Misplaced Pages

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91-632: The PB2Y Coronado is a large flying boat patrol bomber designed by Consolidated Aircraft , and used by the US Navy during World War II in bombing, antisubmarine, medical/hospital plane, and transport roles. Obsolete by the end of the war, Coronados were quickly taken out of service. Only one known example remains, at the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola , Florida. Before WW2 large flying boats were important for long distance international routes, as

182-902: A July 1943 crash at Gibraltar , killing the Polish leader General Sikorski and several other senior figures in the exile government; a February 1945 crash in the Mediterranean , killing eleven members of the British delegation to the Yalta Conference ; and a March 1945 disappearance over the North Atlantic involving the aircraft formerly used as a private transport by Winston Churchill. Following these and other losses, in April 1945, concerns were raised in Parliament about

273-424: A PB2Y engine failed during takeoff, causing it to crash into a barracks, killing 2 on the ground and 7 of 12 on the aircraft. Galapagos, Ecuador, 17 July 1944 landing accident (nosing over) kills five. 31 July 1944, on takeoff from Funafuti Lagoon a wing clips a ship's jackstaff causing a crash, killing 22. On 17 October 1944 one crashed into a Coronado Island near San Diego, California. On 6 December 1945

364-541: A PB2Y-5R (no. 7241) crashed at Canton island. On 22 June 1945, a PB2Y landed at sea on a flight between Ebeye and Saipan. All were rescued but the aircraft later sank. Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II General characteristics Performance Armament Victor Bergeron created a PB2Y cocktail for his Tiki bars ( Trader Vic's ) in honor of World War II airmen. Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Flying boat Though

455-562: A United States naval aviator in an M.5. The Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company modified the Felixstowe F.5 into Aeromarine 75 airliner flying boats which with Aeromarine West Indies Airways flew Air Mail to Florida, Bahamas, and Cuba along with being passenger carriers. The German aircraft manufacturing company Hansa-Brandenburg built flying boats starting with the model Hansa-Brandenburg GW in 1916. The Austro-Hungarian firm, Lohner-Werke began building flying boats, starting with

546-598: A clean nose. The aircraft had a unique place in history, bringing Admiral Nimitz to Tokyo Bay for the signing of the Japanese surrender for WW2. Also, after the war one was used by Hughes Aviation . Of the aircraft one survived the war to be exhibited in an aviation museum. After deliveries of the PBY Catalina , also a Consolidated aircraft, began in 1935, the United States Navy began planning for

637-469: A five-seat Sanchez-Besa from 1 August 1912. The French Navy ordered its first floatplane in 1912. None of these crafts to date were flying boats. In 1911–12, François Denhaut constructed the first flying boat , with a fuselage forming a hull, using various designs to give hydrodynamic lift at take-off. Its first successful flight was on 13 April 1912. Throughout 1910 and 1911 American pioneering aviator Glenn Curtiss developed his floatplane into

728-470: A flying boat’s fuselage provides buoyancy, it may also utilize under-wing floats or wing-like hull projections (called sponsons ) for additional stability. Ascending into common use during the First World War , flying boats rapidly grew in both scale and capability during the interwar period , during which time numerous operators found commercial success with the type. Flying boats were some of

819-698: A fully enclosed cabin. Trials of the America began on 23 June 1914 with Porte also as Chief Test Pilot; testing soon revealed serious shortcomings in the design; it was under-powered, so the engines were replaced with more powerful engines mounted in a tractor configuration. There was also a tendency for the nose of the aircraft to try to submerge as engine power increased while taxiing on water. This phenomenon had not been encountered before, since Curtiss' earlier designs had not used such powerful engines nor large fuel/cargo loads and so were relatively more buoyant. In order to counteract this effect, Curtiss fitted fins to

910-581: A further sum" from the Women's Aerial League of Great Britain. American businessman Rodman Wanamaker became determined that the prize should go to an American aircraft and commissioned the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company to design and build an aircraft capable of making the flight. Curtiss' development of the Flying Fish flying boat in 1913 brought him into contact with John Cyril Porte ,

1001-585: A glide." At Felixstowe, Porte made advances in flying boat design and developed a practical hull design with the distinctive "Felixstowe notch". Porte's first design to be implemented in Felixstowe was the Felixstowe Porte Baby , a large, three-engined biplane flying-boat, powered by one central pusher and two outboard tractor Rolls-Royce Eagle engines. Porte modified an H-4 with a new hull whose improved hydrodynamic qualities made taxiing, take-off and landing much more practical, and called it

