646

FLIGHT.

DECEMBER 17,

1936.

2.

The three Short boats which form the subject of Mr. Gouge's paper : (left to right) The Calcutta (three 525 h.p. geared Bristol Jupiters) ; the Kent (four 555 h.p. geared Jupiters) ; and the Empire boat (four 758/815 h.p. Pegasus X Cs).

N one w a y t h e p a p e r on civil flying b o a t s r e a d b y Mr. A r t h u r G o u g e , general m a n a g e r of S h o r t B r o t h e r s , before t h e R o y a l A e r o n a u t i c a l Society last T h u r s d a y w a s peculiarly British. N e a r l y e v e r y p a g e of t h e p a p e r was a record of some g r e a t a c h i e v e m e n t ; a n d y e t , b e c a u s e of h i s i n n a t e m o d e s t y , Mr. Gouge r e a d his p a p e r v e r y m u c h a s if h e h a d been q u o t i n g fat stock prices. T h e result w a s t h a t it w a s difficult t o realise, until t h e v e r y e n d , t h a t Mr. G o u g e was placing before his a u d i e n c e a record of q u i t e remarkable achievement. T h e a p p l a u s e which followed t h e p a p e r , from a r o o m m o r e densely p a c k e d t h a n we h a v e seen it for a very long t i m e , left no d o u b t t h a t t h e a u d i e n c e a p p r e c i a t e d b o t h t h e p a p e r a n d t h e w o r k of Mr. G o u g e a n d S h o r t B r o t h e r s . N o better e x a m p l e of recent 3 r i t i s h progress could be f o u n d t h a n Mr. G o u g e ' s v e r y lucid e x p l a n a t i o n of t h e evolution of t h e E m p i r e flying b o a t , a n d a s we feel t h a t it deserves t o b e k n o w n t h e world o v e r w i t h o u t d e l a y we h a v e decided t o p u b l i s h t h e p a p e r a l m o s t in extenso. Owing t o its l e n g t h , a n d t o t h e considerable n u m b e r of illustrations, it is n o t possible t o publish t h e whole p a p e r in t h i s issue of Flight, b u t t h e concluding part, a n d a report of t h e v e r y interesting discussion which followed it, will b e p u b l i s h e d n e x t week. Mr H . E . W i m p e r i s , Director of Scientific R e s e a r c h a t t h e Air Ministry a n d P r e s i d e n t of t h e R o y a l A e r o n a u t i c a l Society, w a s in t h e chair. Before calling on Mr. G o u g e

FLYINC-BO/4
t o r e a d t h e p a p e r Mr. W i m p e r i s said h e t h o u g h t t h e audience would wish t o p a y a t r i b u t e t o t h e late Sefior de la Cierva, w h o lost his life in t h e C r o y d o n accident a short t i m e before. Senor de la Cierva, Mr. W i m p e r i s recalled, was a v e r y distinguished engineer a n d a very welcome member of t h e Society. H e h a d lectured t h r e e times before the Society, a n d e a c h t i m e h i s lecture h a d recorded some a d v a n c e i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of t h e A u t o g i r o . H e h a d personally, as Director of Scientific R e s e a r c h , c o m e into cont a c t with Senor d e la Cierva a good deal, a n d h a d formed a high opinion of h i m a s a n engineer. T h e Council of the R . A e . S . h a d sent a message of condolence t o Senora de la Cierva. T h e a u d i e n c e t h e n stood silent for a few moments. Mr. G o u g e said h e h a d originally i n t e n d e d t o give a s u r v e y of civil flying b o a t s in g e n e r a l , b u t h a d decided the subject w a s too large a n d t h a t it would be b e t t e r for him t o review t h e t h r e e t y p e s w i t h which h e h a d b e e n connected.

A Notable Paper Read Before the R. Design of the Short Empire Boat Ken

The

Paper

KENT

CALCUTTA

These classes, the Calcutta, Kent and Empire boats (said Mr. Gouge), are well known and have all been designed to meet a commercial specification issued either by t h e Air Ministry or Imperial Airways. They can, therefore, be called civil flying boats in the true sense of the word, and not a development from a military type. In the case of the Calcutta the reverse has happened in t h a t it has been converted into a Service boat both in this country and abroad. F u t u r e trend of development will, I a m certain, be a complete divergence of t h e two types. The Service boat appears, for various reasons, to be approaching a limiting size, whereas no limit is yet in sight for the civil boat, and each succeeding design either built or contemplated is appreciably greater in all-up weight than its predecessor. The general problems relating to hull form, method of lateral stabilisation and aerodynamic characteristics are, of course, common for both types. Perhaps the main cause for the different treatment of the two types lies in the fact that, in general, the civil boat operates from selected harbours which are equipped with all t h e ground services essential for efficient and safe operation, whereas the Service boat will or may have to operate under widely varying conditions necessitating more consideration being given to its seaworthiness properties. For the purposes of this paper, however, we are chiefly concerned with the development on the civil side.