View source for Short Solent

{{Short description|Passenger flying boat}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
<!-- This article is a part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content]] for recommended layout. -->
{{Infobox aircraft
 |name = S.45A Solent
 |image = Short Solent 3 - G-AKNU Sydney - Aquila Airways - Funchal.jpg
 |caption = The Aquila Airways Solent III, G-AKNU ''Sydney'', taking-off from [[Funchal]]
 |type = passenger flying boat
 |manufacturer = Short Brothers and Harland
 |designer = <!--only appropriate for single designers, not project leaders-->
 |first_flight = 11 November 1946
 |introduction = <!--date the aircraft entered military or revenue service-->
 |retired = <!--date the aircraft left military or revenue service. if vague or multiples, it probably should be skipped-->
 |status = <!--in most cases, this field is redundant; use it sparingly-->
 |primary_user = [[BOAC]]
 |more_users = [[Tasman Empire Airways Limited|TEAL]]
 |produced = <!--years in production, e.g. 1970-1999, if still in active use but no longer built-->
 |number_built = 16 (and 7 converted [[Short Seaford|S.45 Seafords]])
 |unit cost =
 |developed_from = [[Short Seaford]]
 |variants = <!-- variants OF the topic type -->
}}

The '''Short Solent''' is a passenger [[flying boat]] that was produced by [[Short Brothers]] in the late 1940s. It was developed from the [[Short Seaford#Sunderland Mark IV .28S.45 Seaford.29|Short Seaford]], itself a development of the [[Short Sunderland]] military flying boat design.

The first Solent flew in 1946. New Solents were used by [[BOAC]] and [[Tasman Empire Airways Limited|TEAL]], production ending in 1949. Second-hand aircraft were operated until 1958 by a number of small airlines such as [[Aquila Airways]].

==Design and development==
[[File:Short Solent ZK-AMO on water.jpg|thumb|Solent IV TEAL ZK-AMO ''Aranui'']]

The Short S.45 Solent was a high-wing monoplane flying boat of aluminium construction. Power was provided by four [[Bristol Hercules]]<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=6&CATID=1729832 National Archives Airworthiness Division Type Records]</ref> engines.

The aircraft could be fitted for 24 passengers with day and night accommodation or 36 day passengers. The cabins (four on the lower deck and two on the upper) could be used to sleep four or seat six. The upper deck included a lounge/dining area next to a kitchen; the lower deck had two dressing rooms, toilets and three freight compartments.  
The flight crew was five (two pilots, navigator, and radio operator with the flight engineer in a separate compartment behind the flight deck opposite crew rest berths) and there were two stewards to attend to the passengers.<ref>''Flight'' 3 January 1946 p10</ref>

==Operational history==
[[File:Short Solent at Poole.jpg|thumb|right|Solent II BOAC G-AHIN ''Southampton'' served the Johannesburg route between 1948 and 1950]]

The Solent II introduced by BOAC could carry 34 passengers and 7 crew. Between 1948 and 1950, BOAC operated their Solents on the three-times weekly scheduled service from [[Southampton]] to [[Johannesburg]] taking a route down the Nile and across East Africa. The journey took four days, including overnight stops. The Solents replaced [[Avro York]]s running the service.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%200765.html "To South Africa on the First Springbok Flying-boat Service"] ''Flight'' 1948</ref>
The last Solent-operated service on the route departed from Berth 50 at Southampton on 10 November 1950, bringing BOAC's flying-boat operations to an end.<ref name="Jackson 1988 160">{{Harvnb|Jackson|1988|p=160}}</ref>

[[Tasman Empire Airways Limited]] (TEAL) operated four Solent IVs and one Solent II between 1949 and 1960 on their scheduled routes between Sydney, Fiji, Auckland and Wellington. The last TEAL Solent service was flown between Fiji and Tahiti on 14 September 1960<ref name="Jackson 1988 160"/> by ZK-AMO, RMA ''Aranui'', which is now preserved. The TEAL Solents could carry 45 passengers and all versions of the type provided a great deal of space and luxury compared with contemporary or modern land-based aircraft.