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1092-493: A heavily modified Short Empire flying boat. The larger Maia took off, carrying the smaller Mercury loaded to a weight greater than it could take off with. This allowed the Mercury to carry sufficient fuel for a direct trans-Atlantic flight with the mail. Unfortunately this was of limited usefulness, and the Mercury had to be returned from America by ship. The Mercury did set a number of distance records before in-flight refuelling

1183-404: A joint bid. A company under combined ownership was then formed, Qantas Empire Airways. The new ten-day service between Rose Bay, New South Wales (near Sydney ), and Southampton was such a success with letter-writers that before long the volume of mail was exceeding aircraft storage space. A better solution to the problem was sought by the British government during the early 1930s, who released

1274-458: A publicity stunt. It flew to America in 1930–31, crossing the Atlantic via an indirect route over 9 months. It was the largest flying boat of its time, but was severely underpowered and was limited by a very low operational ceiling. Only three were built, with a variety of different engines installed, in an attempt to overcome the lack of power. Two of these were sold to Italy. The Dornier Wal

1365-598: A result of this action, British flying boats were dazzle-painted to aid identification in combat. The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company independently developed its designs into the small Model "F", the larger Model "K" (several of which were sold to the Russian Naval Air Service), and the Model "C" for the U.S. Navy. Curtiss among others also built the Felixstowe F.5 as the Curtiss F5L, based on

1456-449: A retired Royal Navy lieutenant, aircraft designer and test pilot who was to become an influential British aviation pioneer. Recognising that many of the early accidents were attributable to a poor understanding of handling while in contact with the water, the pair's efforts went into developing practical hull designs to make the transatlantic crossing possible. At the same time the British boat building firm J. Samuel White of Cowes on

1547-604: A single Sunderland operating off Norway was attacked by six German Junkers Ju 88C fighters; during the engagement, it shot one down and damaged another until it retreated and drove off the rest. The Germans reputedly nicknamed the Sunderland the Fliegendes Stachelschwein ("Flying Porcupine") due to its defensive firepower. Sunderlands in the Mediterranean theatre proved themselves on multiple high-profile occasions, flying many evacuation missions during

1638-493: A specification calling for a new large aircraft capable of carrying up to 24 passengers in spacious comfort along with adequate room for airmail or freight while simultaneously being capable of a cruising speed of 170 mph and a range of at least 700 miles; the capacity for an extended range of 2,000 miles to serve the North Atlantic route was also stipulated. Originally intended for use by IAL, partner Qantas agreed to

1729-562: A weak hull and poor water handling. The combination of the new Porte-designed hull, this time fitted with two steps, with the wings of the H-12 and a new tail, and powered by two Rolls-Royce Eagle engines, was named the Felixstowe F.2 and first flew in July 1916, proving greatly superior to the Curtiss on which it was based. It was used as the basis for all future designs. It entered production as

1820-677: The Berlin Airlift in 1948, which reinforced the need for a large RAF transport fleet. The Handley Page Hastings , a four-engined transport, was introduced during the Berlin Airlift and continued as a mainstay transport aircraft of the RAF for the next 15 years. In 1956, new aircraft designs became available, including the de Havilland Comet (the first operational jet transport ), and the Blackburn Beverley . In 1959,

1911-609: The Bristol Britannia was introduced, with No. 99 Squadron RAF . No. 511 Squadron RAF was re-formed again at RAF Lyneham on 15 December 1959, as the second squadron to operate the Britannia on long-range trooping flights. During the 1960s the command was divided into three different forces: During the 1950s and 1960s Transport Command evacuated military personnel from the Suez Canal Zone prior and after

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2002-703: The British North Greenland expedition a research expedition from 1952–54 on the Greenland ice. No. 44 (Ferry) Group RAF was formed on 15 August 1941 at Eastern Avenue, Barnwood, Gloucester within RAF Ferry Command . It moved to Transport Command on 25 March 1943 and controlled non-operational aircraft moving to and from the UK to the south or west. It was disbanded on 14 August 1946 and absorbed into No. 46 Group. No. 47 (Transport) Group RAF

2093-538: The Felixstowe F.1 . Porte's innovation of the "Felixstowe notch" enabled the craft to overcome suction from the water more quickly and break free for flight much more easily. This made operating the craft far safer and more reliable, although similar devices had been in use in France since 1911. The "notch" breakthrough would soon after evolve into a "step", with the rear section of the lower hull sharply recessed above

