Short Seamew:anything left??

Cees – please don’t knock it.
This listing was prepared by volunteers who have to ask/cajole/bully other volunteers (mostly) into supplying the data.
It has some mistakes or, in some cases is out of date but IMHO better than no list at all.

Roger Smith.

Hmm, since when does Wellington N2980 at Brooklands have two Hercules engines fitted?

Hercules – 1935, 1290-1665hp, 38.7lt, 14R 2r s/v, a, s, g, 1890lb
6 Dumfries & Galloway: nos.311919 &
312247 ex-Wellington 10 HE746
crash site
Midland Warplane Museum:
no. A221555, ex-Beaufighter X7943
XI Yorks Air Museum: H53411/A220958
XVI Birmingham Museum of Science &
Industry: no.5407, sectioned
Brooklands Museum: sectioned
Hendon: Wellington 10 MF628
Imperial War Museum: no.SS14513/
A381493
Norfolk & Suffolk: ex-Wellington I
XVII Hendon: Beaufighter 10 RD253
XVIII Brooklands Museum: two in Wellington
N2980 restoration ex-Loch Ness
Hendon
100 East Midlands Aeropark VA: ex-Hastings
Museum of Flight: sectioned &
motorised
RRHT Bristol: no.133556
106 Aeroplane Collection
Cosford: Hastings 5 TG511

I have just discovered that at least a Seamew engine survives, conserved and exhibited by the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, Coventry Branch.
I have just come across a reference to it at
http://www.crossandcockade.com/files/UK%20ENGINES.doc

Thanks TraceyR – I didn’t realise the BAPC’s preserved engine list was available on line.

Roger Smith.

Not really indecision/blundering. Things change. Initiated in 1951, partly with Mutual Support Program $ in Korean urge, the idea was to keep Light Fleets in commission after the Strike carriers arrived. Proper matelots would be on those, so RNVR would man Glory/Ocean/Theseus/Triumph, convoy escort. Seamew was to keep Russkie subs down, hoping they would not discover the modest payload of a wooden machine. RAuxAF would similarly clear port approaches.

In 1955 Defence Minister Macmillan decided USSR Threat was best handled by professionals, far from home ports. Amateur flyers to be chopped by 1957, MR on Shacks alone, Regular FAA to fly Gannets off younger carriers.

One feature the type had, which I think was unique, were the windscreen wipers with one sweeping the lower half and the other the top. Normally an aircraft lands at 30% faster than its stalling speed on an airfield, (1.3Vstall) but on a carrier it is only 10% above. In the Seamews case the combination of large wing area and low weight prevented this from happening and it was subjected to considerable buffeting on the landing approach due to disturbed airflow around the carriers island and deck. They found on trials that they had to land faster on a carrier than they did on land. That may have been unique too. The trials at sea stopped when a signal was received telling them that the type was not going to be accepted for service. I know someone who was part of the trials team who told me that nobody wanted the data collected during the trials when they docked in the UK and it was dumped.

There is also a single Mamba at the North East Aircraft Museum which I belive came from a Seamew

late entry: Seamew engine survives!

I have just discovered that at least a Seamew engine survives, conserved and exhibited by the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, Coventry Branch.
I have just come across a reference to it at
http://www.crossandcockade.com/files/UK%20ENGINES.doc

I wonder which aircraft it was in – perhaps someone here has an answer.

I hope that my attachment is visible – it’s a scanned-in page from a Short’s house magazine, including a photo of the pilot (my father) preparing to take it up for its first flight (this picture, and a few others, is also on Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Seamew).

Thanks for that sounds like the familiar government/ service indecision and blundering.

Seems to be a lack of pictures of these aircraft for all to see,

Found these on the net…

The Seamew was designed to fill a need for a cheap, lightweight, and simple anti submarine patrol aircraft for NATO, with the idea being that large numbers would be needed, in the event of war, to protect ships and harbours. The Fleet Air Arm issued Specification M.123 in 1951 and Shorts designed the SB.6 around it. The design was selected and orders placed in April 1952, with the first prototype flew on 13/8/53 in the hands of WJ Runciman although it was damaged when it undershot on landing. The RAF decided that it could use the Seamew to supplement the Shackleton (and Lancaster) for shorter range patrols, and the MR2 was similar to the AS1 but with larger wheels and low pressure tyres, although without the equipement needed for carrier operation: despite lacking the power folding mechanism the wings could still be folded manually.
An order was placed in Febuary 1955 for 60 aircraft (split down the middle between the FAA and RAF), and naval service flight trials were carried out with 700NAS in November 1956, which included around 200 take offs and landings on HMS Warrior. The RAF lost interest after four MR2s were built, and three of them were converted to AS1 whilst the fourth was used (unsuccessfully) for a sales tour before crashing during a display on 9/6/1956, killing Runciman. Meanwhile the FAA decided that the RNVRs Avengers would be replaced by Seamews, but only four had been taken on charge by the time the RNVR squadrons were disbanded in March 1957, before any Seamews were allocated to them. Seven aircraft eventually delivered to the FAA were scrapped at RNAS Lossiemouth, and the other eleven, complete and awaiting delivery, were scrapped at Sydenham (including – eventually – the one used by the apprentice school).

Flood

Will, if you’re interested I can see if Robin ever drew up proper plans for his model, and more to the point, if he’s prepared to part with them.
It’s years ago so I can’t really remember but I guess it was around 9 or 10ft wingspan.

Not just a naval aircraft – the MR2 was for the RAF, but got cancelled as well.
It was expected to be an anti submarine aircraft, for use (I assume) in inshore/coastal waters and not from a carrier. Whether it ever really had a role is debatable – Nermal

Seamew in brief

Designed as a lightweight and simple naval aircraft.
By the beginning of 1957 only 7 out of 19 production Seamews had been accepted by the RN and soon afterwards the whole programme was cancelled as part of the 1957 economy drive.
Covered in more detail on pages 450 to 454 of “Shorts aircraft since 1900” Putnam of course!

Whats the history of the Seamew and why did it never really enter large scale service? I assume it was an Avenger replacement? Did the Gannet kill it off, or was that a few years later?

Beautiful, well it depends on your own warped idea of beauty, I think it is lovely 😀

I have some small scale plans that I would like to enlarge to build a radio controlled one (plenty of wing area)… fascinating pictures by the way!

Great pictures robert.
Seems to be a lack of pictures of these aircraft for all to see,
so i`m glad you`ve shared your photos!

regards,
Ben.

Why should there be – those that were accepted weren’t in service for long and most went straight from manufacturer to storage to scrap with nothing more than flight testing and transit hours on the clock. – Nermal

Robin Woodhead, a member of the RR model aircraft club built a large scale Seamew a few years back. I did see it but can’t remember if I ever saw it flying.
I wouldn’t consider it beautiful but it was certainly impressive.

Great pictures robert.
Seems to be a lack of pictures of these aircraft for all to see,
so i`m glad you`ve shared your photos!

regards,
Ben.

Here are a couple of photos I purchased many years ago. What a beautiful aircraft. It wouldnt have taken up much room in a museum with those huge folding wings. I have seen a large flying model that looked really realistic and with those wings perhaps it flew like a model. Lots were scrapped I think at Lossiemouth.

Most were sold for scrap in 1958, 1959. The exception was XE180, which was sold to Shorts Belfast for ground instruction at Shorts Apprentice School, 31/8/1959, but was short-sightedly scrapped in early 1967.
Info from Air Britains FAA Fixed-Wing Aircraft since 1946.

Flood