The Short S.45 — also known as the Short T.5
after its naval serial number — was a training biplane built for Britain's
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
by
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
in 1912. It was the forerunner of another three identical aircraft (designated S.48, S.49, and S.50 by Shorts) delivered to the Royal Navy and Royal Flying Corps during 1912 and 1913.
The
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 ...
was still operating the type when World War I broke out in 1914.
Design and development
The design was similar to that of the
Short S.36, a sporting biplane built for
Frank McClean
Frank McClean FRS, FRAS (13 November 1837 – 8 November 1904) was a British astronomer and pioneer of objective prism spectrography.
Life
His father was the engineer J. R. McClean, FRS. Graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1859, Fra ...
[Bruce 1956, p.922.] which he lent to the
Navy Flying School, Eastchurch.
Cdr
Charles Rumney Samson
Air Commodore Charles Rumney Samson, (8 July 1883 – 5 February 1931) was a British naval aviation pioneer. He was one of the first four officers selected for pilot training by the Royal Navy and was the first person to fly an aircraft fr ...
and Capt
Eugene Gerrard
Air Commodore Eugene Louis Gerrard, (14 July 1881 – 7 February 1963) was an officer in the Royal Marines and Royal Air Force.
Gerrard was commissioned into the Royal Marine Light Infantry in 1900 and served on , , , , and .
In 1911, Gerrard ...
test-flew the aircraft early in 1912.
The pleasing performance of the S.36 led to an order by the Admiralty for two aircraft of similar configuration, but differed in the engine fitted.
in March that year.
[Barnes & James 1989, p.80] Shorts delivered these as the
S.41 and the S.45.
The S.45 was an unequal-span
two-bay biplane with a fuselage of square-cross section with the two seats in tandem in open cockpits .
The wire-braced wings were unstaggered, and the fuselage was mounted partway between them.
Ailerons
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in Flight dynamics, roll (or ...
were fitted only to the upper wing.
The tail was cruciform in shape
and the undercarriage was designed to be interchangeable to allow the S.45 to be flown as a seaplane or landplane.
The machine was powered by a single rotary engine in the nose, turning a two-blade propeller.
In seaplane configuration, the undercarriage consisted of a single broad pontoon mounted beneath the fuselage,
with airbags on short struts under each wing.
A third airbag was later fitted under the tail to keep it out of the water while the aircraft was under tow.
Operational history
The S.45 flew for the first time on 24 May 1912 as a landplane with Lt
Spencer Grey at the controls, and was accepted for Navy service with the serial number T.5
("T" signifying "
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 ...
"
). Together with the S.41, the aircraft participated in the Naval Review at
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
in July.
It was soon joined in service by the S.48 (serial 413), which Capt Gerrard delivered to the
Central Flying School
The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at R ...
at
Upavon
Upavon is a rural village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England. As its name suggests, it is on the upper portion of the River Avon which runs from north to south through the village. It is on the north edge of Salisbury Plain ...
on 10 October.
[Barnes & James 1989, pp.86–87] Although evaluated by Capt
John Salmond
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Maitland Salmond, (17 July 1881 – 16 April 1968) was a British military officer who rose to high rank in the Royal Flying Corps and then the Royal Air Force. During the First World War he served as a squ ...
as underpowered,
it flew regularly until damaged beyond repair in a landing accident on 3 December when it stalled on approach.
Meanwhile, the S.45 underwent considerable modification, including a new engine cowling, a built-up coaming around the cockpits, revised ailerons, and upper wings of greater span. The wing extensions were braced with a
kingpost
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 ...
and wires.
[Bruce 1956, p.923.] Its serial was changed from "T.5" to simply "5" when army and navy aircraft serials were merged into one system in late 1912.
In 1913,
the S.45 was stationed at Carlingnose, near
Rosyth
Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440.
The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...
, where it suffered a landing accident and capsized on 4 October.
At the start of 1913, the Central Flying School received two further examples of the type: Capt Gerrard delivered the S.50 (serial 424) on 17 February and the S.49 (serial 423) on 22 February.
Not long after, these aircraft disappeared from the records when their serial numbers were reassigned to two
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8
The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8 was a British two-seat single-engined general purpose biplane of the First World War, designed by John Kenworthy at the Royal Aircraft Factory in 1913.Hare 1990, p. 171. Small numbers were used by the Royal Fly ...
s.
[Barnes & James (1989, p. 86–87) describes these reassignments as examples of an accounting trick perpetrated by the ]War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
. The ruse was intended to disguise how few serviceable aircraft were actually available to the Royal Flying Corps when Colonel Seely, Secretary of State for War, was questioned on this topic by his political opponents in parliament. Eventually, stripped of their engines and identities, the War Office declared the two airframes to be surplus to requirements, and transferred them to the Admiralty in August 1914.
In Royal Naval Air Service hands, the aircraft were re-engined with 100-hp (75-kW) Clerget rotary engines and assigned serial numbers 1268 and 1279.
The RNAS operated them at the Navy Flying School
and they remained in service at the outbreak of World War I.
Operators
;
*
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colors =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, decorations ...
*
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.45)
Notes
References
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{{Short Brothers aircraft
1910s British military trainer aircraft
Short Brothers aircraft
Floatplanes
Biplanes
Rotary-engined aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1912