2184-683: The German seizure of Crete , each carrying as many as 82 passengers. One Sunderland flew the reconnaissance mission to observe the Italian fleet at anchor in Taranto before the famous Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 's torpedo attack on 11 November 1940 . The largest flying boat of the war was the Blohm & Voss BV 238 , which was also the heaviest plane to fly during the Second World War and

2275-603: The Gnome Omega –powered Hydravion , a trimaran floatplane. Fabre's first successful take off and landing by a powered floatplane inspired other aviators and he designed floats for several other flyers. The first hydro-aeroplane competition was held in Monaco in March 1912, featuring aircraft using floats from Fabre, Curtiss, Tellier and Farman. This led to the first scheduled seaplane passenger services at Aix-les-Bains , using

2366-527: The Gold Coast , No. 116 Wing RAF at RAF Hendon , which supervised scheduled services to India. On 17 February 1945 No. 87 Group RAF was formed in Paris to control units in Paris and southern France. It was disbanded by being reduced to No. 87 Wing RAF on 15 July 1946. Operating as it did under wartime conditions, Transport Command had a relatively high accident rate. Prominent accidents included

2457-519: The Indian Ocean region, Southeast Asia and the Far East , to maintain contact between the UK and military bases of strategic importance. It also carried out special flights worldwide covering all the continents bar Antarctica. Many varied tasks were undertaken during the 1950s. The 1960s saw a reduction of the RAF and a loss of independence of the former functional commands. Transport Command

2548-763: The Isle of Wight set up a new aircraft division and produced a flying boat in the United Kingdom. This was displayed at the London Air Show at Olympia in 1913. In that same year, a collaboration between the S. E. Saunders boatyard of East Cowes and the Sopwith Aviation Company produced the "Bat Boat", an aircraft with a consuta laminated hull that could operate from land or on water, which today we call an amphibious aircraft . The "Bat Boat" completed several landings on sea and on land and

2639-648: The Lohner E in 1914 and the later (1915) Lohner L which was copied widely. In September 1919, British company Supermarine started operating the first flying boat service in the world, from Woolston to Le Havre in France , but it was short-lived. A Curtiss NC-4 became the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in 1919, crossing via the Azores . Of the four that made the attempt, only one completed

2730-608: The PBY Catalina and Short Sunderland played key roles in both the Pacific Theater and the Atlantic of the Second World War. The popularity of flying boats gradually tailed off during the Cold War era, partially because of the difficulty in maintaining operations in inclement weather when sea conditions may easily prevent takeoffs and landings while land based aircraft are unaffected, and investments in airports during

2821-640: The Suez Crisis of October–November 1956; evacuated casualties from South Korea during the Korean War and from the Malaya during the Malayan Emergency ; moved essential supplies to Woomera, South Australia , and ferried personnel and supplies out to Christmas Island for the UK's atomic bomb tests. In addition, Transport Command ran scheduled routes to military staging posts and bases in

Consolidated PB2Y Coronado - Misplaced Pages Continue

2912-575: The attack on Pearl Harbor and formed most of the early-war Coronado fleet. The prototype XPB2Y-4 was powered by four Wright R-2600 radials and offered improved performance, but the increases were not enough to justify a full fleet update. However, most PB2Y-3 models were converted to the PB2Y-5 standard, with the R-1830 engines replaced with single-stage R-1830-92 models. As most existing PB2Y-3s were used as transports, flying low to avoid combat, removing

3003-521: The 1930s, flying boats made it possible to have regular air transport between the U.S. and Europe, opening up new air travel routes to South America, Africa, and Asia. Foynes , Ireland and Botwood , Newfoundland and Labrador were the termini for many early transatlantic flights. In areas where there were no airfields for land-based aircraft, flying boats could stop at small island, river, lake or coastal stations to refuel and resupply. The Pan Am Boeing 314 Clipper planes brought exotic destinations like

3094-731: The Coronado as a maritime patrol bomber, as it already used the PBY Catalina. However, the range of the Coronado (1,070 miles) compared poorly with the Catalina (2,520 mi), and the Short Sunderland (1,780 mi). Consequently, the Coronados supplied to the RAF under Lend-Lease were outfitted purely as transports, serving with RAF Transport Command . The 10 aircraft were used for transatlantic flights , staging through

