SERVICE ABOVE SELF


OCTOBER 2019: ISSUE 126


Club member Bruce Clark gave a fascinating illustrated talk to those present at the meeting on the 10th of September. His topic was Seaplanes and Flying Boats and their connection to the River Tay. The Mercury-Maia composite seaplane/ flying boat was brought to the Tay in 1938 in a bid to establish a record seaplane distance. The Short Mayo Composite was a piggy- back, long range seaplane/flying boat combination produced by Short Brothers to provide a reliable air transport service to North America and potentially to other distant place in the British Empire. The composite comprised the Maia, which was a variant of the Short C-class Empire Flying boat, fitted with a trestle on top of the fuselage to support the Short S.20 Mercury seaplane. Like the Empire flying boats, the Maia could be equipped to car ry 18 passengers and was first flown, without the Mercury, in July 1937. The Mercury was a twin-float, four engined seaplane, crewed by a pilot and navigator who sat in tandem in an enclosed cockpit. It could carry 1,000lb of mail and 1,200 gallons of fuel. Its first flight was in September 1937. Flight controls, except for the elevator and rudder trim tabs, were locked in


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neutral until separation. The pilots could then release their respective locks. At this point the two aircraft were still held together by a third lock which was released automat i cal ly shor t ly thereafter. The design was such that at separation the Maia would tend to drop while the Mercury would climb. The first successful in-flight separation was carried out near Rochester, Medway, in February 1938. Following further successful tests, a first trans-Atlantic flight was made on July 21, 1938 from Foynes, Ireland, to Boucherville, near Montreal, Canada. Maia had taken off from Southampton carrying Mercury piloted by Captain Don Bennett. As well as Mercury, the launch aircraft was also carrying 10 passengers and luggage. When they reached Foynes, Mercury separated and carried on to Canada while Maia landed on the Shannon. Mercury’s t r ip became the f i rst commercial non-stop east to west transatlantic flight by a heavier than air machine and lasted 20 hours 21 minutes at an average speed of 144mph. After modifications to extend its range, the two aircraft were brought to the Tay for a record distance attempt from Dundee to Cape Town, South Africa.


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