The Short S.41 was a British single-engined

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

built for the Royal Navy in 1912. Capable of being operated either on wheels or floats, it was successful enough for a further two similar aircraft to be built, with the type remaining in use until the early years of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Development and design

In 1912, the

Short S.36 The Short S.36 was a British two-seat tractor biplane, built by Short Brothers for Francis McClean in 1911. It was later developed into the Short S.41 and Short S.45, which were the first of a long series of similar aircraft built for the RNAS a ...

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

, built for

Francis McClean Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Francis Kennedy McClean, (1 February 1876 – 11 August 1955) was a British civil engineer and pioneer aviator. Sir Francis was one of the founding members of the Royal Aero Club and one of the founders of naval aviatio ...

, was loaned to the Royal Navy for use at its Naval Flying School. Impressed by the S.36, the Admiralty ordered two similar

biplanes, capable of operating on either wheels or floats, the smaller Short S.45, like the S.36, powered by a 70 hp (52 kW)

Gnome Lambda The Gnome 7 Lambda was a French designed, seven-cylinder, air-cooled rotary aero engine that was produced under license in Britain and Germany. Powering several World War I-era aircraft types it was claimed to produce from its capacity of al ...

, and the larger Short S.41 powered by a 14-cylinder, twin-row 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome double Omega rotary engine.Barnes 1967, pp. 79–80. The S.41 was an unequal-span two bay tractor biplane with a slim rectangular section fuselage mounted between the wings. It was first flown by Charles Rumney Samson on 2 April 1912 with a wheeled undercarriage, and shortly afterwards was fitted with floats, consisting of two main pontoons under the fuselage and smaller floats at the wingtips and tail, and was delivered to the Navy.Barnes 1967, p.80. Following the operational flights made during 1912, S.41 was returned to the factory for an overhaul and the fitting of folding wings, which were hinged so that they folded back horizontally alongside the fuselage, reducing storage space required for stowage aboard ship. At this time it was given the RNAS number "10". In November 1913 it underwent further modifications, being used to perfect a development of the folding mechanism which allowed the wings to be unfolded from the cockpit: at the same time new wings, similar in pattern to those of the

Short Admiralty Type 81 The Short Admiralty Type 81 was a series of British two-seat floatplanes built prior to the First World War, and used by the Royal Naval Air Service in the early years of the war. They were powered by Gnome Lambda-Lambda 14 cylinder two-row ...

were fitted. The folding wing mechanism for shipborne aircraft had been designed by Horace Short, and was the subject of a series of

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

Operational history

The S.41 was flown successfully at the Fleet Review at Weymouth on 8 May, being based on the

Battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

HMS ''Hibernia''.Bruce ''Flight'' 14 December 1956, p. 923. It was also used by Samson to carry out survey flights of potential sites for seaplane stations, which led to the establishment of the seaplane station at

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northeast of London. His ...

,Barnes 1967, p.82. and for early trials with use of radio from aircraft. The success of the S.41 was such that two similar aircraft, constructor's numbers S.51 and S.52,Barnes 1989, pp. 529. also powered by the two-row Gnome, were ordered by the RNAS,Barnes 1967, p.83. with serial numbers ''20'' and ''21'': These were first flown in April 1913.Barnes 1967, pp. 88–89. These aircraft differed in detail from the first aircraft: the wing section was improved, double-acting ailerons were fitted and the overhanging section of the upper wing was braced by

kingposts A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, supports items above fro ...

rather than struts. Like ''10'', they were used for trials of airborne radio, as well as carrying out tests of beaching gear. They remained in use at the start of the

, where, despite the unreliability of the twin-row Gnome,Barnes 1967, p. 97. they were used for anti-submarine patrols early in the war, ''20'' continuing in use from the seaplane station at

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

until July 1915.''Flight'' 14 December 1956, p. 924.

Variants

A single aircraft, similar in design to the S.41 but slightly smaller, was built by Shorts and exhibited at the 1913 Aero Show at Olympia, London, featuring a number of refinements including manganese-steel tube interplane struts and provision for starting the engine from the cockpit. This had the Shorts manufacturer's number S.53, and was later bought by the Admiralty and given RNAS No. 42, thereby becoming known as the Admiralty Type 42. It was first flown as a seaplane but later fitted with a wheeled undercarriage: in this form it was one of the aircraft which were sent to Ostend at the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

: it was written off by Samson on 28 September 1914 when it crashed on takeoff due to engine failure.Barnes 1967

Operators

; *

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

Specifications (S.41 seaplane)

Notes

References

*Barnes, C.H. ''Shorts Aircraft since 1900''. London:Putnam, 1967. *Bruce, J.M.
The Short Seaplanes:Historical Military Aircraft No. 14 Part I
. '' Flight'', 14 December 1956. pp. 921–926. *Bruce, J.M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914–18''. London:Putnam, 1957.

External links

{{Short Brothers aircraft 1910s British military reconnaissance aircraft Floatplanes S.41 Biplanes Rotary-engined aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1912