3185-600: The Curtiss Model E, and soon tested landings on and take-offs from ships using the Curtiss Model D. In Britain, Captain Edward Wakefield and Oscar Gnosspelius began to explore the feasibility of flight from water in 1908. They decided to make use of Windermere in the Lake District , England's largest lake to test their floatplane. The latter's first attempts to fly attracted large crowds, though

3276-518: The Far East within reach of air travelers and came to represent the romance of flight. By 1931, mail from Australia was reaching Britain in just 16 days – less than half the time taken by sea. In that year, government tenders on both sides of the world invited applications to run new passenger and mail services between the ends of the British Empire , and Qantas and IAL were successful with

3367-473: The Felixstowe F.2A, being used as a patrol aircraft, with about 100 being completed by the end of World War I. Another seventy were built, and these were followed by two F.2c, which were built at Felixstowe. The Felixstowe F.5 was intended to combine the good qualities of the F.2 and F.3, with the prototype first flying in May 1918. The prototype showed superior qualities to its predecessors but, to ease production,

3458-620: The L series, and progressing with the M series. The Macchi M.5 in particular was extremely manoeuvrable and agile and matched the land-based aircraft it had to fight. 244 were built in total. Towards the end of the First World War, the aircraft were flown by the Italian Navy Aviation, the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps airmen. Ensign Charles Hammann won the first Medal of Honor awarded to

3549-691: The Navy, as a member of the Royal Naval Air Service . Appointed Squadron Commander of Royal Navy Air Station Hendon , he soon convinced the Admiralty of the potential of flying boats and was put in charge of the naval air station at Felixstowe in 1915. Porte persuaded the Admiralty to commandeer (and later, purchase) the America and a sister craft from Curtiss. This was followed by an order for 12 more similar aircraft, one Model H-2 and

3640-687: The PB2Y incidents of different types. There is a sunken PB2Y Coronado in Tanapag Lagoon of Saipan . This wreck has been studied for marine archeology . After the capture of Ebeye from the Japanese, it was used as seaplane stopover for flying boats transiting the Pacific. At least three Coronados crashed near Naval Air Base Ebeye Island, at Kwajalein Atoll. Some of these wrecks were discovered in

3731-469: The RAF base at Darrell's Island, Bermuda , and Puerto Rico, though the aircraft were used to deliver vital cargo and equipment in a transportation network that stretched down both sides of the Atlantic, from Newfoundland , to Brazil , and to Nigeria , and other parts of Africa. After the war ended five of the RAF aircraft were scrapped, one was already lost in collision with a Martin PBM Mariner and

Consolidated PB2Y Coronado - Misplaced Pages Continue

3822-467: The RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command , and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967. During the Second World War , it at first ferried aircraft from factories to operational units and performed air transport. Later it took over the job of dropping paratroops from Army Cooperation Command as well. Transport Command was

3913-569: The River Seine with a towed kite glider on floats. The first of his unpowered flights was 150 yards. He later built a powered floatplane in partnership with Louis Blériot , but the machine was unsuccessful. Other pioneers also attempted to attach floats to aircraft in Britain, Australia, France and the USA. On 28 March 1910, Frenchman Henri Fabre flew the first successful powered floatplane,

4004-407: The ability to land on water without a land-based airstrip was useful. It proved to be good supporting aircraft in the Pacific War, which often required transport across long distance of oceans in harm's way, to places with no prepared airstrips. There were two main configurations, one with several turrets including a prominent ball turret in the nose with two 50-cal machine guns, and one unarmed, with

4095-408: The aircraft crashed into the lake. Wakefield's pilot however, taking advantage of a light northerly wind, successfully took off and flew at a height of 50 feet to Ferry Nab, where he made a wide turn and returned for a perfect landing on the lake's surface. In 1913, the Daily Mail newspaper put up a £10,000 prize for the first non-stop aerial crossing of the Atlantic which was soon "enhanced by

4186-400: The aircraft failed to take off and required a re-design of the floats incorporating features of Borwick's successful speed-boat hulls. Meanwhile, Wakefield ordered a floatplane similar to the design of the 1910 Fabre Hydravion. By November 1911, both Gnosspelius and Wakefield had aircraft capable of flight from water and awaited suitable weather conditions. Gnosspelius's flight was short-lived as

4277-431: The best flying boat of the conflict, the Kawanishi H8K . Its design was based upon its immediate predecessor, the Kawanishi H6K , but was a considerably larger and longer-ranged aircraft designed at the request of the Navy just prior to the outbreak of war. On the night of 4 March 1942, two H8Ks conducted the second raid on Pearl Harbor , refuelling en route by submarine at French Frigate Shoals in order to achieve

