Ranger XV-770 engine proved a dismal failure even after many attempted modifications. Poor flight performance and a poor maintenance record led to the SO3C being withdrawn from US Navy first line units by 1944. The older biplane SOC was taken from stateside training units and restored to first-line service on many US Navy warships until the end of World War II.[1]
Operational history
Royal Navy service
A Royal Navy Seamew Mk I.
A number of the SO3C-1s, not a floatplane, but a fixed undercarriage version, were ordered by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm under the terms of Lend-Lease. In RN service the SO3C was given the designation "Seamew", a name used again in the 1950s for the Short Seamew. Crews gave it the more appropriate name "Sea Cow".
Lettice Curtis, in her book "Forgotten Pilots", stated 'that although its standard fuel tanks held 300 gallons, it would only just take off with the eighty gallons' fixed as the maximum for Air Transport Auxiliary trips.
In addition the tail needed to be raised before becoming airborne, as 'it was possible to take off in an attitude from which it was both impossible to recover and in which there was no aileron control'.
The final comment from this experienced pilot was 'it is hard to imagine how, even in wartime, such an aircraft could have been accepted from the factory, let alone given valuable cargo space across the Atlantic'.[2]
The first batch for the RN was to have a centreline bomb rack and arrestor gear. Later versions, known as the Seamew Mk.I, were the SO3-2C variant. 250 Seamews were allocated and some 100 actually delivered,[3] the
A number of the SO3C-1s, not a floatplane, but a fixed undercarriage version, were ordered by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm under the terms of Lend-Lease. In RN service the SO3C was given the designation "Seamew", a name used again in the 1950s for the Short Seamew. Crews gave it the more appropriate name "Sea Cow".
Lettice Curtis, in her book "Forgotten Pilots", stated 'that although its standard fuel tanks held 300 gallons, it would only just take off with the eighty gallons' fixed as the maximum for Air Transport Auxiliary trips.
In addition the tail needed to be raised before becoming airborne, as 'it was possible to take off in an attitude from which it was both impossible to recover and in which there was no aileron control'.
The final comment from this experienced pilot was 'it is hard to imagine how, even in wartime, such an aircraft could have been accepted from the factory, let alone given valuable cargo space across the Atlantic'.[2]
The first batch for the RN was to have a centreline bomb rack and arrestor gear. Later versions, known as the Seamew Mk.I, were the SO3-2C variant. 250 Seamews were allocated and some 100 actually delivered,[3] the last batch was refused in favour of additional Vought KingfishersLettice Curtis, in her book "Forgotten Pilots", stated 'that although its standard fuel tanks held 300 gallons, it would only just take off with the eighty gallons' fixed as the maximum for Air Transport Auxiliary trips.
In addition the tail needed to be raised before becoming airborne, as 'it was possible to take off in an attitude from which it was both impossible to recover and in which there was no aileron control'.
The final comment from this experienced pilot was 'it is hard to imagine how, even in wartime, such an aircraft could have been accepted from the factory, let alone given valuable cargo space across the Atlantic'.[2]
The first batch for the RN was to have a centreline bomb rack and arrestor gear. Later versions, known as the Seamew Mk.I, were the SO3-2C variant. 250 Seamews were allocated and some 100 actually delivered,[3] the last batch was refused in favour of additional Vought Kingfishers. Deliveries to the RN started in January 1944. It was declared obsolete in September the same year and completely removed from service in 1945.
The SO3C-1K was to have been taken into service as the Queen Seamew, but an order of 30 was cancelled.
Seamews served with No. 744 NAS and No. 745 NAS at RCAF Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Canada, and with No. 755 NAS based in Hampshire, UK.
Data from American Warplanes of World War II[4]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) seaplane ; 34 ft 2 in (10.41 m) landplane
- Wingspan: 38 ft 0 in (11.58 m)
- Height: 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m)
- Wing area: 290 sq ft (27 m2)
- Empty weight: 4,284 lb (1,943 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 5,729 lb (2,599 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Ranger V-770-6 inverted V-12 air-cooled piston engine, 600 hp (450 kW)
- Propellers: 2-bladed constant-speed propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 172 mph (277 km/h, 149 kn)
- Cruise speed: 123 mph (198 km/h, 107 kn)
- Range: 1,150 mi (1,850 km, 1,000 nmi)
- Endurance: 8 hours[5]
- Service ceiling: 15,800 ft (4,800 m)
- Wing loading: 19.8 lb/sq ft (97 kg/m2)
- Power/mass: 0.10 hp/lb (0.16 kW/kg)
Armament
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References
- Notes
- ^ Donald 1997, p. ?.
- ^ Curtis, Page 227.
- ^ Mondey 1996, p. 95.
- ^ Donald 1995, p. 85.
- ^ Thetford 1994, p. 85.
- Bibliography
- Bowers, Peter M. Curtis Aircraft, 1907–1947. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979.
General characteristics
Performance
- Maximum speed: 172 mph (277 km/h, 149 kn)
- Cruise speed: 123 mph (198 km/h, 107 kn)
- Range: 1,150 mi (1,850 km, 1,000 nmi)
- Endurance: 8 hours[5]
- Service ceiling: 15,800 ft (4,800 m)
- Wing loading: 19.8 lb/sq ft (97 kg/m2)
- Power/mass: 0.10 hp/lb (0.16 kW/kg)
Armament
Armament