The Short S.80 was an early

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

floatplane built 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 ...

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 ...

to undertake an aerial expedition up the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

to investigate the

cataracts A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble w ...

between

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...

and

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

. After a successful flight to

it was returned to England, where it was used for training by the

RNAS 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 ...

. When built it was the largest successful aircraft that had been constructed in Britain. It was also known as the Short Nile Pusher Biplane Seaplane.

Development

Realising that operation in the hot climate of Egypt would require an aircraft with a low wing-loading, McClean got Shorts to modify one of his

Short S.27 The Short S.27 and its derivative, the Short Improved S.27 (sometimes called the Short-Sommer biplane), were a series of early British aircraft built by Short Brothers. They were used by the Admiralty and Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps fo ...

biplanes by fitting it with extended wings. This proved underpowered, and Shorts, therefore, constructed a new aircraft for McClean, using a Gnome Double Lambda two-row rotary engine. Of similar configuration to the modified S.27, the S.80 was an unequal-span three-bay pusher biplane, with a

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...

mounted on the lower wing to accommodate pilot and passengers in two pairs of side-by-side seats, with the engine behind them driving a pusher propeller. The nacelle was extended forward to carry a front-mounted

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...

mounted on upswept outriggers, and the

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third e ...

, consisting of a high-mounted tailplane and elevator with a pair of rudders mounted below, was carried on wire-braced wooden booms behind the wings. A pair of rectangular-section unstepped floats were mounted below the wing, supplemented by a pair of airbags mounted at the end of each lower tailboom.

Operational history

The S.80 was first flown by

Gordon Bell Chester Gordon Bell (born August 19, 1934) is an American electrical engineer and manager. An early employee of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) 1960–1966, Bell designed several of their PDP machines and later became Vice President of Engi ...

on 2 October 1913, and on 19 November a weight carrying trial was made, in which it was flown with five passengers. It was then dismantled and shipped to

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

aboard the SS ''Corsican Prince''.

The Nile Expedition

After reassembly at the Naval Dockyard in Alexandria, McClean,

Alec Ogilvie ''For the businessman, see Alec Ogilvie (businessman).'' Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander "Alec" Ogilvie CBE (8 June 1882 – 18 June 1962) was an early British aviation pioneer, a friend of the Wright Brothers and only the seventh British person ...

, Horace Short and the expedition mechanic Gus Smith flew the to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

on 2 January 1914. This was the limit of the aircraft's range, and Spottiswoode had to establish a set of fuel dumps at intervals along the planned route. Once this had been done the party set off for Upper Egypt, arriving at

on 15 January. Problems were encountered with overheating of the rear row of cylinders, and on taking off from Aswan the performance fell off so badly that after forty miles McClean returned to Aswan, taxiing most of the way. On reaching Aswan it was found that four cylinders needed to be replaced. After these had been sent from Paris the expedition resumed on 16 February, when the flight to Wadi Halfa was made. After two days rest they started the next stage, which followed the course of the Nile round the Great Bend in order to see the second, third and fourth cataracts: this was interrupted by an encounter with a violent dust-storm, which forced McClean to land, damaging one wingtip. After this was repaired the flight continued to Merowe and then to

Abu Hamed Abu Hamad (Arabic: أبو حمد), also spelt 'Abu Hamed', is a town of Sudan on the right bank of the Nile, 345 mi by rail north of Khartoum. It stands at the centre of the great S-shaped bend of the Nile, and from it the railway to Wadi ...

. On leaving Abu Hamed an oil-pump failed: a landing was made on the river and the aircraft was taxied to Shereyk, where the party waited until a spare pump could be sent. However, soon after leaving Shereyk both oil-pumps failed, and in the resulting emergency landing near Gananita Island a float and the tail-booms were damaged. A ten-day delay followed, and on 14 March they flew to

Atbara Atbara (sometimes Atbarah) ( ar, عطبرة ʿAṭbarah) is a city located in River Nile State in northeastern Sudan. Because of its links to the railway industry, Atbara is also known as the "Railway City'. As of 2007, its population is 1 ...

: the next day Kabushia was reached, where a connecting rod broke, extensively damaging the engine, which was sent back to the railway workshops at Atbara. The repaired engine was fitted by 22 March, when the final stage to

was completed. After a day of giving joy-rides the aircraft was then dismantled and sent back to England.

Subsequent history

On its return to England the S.80 was largely rebuilt, with new wings and tailbooms and a tailplane of reduced chord. The front elevator was deleted, and the nacelle was modified to a side-by side two-seater layout with dual controls, the space formerly occupied by the other two seats now being used for the fuel tank. On 1 August 1914 McClean flew the aircraft to the

Isle of Grain Isle of Grain (Old English ''Greon'', meaning gravel) is a village and the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula within the district of Medway in Kent, south-east England. No longer an island and now forming part of the peninsula, the area i ...

and presented it to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

, where it was re-engined with a

Gnome Monosoupape The ''Monosoupape'' (French for single-valve), was a rotary engine design first introduced in 1913 by Gnome Engine Company (renamed Gnome et Rhône in 1915). It used a clever arrangement of internal transfer ports and a single pushrod-operated e ...

driving a four-bladed propeller and fitted with a fixed fin, half above and half below the tailplane, and given Admiralty number 905. Since it was underpowered it could not take off from calm water in low wind conditions, and was used for taxiing practice by pilots converting from landplanes.Barnes 1967, p.68.

Specifications

Notes

References

*Barnes, C.H. ''Shorts Aircraft Since 1900''. London: Putnam, 1967. *Lewis, P. ''British Aircraft 1809–1914'' London: Putnam, 1962
BBC News Magazine 5 January 2014: The three-month flight along the Nile
{{Short Brothers aircraft 1910s British experimental aircraft 1910s British military trainer aircraft S.80 Biplanes Single-engined pusher aircraft Rotary-engined aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1913