4368-434: The change being made official on 1 April 1940. BOAC continued to operate flying boat services from the (slightly) safer confines of Poole Harbour during wartime, returning to Southampton in 1947. When Italy entered the war in June 1940, the Mediterranean was closed to allied planes, and BOAC and Qantas operated the Horseshoe Route between Durban and Sydney using Short Empire flying boats. The Martin Company produced

4459-770: The conflict that eased the introduction of larger, and more efficient, land-based airliners. Despite being largely overshadowed, limited use of the type continued with some operators, such as in the case of the Shin Meiwa US-1A and the Martin JRM Mars . In the 21st century, flying boats maintain a few niche uses, such as dropping water on forest fires , air transport around archipelagos, and access to undeveloped areas. Many modern seaplane variants, whether float or flying boat types, are convertible amphibious aircraft where either landing gear or flotation modes may be used to land and take off. The quest for an aircraft that could take off or land from water began with float planes, which are not flying boats. The Frenchman Alphonse Pénaud filed

4550-406: The crew and pilot, then scuttled the aircraft with a strafe. Coronados served as a major component in the Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) during World War II in the Pacific theater. Most had originally been acquired as combat patrol aircraft, but the limitations noted above quickly relegated them to transport service in the American naval air fleet also. By the end of World War II, the Coronado

4641-440: The early 21st century and in some cases are visited by divers. Additional examples: On 6 May 1942, a PB2Y crashed crashed and sank in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii during an emergency landing, claiming the lives of two. On 27 December 1942 one crashed landing on the Salton Sea , killing 6. On 21 May 1943 one crashed with the loss of all crew at Little Creek, Virginia, USA. 23 May 1943 a PB2Y ran out of fuel near Bermuda; on landing

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4732-489: The end of the conflict, the Navy opted to scaled back their order, buying only the five aircraft. The five Mars were completed, and the last delivered in 1947. The U.S. used several 4-engine flying boats during World War II, including those that had been operating as civilian airliners. This included five Boeing B-314 Clippers , four more as the C-98s; two Martin M-130 Clippers ,a Martin XPB2M-1/XPB2M-1R prototype, and one JRM-1 Mars ; three Sikorsky VS-44s (JR2S-1). However,

4823-674: The excess weight of unneeded superchargers allowed an increased payload without harming low-altitude performance. A prototype of the Consolidated XPB3Y variant was ordered, which would be a long range version of the Coronado, but this was cancelled. Coronados served in combat in the Pacific with the United States Navy, in both bombing and antisubmarine roles. PB2Y-5 Coronados carried out four bombing raids on Wake Island between 30 January and 9 February 1944. However, most served as transport and hospital aircraft, and additional tasks included executive transport and search and rescue. The British Royal Air Force Coastal Command had hoped to use

4914-535: The experience of crews and the maintenance of aircraft within Transport Command. One frequent issue reported was that VIP passengers were said to put pressure on crews to fly in difficult conditions; the Air Ministry reported that it had tried to put in place orders to prevent this. As the Second World War ended, on 7 May 1945, No. 4 Group RAF was transferred into the command, from Bomber Command , but disbanded in early 1948; No. 44 Group disbanded by being amalgamated into No 46 Group on 14 August 1946; No. 48 Group RAF

5005-486: The final Porte hull designs and powered by American Liberty engines . Meanwhile, the pioneering flying boat designs of François Denhaut had been steadily developed by the Franco-British Aviation Company into a range of practical craft. Smaller than the Felixstowes, several thousand FBAs served with almost all of the Allied forces as reconnaissance craft, patrolling the North Sea, Atlantic and Mediterranean oceans. In Italy, several flying boats were developed, starting with

5096-449: The first patent for a flying machine with a boat hull and retractable landing gear in 1876 but failed to build one. Austrian Wilhelm Kress is credited by some with attempting to build the first successful seaplane Drachenflieger , a floatplane , in 1898, although its two 30 hp Daimler engines were inadequate for take-off and it later sank when one of its two floats collapsed. On 6 June 1905, Gabriel Voisin took off and landed on

5187-528: The flight plan; the aircraft was a conventional biplane design with two-bay, unstaggered wings of unequal span with two pusher inline engines mounted side-by-side above the fuselage in the interplane gap. Wingtip pontoons were attached directly below the lower wings near their tips. The design (later developed into the Model H ), resembled Curtiss' earlier flying boats, but was built considerably larger so it could carry enough fuel to cover 1,100 mi (1,800 km). The three crew members were accommodated in

