Saro Shrimp

The Saunders Roe A.37 Shrimp was a 1930s British two-seat four-engined experimental flying boat built by Saunders-Roe Limited ("Saro") at Cowes.

A.37 Shrimp
Role research aircraft
Manufacturer Saunders-Roe Limited
Designer H Knowler
First flight October 1939
Introduction 1939
Retired 1949
Status Scrapped
Primary users Saunders Roe
Air Ministry
Number built 1

Development

The Shrimp was designed by H Knowler in 1939 as a half-size research aircraft as part of a development programme for the Saunders-Roe S.38 a four-engined patrol flying-boat to Specification R.5/39 – a replacement for the Short Sunderland.[1] The R.5/39 project was cancelled but the Shrimp was completed as a private venture. Registered as G-AFZS, it was first flown at Cowes in October 1939. It was based at Beaumaris, Anglesey where a slipway was built for it. The Ministry of Aircraft Production acquired it in 1944 with the serial TK580 for tests to help the design of the Short Shetland a successor to the R.5/39 project being developed jointly by Saro and Short Brothers. For this its twin rudder tail was swapped for a single fin and the hull was modified to represent that of the Shetland.[2]

The Shrimp was scrapped at Felixstowe in 1949.

Operators
 United Kingdom

Specifications

Data from Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume 5: Flying Boats[3]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 43 ft 3 1⁄4 in (13.189 m)
  • Wingspan: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
  • Height: 12 ft 8 3⁄4 in (3.880 m)
  • Wing area: 340 sq ft (32 m2)
  • Empty weight: 4,362 lb (1,979 kg)
  • Gross weight: 5,700 lb (2,585 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 6,200 lb (2,812 kg)
  • Powerplant: 4 × Pobjoy Niagara III 7-cylinder air-cooled geared radial piston engines, 95 hp (71 kW) each
  • Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 130 mph (210 km/h, 110 kn)
  • Endurance: 3 hours
  • Rate of climb: 635 ft/min (3.23 m/s)
  • Wing loading: 16.8 lb/sq ft (82 kg/m2)

See also

Related lists

References
Notes
  1. Jarrett 1991, p.146.
  2. Jarrett 1991, p.148.
  3. Green 1972, p. 90.
Bibliography
  • Green, William. Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume 5: Flying Boats. London: Macdonald & Company (Publishers) Ltd., 1962 (5th Impression 1972). ISBN 0-356-01449-5.
  • Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919. London: Putnam & Company, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10014-X.
  • Jarrett, Philip. "Nothing Ventured...No 12". Aeroplane Monthly, March 1991, Vol 19 No, 3 Issue 215. ISSN 0143-7240. pp. 146–150.
  • London, Peter. Saunders and Saro Aircraft Since 1917. London: Putnam (Conway Maritime Press), London, 1988. ISBN 0-85177-814-3.
  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). Orbis Publishing.
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