Supermarine Air Yacht

The Supermarine Air Yacht was a British luxury passenger-carrying flying boat designed by R.J. Mitchell, and built by the Supermarine Aviation Works at Woolston. The aircraft was designed was metal monoplane with three engines mounted on the wing. It made its maiden flight in February 1930, with disappointing results, and the engines were subsequently replaced with three Armstrong Siddeley Panthers.

Air Yacht
The single specimen of the Supermarine Air Yacht moving over the water in 1930. The photograph shows the craft running slowly prior to gathering speed and taking off.[1]
Role Luxury transport flying boat
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer Supermarine Aviation Works
Designer R.J. Mitchell
First flight February 1930
Introduction 1930
Primary user Private ownership
Produced 1930
Number built 1

The single example that was built by Supermarine was destroyed in an accident off Capri on 25 January 1933.

Development and design

Supermarine's chief designer R.J. Mitchell was responsible for the design of two air yachts, both of which were initially military commissions. The Supermarine Nanok, an armed version of the Supermarine Southampton built at the Supermarine works at Woolston near Southampton, was designed for use by the Danish government, but the airplane performed poorly and was rejected by the Danes. It was refitted as a luxury cruiser—the Supermarine Solent—and was sold in 1928 to Ernest Guinness, a member of the Guinness dynasty.[2]

The Supermarine works at Woolston

Mitchell's second luxury craft, the Supermarine Air Yacht, was a flying boat built at the Supermarine works in 1929.[3] It was commissioned by Guinness as a replacement for his Solent, to be used for pleasure cruising around the Mediterranean.[4][3] Based on a 1927 design,[5] it was originally made for the requirements of specification R5/27 for a reconnaissance flying boat for the Royal Air Force.[6]

The resulting modified design was a flying boat with three engines.[4] It included hull-mounted sponsons instead of the wing-mounted floats common on aircraft of this type, which caused it to resemble the German Dornier Do J,[4] so that a Supermarine employee afterwards wrote of Mitchell that "he had allowed himself to be lured by some of his bright boys into following other people's ideas."[2] Instead of a wooden biplane, Mitchell designed a monoplane made of metal,[2] with the wing held high above the fuselage on struts and stabilised laterally.[4] The rectangular flat-sided parasol wing had sloping V struts for support and was strengthened with horizontal corrugations.[2] The three Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar radial engines were mounted on the leading edge of the wing. The single braced tailplane had three vertical fins and rudders.[7] The aircraft's surfaces were covered with fabric.[2]

The crew were accommodated in open cockpits in the nose. There was an enclosed cabin for the owner, with its own toilet, bath and bed, and a separate cabin and seating for the other five passengers. The galley was located beneath the wing.[7][1] The passenger areas were fitted with deep-pile carpets and luxurious furniture; their cabin was 35 feet (11 m) long, 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) high and 8 feet (2.4 m) wide.[2][4]

Performance

The prototype, designated G-AASE, was built at the Supermarine Aviation Works at Woolston, Southampton.[4] It made its first flight in February 1930 at Hythe, Hampshire,[8] but proved to be underpowered, with an excessive take-off run.[9] The aircraft lost power in one engine and so failed to maintain a high enough altitude needed to be considered safe.[4]

The three engines were replaced with three Armstrong Siddeley Panthers,[7] which increased its maximum speed, but which still left the airplane incapable of maintaining height when fully loaded with passengers, stores and fuel.[2] The aircraft was rejected by Guinness, who purchased a Saro Cloud instead.[7]

Operational history
The crash site

Having failed to be purchased, the Air Yacht was put into storage by Supermarine.[4] In October 1932, it was bought by an American, Mrs June Jewell James.[4][2]

Renamed Windward III, the flying boat left Woolston on a direct flight to Egypt on 11 October 1932.[10][11] Whilst in Cherbourg harbour, the crew and their passengers came close to drowning during a storm. At Naples, James obtained audiences with both Pope Pius XI and the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini.[2] On 25 January 1933 an engine failed, and Windward III ditched into the sea on take-off near Capri, with June James and two crew members on board.[12] The most serious casualty was James, who suffered a broken leg.[2] The crash caused the aircraft's wing to break. The plane was salvaged, but never flew again, and was sold for scrap the following year.[4]

Specifications

Data from Supermarine Aircraft since 1914[13]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 4
  • Capacity: 6 passengers
  • Length: 66 ft 6 in (20.27 m)
  • Wingspan: 92 ft 0 in (28.04 m)
  • Wing area: 1,472 sq ft (136.8 m2)
  • Empty weight: 16,808 lb (7,624 kg)
  • Gross weight: 23,348 lb (10,590 kg)
  • Powerplant: 3 × Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIA 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 525 hp (391 kW) each
  • Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 102 mph (164 km/h, 89 kn) at 2,000 ft (610 m)
  • Service ceiling: 6,500 ft (2,000 m)
  • Rate of climb: 380 ft/min (1.9 m/s) at 2,000 ft (610 m)

See also

References
  1. "By Air Yacht to the Mediterranean". Flight. 20 October 1932. p. 990.
  2. Shelton 2015.
  3. Pegram 2016, p. 64.
  4. "Supermarine Air Yacht". BAE Systems. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  5. "Supermarine Air Yacht". BAE Systems. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  6. Andrews & Morgan 1987, pp. 123–124.
  7. Andrews & Morgan 1987, p. 124.
  8. Andrews & Morgan 1987, p. 125.
  9. "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 27428". Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  10. Jackson 1988, p. 317.
  11. "An Air Yacht De Luxe". Flight. 28 February 1930. pp. 250–252.
  12. "Crash of a Supermarine Air Yacht off Postiano". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  13. Andrews & Morgan 1987, p. 128.

Sources
  • Andrews, C.F.; Morgan, E.B. (1987). Supermarine Aircraft since 1914. London: Putnam. ISBN 978-0-85177-800-6.
  • Jackson, A.J. (1988). British Civil Aircraft 1919–1972. 3. London: Putnam. ISBN 978-0-85177-818-1.
  • Pegram, Ralph (2016). Beyond the Spitfire: The Unseen Designs of R.J. Mitchell. Pegram: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-6515-6.
  • Shelton, John K. (2015). From Nighthawk to Spitfire: The Aircraft of R.J. Mitchell. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-6222-3.

Further reading
  • Shelton, John (2008). Schneider Trophy to Spitfire - The Design Career of R.J. Mitchell. Sparkford: Hayes Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84425-530-6.
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