5278-449: The flight. Before the development of highly reliable aircraft, the ability to land on water was a desirable safety feature for transoceanic travel. In 1923, the first successful commercial flying boat service was introduced with flights to and from the Channel Islands . The British aviation industry was experiencing rapid growth. The Government decided that nationalization was necessary and ordered five aviation companies to merge to form

5369-417: The forward lower hull section, and that characteristic became a feature of both flying boat hulls and floatplane floats. The resulting aircraft would be large enough to carry sufficient fuel to fly long distances and could berth alongside ships to take on more fuel. Porte then designed a similar hull for the larger Curtiss H-12 flying boat which, while larger and more capable than the H-4s, shared failings of

5460-451: The initiative and undertook to purchase six of the new Short S23 "C" class or "Empire" flying boats as well. Being ordered from aviation manufacturer Short Brothers , the Empire was reportedly hailed as being "one of the world's boldest experiments in aviation", while early sceptics referred to the order less favourably as being a 'gamble'. IAL were so impressed by the Empire that it placed a follow-on order for another 11; when combined with

5551-430: The largest aircraft built and flown by any of the Axis Powers . Only the first prototype ever flew, commencing flight trials in April 1944. Months later, it was strafed and partially sunk while moored on Lake Schaal , to the east of Hamburg ; it never returned to flight, instead being intentionally sunk in deep water after the end of the conflict. The Imperial Japanese Navy operated what has been often described as

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5642-427: The largest aircraft of the first half of the 20th century, exceeded in size only by bombers developed during the Second World War . Their advantage lay in using water instead of expensive land-based runways, making them the basis for international airlines in the interwar period. They were also commonly used as maritime patrol aircraft and air-sea rescue , particularly during times of conflict. Flying boats such as

5733-406: The last four were scuttled off the coast of Bermuda in 1946. In combat missions PB2Y claimed five enemy aircraft shot down over the course of WW2. Likewise, an example of one lost to combat is at Kerema Rhetto, Okinawa, 5 May 1945. An example of a search and rescue mission is that a PB2Y landed hard on water of Kagoshima Bay to rescue a downed pilot. Unable to takeoff again, a PBM Mariner picked up

5824-411: The main 4-engined flying boat of the U.S. forces was the PB2Y Coronado , of which nearly 220 were used in several versions:maritime patrol, bombing, medical/hospital transport, and for regular cargo; it also served with British forces in the Battle for the Atlantic . RAF Transport Command RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of

5915-444: The most notable of these flights was a 43,500 km (27,000 mi) expedition conducted during 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 . Both the RAF and Supermarine acquired considerable acclaim from these flights, as well as proving that flying boats had evolved to become reliable means of long-distance transport. In

6006-448: The necessary range; poor visibility caused this attack on Pearl Harbor to fail to accomplish any significant damage. An improved H8K2 variant of the type, featuring extremely heavy defensive armament, was also introduced. In November 1939, IAL was restructured into three separate companies: British European Airways , British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), and British South American Airways (which merged with BOAC in 1949), with

6097-506: The next generation of patrol bombers. Orders for two prototypes, the XPB2Y-1 and the Sikorsky XPBS-1 , were placed in 1936; the prototype Coronado first flew in December 1937. After trials with the XPB2Y-1 prototype revealed some stability issues, the design was finalized as the PB2Y-2 , with a large cantilever wing, twin tail with very marked dihedral, and four Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engines . The two inner engines were fitted with four-bladed reversible pitch propellers ;

6188-780: The only RAF command in to which aircrew originating in the Caribbean were not posted due to the fact that they might be required to fly to the United States where racial discrimination was legally entrenched at the time. In June 1944 the Command was made up of No. 38 Group RAF ; No. 44 Group RAF; No. 45 Group RAF; No. 46 Group RAF ; No. 216 Group RAF ; No. 229 Group RAF; No. 114 Wing RAF, and No. 116 Wing RAF at RAF Hendon . No. 44 Group RAF - HQ at Gloucester No. 45 Group RAF - HQ at Dorval in Canada, (the former Atlantic Ferry Organization ) No. 46 Group RAF - HQ at Harrow Weald No. 216 Group RAF HQ in Egypt No. 229 Group RAF HQ at Delhi, India (formed 1943–44); controlled No. 177 Wing No. 114 Wing RAF - HQ at Accra in

