The Saunders A.3 Valkyrie was a large three-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 ...

flying boat with a wooden hull built to an

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

specification. It was not found suitable for production and helped to confirm a preference for metal-hulled flying boats.

Development

The Saunders A.3 Valkyrie was built in response to Air Ministry specification 22/24 for a large general duty and patrol flying boat, Saunders receiving an order for a single prototype for trials in February 1925. It was a three-engined biplane with a two step

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

hull, circular apart from the shallow, curved planing bottom. The fuselage had no internal bulkheads and was deliberately designed to be flexible so as to absorb the shocks of landing, though there was a rigid section under the wings. As with Saunders' other wooden aircraft, Valkyrie's hull was covered with

Consuta Consuta was a form of construction of watertight hulls for boats and marine aircraft, comprising four veneers of mahogany planking interleaved with waterproofed calico and stitched together with copper wire. The name is from the latin for "sewn t ...

sewn stress-bearing plywood. It accommodated a crew of five. There was a pair of open tandem cockpits with dual flying controls well forward of the wing leading edge. Below this, aft and in the hull were the navigation and radio operator's position, and further aft, behind the trailing edge there were two gunners' positions, roughly in tandem but offset port and starboard, each fitted with machine guns on

Scarff ring The Scarff ring was a type of machine gun mounting developed during the First World War by Warrant Officer (Gunner) F. W. Scarff of the Admiralty Air Department for use on two-seater aircraft. The mount incorporated bungee cord suspension in el ...

s. The gunner's cockpit in the nose was similarly equipped. There were bunks and living space for all five crew in the rigid part of the hull. The fin was large and angular, carrying the braced rectangular tailplane with unbalanced elevators above the top of the hull. The fin also carried a large and prominently balanced rudder with a rudder servo surface on outriggers. The wings were of equal span and almost no stagger, with slight sweep on the section outboard of the engines. These outboard sections each had two sets of simple vertical

interplane strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

s, carried balanced ailerons on upper and lower planes and a V-bottomed stabilising float mounted clear of the lower wing. The wings were wooden structures with canvas covering, as was the upper centre section. The lower wing centre section was Consuta covered, mounted on a low pylon on the hull and braced to it with large N shaped struts. The centre sections were joined by three sets of steel V-form struts, from which the Valkyrie's three 680 hp (505 kW)

Rolls-Royce Condor The Rolls-Royce Condor aircraft piston engine was a larger version of the Rolls-Royce Eagle developing up to 675 horsepower (500 kW). The engine first ran in 1918 and a total of 327 engines were recorded as being built. Variants ''Note:'' ...

water-cooled engines were mounted midway between the wings.

Operational history

The Valkyrie flew for the first time around June 1926 in the hands of Frank Courtney and went to Air Ministry trials in the late spring of 1927 where the overall assessment was unenthusiastic. Nonetheless, in August the Valkyrie joined a Scandinavian tour,Flight, 18 August 1927, p.579-81 organised by the Flying Boat Development Flight, together with

Blackburn Iris The Blackburn Iris was a British three-engined biplane flying boat of the 1920s. Although only five Irises were built, it was used as a long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft by the Royal Air Force, where it equipped a squadron for four ye ...

Short Singapore The Short Singapore was a British multi-engined biplane flying boat built after the First World War. The design was developed into two four-engined versions: the prototype Singapore II and production Singapore III. The latter became the Royal ...

and

Supermarine Southampton The Supermarine Southampton was a flying boat of the interwar period designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Supermarine. It was one of the most successful flying boats of the era. The Southampton was derived from the experi ...

flying boats. This tour helped the Air Ministry to decide that the future of flying boats was with metal, rather than wooden hulls with their water absorbing properties. The sole Valkyrie was broken up in 1929.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * {{Saro aircraft 1920s British military aircraft 1920s British experimental aircraft Flying boats

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36 ...