engineer in a separate compartment behind the flight deck opposite crew rest berths) and there were two stewards to attend to the passengers.[2]
The Solent II introduced by BOAC could carry 34 passengers and 7 crew. Between 1948 and 1950, BOAC operated their Solents on the three-times weekly scheduled service fromSouthampton toJohannesburg taking a route down the Nile and across East Africa. The journey took four days, including overnight stops. The Solents replacedAvro Yorks running the service.[3]The last Solent-operated service on the route departed from Berth 50 at Southampton on 10 November 1950, bringing BOAC's flying-boat operations to an end.[4]
Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) operated four Solent IVs and one Solent II between 1949 and 1960 on their scheduled routes between Sydney, Fiji, Auckland and Wellington. The last TEAL Solent service was flown between Fiji and Tahiti on 14 September 1960[4] by ZK-AMO, RMAAranui, which is now preserved. The TEAL Solents could carry 45 passengers and all versions of the type provided a great deal of space and luxury compared with contemporary or modern land-based aircraft.
Several Solents servedAquila Airways on their routes from Southampton toMadeira and theCanary Islands using ex BOAC and TEAL aircraft. On 15 November 1957, Aquila Airways G-AKNU, a Solent III,crashed near Chessell,Isle of Wight, after it experienced loss of power to two engines.[5] The crash killed 45 out of the 58 on board. British commercial flying-boat operations ceased on 30 September 1958 when Aquila Airways withdrew its Madeira service.
The only military use of the Solent was for trials at the United KingdomMarine Aircraft Experimental Establishment in 1951, the former BOAC Solent 3 was scrapped after the trials.
15 November 1957 – Aquila Airways Solent G-AKNUcrashed on the Isle of Wight. The aircraft took off at around 10:40 pm fromSouthampton Water forLisbon,Madeira andLas Palmas. Around 20 minutes later, the crew reported the failure of number 4 engine and turned back. Soon after, number 3 engine also stopped and around one minute after the radio report, the aircraft crashed into a chalk quarry nearChessell, killing 45 of the 58 people on board.[7][8] No cause for either engine failure was established in the subsequent investigation.[9]
A memorial to those killed is inSt Mary's Church, Brook. A tree and a plaque mark the crash-site.[10]
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Data from Barnes and James[13]
General characteristics
Performance