6279-430: The original order for 28 flying boats, this was the largest single order to have ever been placed for a British civil aircraft at that time. Delivering the mail as quickly as possible generated a lot of competition and some innovative designs. One variant of the Short Empire flying boats was the strange-looking " Maia and Mercury ". It was a four-engined floatplane "Mercury" (the winged messenger) fixed on top of "Maia",

6370-477: The outer engines had standard three-bladed feathering props. Like the PBY Catalina before it, the PB2Y's wingtip floats retracted to reduce drag and increase range, with the floats' buoyant hulls acting as the wingtips when retracted. The price of the PB2Y-2 was US$ 300,000, or approximately three times that of the PBY Catalina. Development continued throughout the war. The PB2Y-3 , featuring self-sealing fuel tanks and additional armor, entered service just after

6461-424: The over-water sectors of the Deutsche Luft Hansa South Atlantic Airmail service. The military value of flying boats was well recognized, and every country bordering on water operated them in a military capacity at the outbreak of the Second World War . Flying boats such as the PBM Mariner patrol bomber, PBY Catalina , Short Sunderland , and Grumman Goose were procured in large numbers. The Sunderland, which

6552-575: The production version was modified to make extensive use of components from the F.3, which resulted in lower performance than the F.2A or F.3. The Felixstowe flying boats were extensively employed by the Royal Navy for coastal patrols, including searching for German U-boats . In 1918 they were towed on lighters towards the northern German ports to extend their range; on 4 June 1918 this resulted in three F.2As engaging with ten German seaplanes, shooting down two confirmed and four probables at no loss. As

6643-456: The production was the PB2Y-3, with 210 produced it featured turrets. Significant numbers of unarmed transport version were also produced or converted from existing versions. The main operator was the United States Navy, and some served with the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force. 5 served with United States Coast Guard. After the war there was some civilian use also. There were many accidents with

6734-541: The prototype XPB2M Mars based on their PBM Mariner patrol bomber, with flight tests between 1941 and 1943. The Mars was converted by the Navy into a transport aircraft designated the XPB2M-1R. Satisfied with the performance, 20 of the modified JRM-1 Mars were ordered. The first of the five production Mars flying boats entered service ferrying cargo to Hawaii and the Pacific Islands on 23 January 1944. Following

6825-453: The remaining as Model H-4 's. Four examples of the latter were assembled in the UK by Saunders . All of these were similar to the design of the America and, indeed, were all referred to as America s in Royal Navy service. The engines, however, were changed from the under-powered 160 hp Curtiss engines to 250 hp Rolls-Royce Falcon engines. The initial batch was followed by an order for 50 more (totalling 64 Americas overall during

6916-478: The right pontoon ripped off and the aircraft rolled over and sank. 24 May 1943 a PB2Y broke in two when it was forced to land on the ground at San Mieuel Rea, Mexico. On 26 November 1943 a PB2Y crashed while landing during a training flight at NAS Alamedea , USA. 1 January 1944 nine perished in a crash in the Great Sound of Bermuda and another crash at Bermuda occurred on 26 May 1943. On 17 February 1944

7007-406: The sides of the bow to add hydrodynamic lift, but soon replaced these with sponsons , a type of underwater pontoon mounted in pairs on either side of a hull. These sponsons (or their engineering equivalents) and the flared, notched hull would remain a prominent feature of flying boat hull design in the decades to follow. With the problem resolved, preparations for the crossing resumed. While the craft

7098-568: The state-owned Imperial Airways of London (IAL). IAL became the international flag-carrying British airline, providing flying boat passenger and mail transport links between Britain and South Africa using aircraft such as the Short S.8 Calcutta . During the 1920s, the Royal Air Force (RAF) Far East flight performed a series of "showing the flag" long-distance formation flights using the newly developed Supermarine Southampton . Perhaps

7189-472: The successful Curtiss Model D land-plane, which used a larger central float and sponsons. Combining floats with wheels, he made the first amphibian flights in February 1911 and was awarded the first Collier Trophy for US flight achievement. From 1912 his experiments resulted in the 1913 Model E and Model F , which he called "flying-boats". In February 1911, the United States Navy took delivery of

7280-476: The vast distances of the Pacific Theater and the Atlantic , locating enemy vessels and sinking numerous submarines. In May 1941, the German battleship Bismarck was discovered by a PBY Catalina flying out of Castle Archdale Flying boat base , Lower Lough Erne , Northern Ireland. A flight of Catalinas spotted the Japanese fleet approaching Midway Island , beginning the Battle of Midway . On 3 April 1940,

