The Calcutta biplane flying boat originated from an Imperial Airways requirement to service the Mediterranean legs of its services to and from India. Derived from the Short Singapore military flying boat, the Calcutta was noteworthy for being the first stressed skin, metal-hulled flying boat. It was equipped with three Bristol Jupiter engines mounted between the wings. The two pilots flew the plane from an open cockpit while the radio operator shared the main cabin with 15 passengers.
Operational history
The S.8 Calcutta made its first flight on 14 February 1928, having been launched the previous day and left at its mooring overnight to assess the hull for signs of leakage. Shorts' Chief Test Pilot, John Lankester Parker was at the controls, with Major Herbert G. Brackley of Imperial Airways as co-pilot. On 15 March 1928, this aircraft was delivered by Parker and Brackley to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment, Felixstowe, for its airworthiness and sea handling checks; these were successfully completed on 27 July of the same year and the aircraft was flown back to Shorts on the same day. G-EBVG was handed over to Imperial Airways on 9 August 1928. The S.8 Calcutta was introduced in 1928 and was used by Imperial Airways flying the Mediterranean-to-Karachi leg of the Britain-to-India route. A total of seven aircraft were built. A military version of the Calcutta, originally known as the Calcutta , was built as the Short Rangoon. In 1924, a Calcutta was purchased by the FrenchBreguet Company from which they developed a military version for the French Navy known as the Breguet S.8/2, which was similar to the Rangoon version. Four aircraft were built under licence by Breguet at Le Havre. Breguet later developed an improved version, the Breguet 521 Bizerte. On 1 August 1928, Parker, accompanied by Oswald Short, flew G-EBVG to Westminster, setting it down on the Thames between Vauxhall and Lambeth Bridges; it was moored off the Albert Embankment for three days for inspection by Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords and others.
Accidents and incidents
The City of Rome made a forced landing in high winds and poor weather in the Ligurian Sea off La Spezia, Italy, during a scheduled passenger flight from Naples International Airport in Naples, Italy, to Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport outside Genoa, Italy, on 26 October 1929. It sank during efforts to tow it to shore, killing all seven people on board. The City of Khartoum suffered a catastrophic failure of all three engines shortly before the end of its flight between Crete and Alexandria, Egypt, just after nightfall on 31 December 1935. The pilot was the only survivor; nine passengers and three crew were killed either by the impact with water or by drowning when the aircraft was overwhelmed by heavy waves. An inquiry by the British Air Ministry found that the carburettors had been altered in a way which increased fuel consumption, resulting in the aircraft running out of fuel.