7371-566: The war). Porte also acquired permission to modify and experiment with the Curtiss aircraft. The Curtiss H-4s were soon found to have a number of problems; they were underpowered, their hulls were too weak for sustained operations and they had poor handling characteristics when afloat or taking off. One flying boat pilot, Major Theodore Douglas Hallam, wrote that they were "comic machines, weighing well under two tons; with two comic engines giving, when they functioned, 180 horsepower; and comic control, being nose heavy with engines on and tail heavy in

7462-522: Was "easily the greatest commercial success in the history of marine aviation". Over 250 were built in Italy, Spain, Japan, The Netherlands and Germany. Numerous airlines operated the Dornier Wal on scheduled passenger and mail services. Wals were used by explorers, for a number of pioneering flights, and by the military in many countries. Though having first flown in 1922, from 1934 to 1938 Wals operated

7553-503: Was adopted. Sir Alan Cobham devised a method of in-flight refuelling in the 1930s. In the air, the Short Empire could be loaded with more fuel than it could take off with. Short Empire flying boats serving the trans-Atlantic crossing were refueled over Foynes; with the extra fuel load, they could make a direct trans-Atlantic flight. A Handley Page H.P.54 Harrow was used as the fuel tanker. The German Dornier Do X flying boat

7644-527: Was developed in parallel to the civilian Empire flying boat, was one of the most powerful and widely used flying boats throughout the conflict, while Catalinas were one of the most produced ASW of the war, with over 2,661 being produced in the US alone. Flying boats were commonly utilized to conduct various tasks, from anti-submarine patrol to air-sea rescue and gunfire spotting for battleships. They would recover downed airmen and operate as scout aircraft over

7735-478: Was duly awarded the Mortimer Singer Prize . It was the first all-British aeroplane capable of making six return flights over five miles within five hours. In the U.S. Wanamaker's commission built on Glen Curtiss' previous development and experience with the Model F for the U.S. Navy which rapidly resulted in the America , designed under Porte's supervision following his study and rearrangement of

7826-649: Was established, but then disbanded on 15 May 1946; and No. 216 Group was transferred to RAF Mediterranean and Middle East . On 1 November 1949, No. 47 Group RAF disbanded by being renumbered 46 Group. Overseas, two groups had been formed in India and Australia towards the end of the war. No. 232 Group RAF disbanded, now in Singapore on 15 August 1946, and 300 Group (24 April 1946 – 7 November 1946) in Sydney. The Command took part in several big operations, including

7917-469: Was formed on 1 January 1945 at The Hall, Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire within Transport Command. It reabsorbed No. 48 (Transport) Group on 1 April 1946, No. 47 moved to RAF Abingdon on 15 April 1948 and was redesignated No. 46 Group on 1 November 1949. No. 48 (Transport) Group was formed on 29 October 1945 out of No. 47 Group at The Hall, Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire within Transport Command. It

8008-400: Was found to handle "heavily" on takeoff, and required rather longer take-off distances than expected, the full moon on 5 August 1914 was selected for the trans-Atlantic flight; Porte was to pilot the America with George Hallett as co-pilot and mechanic. Curtiss and Porte's plans were interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War. Porte sailed for England on 4 August 1914 and rejoined

8099-508: Was noticeably different from its UK and U.S.-built counterparts. It had wing-like protrusions from the fuselage, called sponsons , to stabilize it on the water without the need for wing-mounted outboard floats. This feature was pioneered by Claudius Dornier during the First World War on his Dornier Rs. I giant flying boat, and perfected on the Dornier Wal in 1924. The enormous Do X was powered by 12 engines and once carried 170 persons as

8190-487: Was outmoded as both a bomber and a transport, and virtually all of them were quickly scrapped by the summer of 1946, being melted down to aluminum ingots and sold as metal scrap, or used as targets for fighter gunnery practice. After the war some were used for civilian service; one is reportedly bought by Howard Hughes to practice water landings for the 1947 flight of the Hughes Spruce Goose . The bulk of

8281-408: Was renamed Air Support Command in 1967. Operation Becher's Brook was a major operation of Transport Command – the ferrying of 400 Canadair Sabre fighters from North America to the UK, circa 1952. This required pilots and ground crew to be transported to Canada. The Sabres were flown via Keflavik ( Iceland ) on to Shetland and from there to mainland Scotland. Transport Command also supported

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