[[File:Short Solent 4 of Aquila Airways.jpg|thumb|right|Solent III Aquila Airways G-ANAJ ''City of Funchal'' at Berth 50, Southampton Docks, in August 1955]]

Several Solents served [[Aquila Airways]] on their routes from Southampton to [[Madeira]] and the [[Canary Islands]] using ex BOAC and TEAL aircraft. On 15 November 1957, Aquila Airways G-AKNU, a Solent III, [[1957 Aquila Airways Solent crash|crashed near Chessell]], [[Isle of Wight]], after it experienced loss of power to two engines.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1958/1958-1-%20-%200204.html ''Flight'', 8 August 1958, p. 208]</ref> The crash killed 45 out of the 58 on board.  British commercial flying-boat operations ceased on 30 September 1958 when Aquila Airways withdrew its Madeira service.

==Variants==
* '''Solent II'''
: Civilian version for BOAC of the [[Short Seaford]], 12 aircraft built at Rochester<ref name="Barnes and James, pp. 407-409">Barnes and James, pp. 407–409</ref>
* '''Solent III'''
: Converted S.45 Seaford. 7 aircraft – 6 at Queen's Island, Belfast, 1 at Hamble<ref name="Barnes and James, pp. 407-409"/>
* '''Solent IV'''
: Powered by Bristol Hercules 733, four aircraft built at Belfast<ref name="Barnes and James, pp. 407-409"/>

==Operators==
; {{AUS}}
* Trans Oceanic Airways
; {{NZL}}
* [[Tasman Empire Airways Limited|Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL)]]
; {{UK}}
* [[Aquila Airways]]
* [[British Overseas Airways Corporation|British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC)]]
; {{USA}}
* [[South Pacific Air Lines]]

The only military use of the Solent was for trials at the United Kingdom [[Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment]] in 1951, the former BOAC Solent 3 was scrapped after the trials.

==Accidents and incidents==
15 November 1957 – Aquila Airways Solent G-AKNU [[1957 Aquila Airways Solent crash|crashed on the Isle of Wight]]. The aircraft took off at around 10:40 pm from [[Southampton Water]] for [[Lisbon]], [[Madeira]] and [[Las Palmas]]. Around 20 minutes later, the crew reported the failure of number 4 engine and turned back. Soon after, number 3 engine also stopped and around one minute after the radio report, the aircraft crashed into a chalk quarry near [[Chessell]], killing 45 of the 58 people on board.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19571115-1 |title=ASN Aircraft accident Shorts S.45 Solent III G-AKNU Chessel Down |last=Ranter |first=Harro |website=aviation-safety.net |access-date=11 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=45 Dead in Flying Boat Crash| work=The Times | date=18 November 1957 | location=London | pages=12 | issue=54001}}</ref> No cause for either engine failure was established in the subsequent investigation.<ref name="flight-1933-09-28">{{cite journal |date=28 September 1933 |title=Civil Aviation: Solent Accident Report |journal=[[Flight (magazine)|Flight]] |volume=74|id=No. 2585 |pages=971 |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1933/1933%20-%200653.html |accessdate=10 October 2019 }}</ref>

A memorial to those killed is in [[St Mary's Church, Brook]]. A tree and a plaque mark the crash-site.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://isle-of-wight-memorials.org.uk/others/brookshortsolent1957.htm |title=Memorials and Monuments on the Isle of Wight – Brook Short Solent air disaster |website=isle-of-wight-memorials.org.uk |access-date=11 October 2019}}</ref>

==Surviving aircraft==
[[File:Aircraft Short S45 Solent Mk 4 Aranui ZK-AMO.jpg|thumb|Solent IV TEAL ZK-AMO ''Aranui'' on display]]
[[File:Short Solent III ‘G-AKNP’ “City of Cardiff” (29954786913).jpg|thumb|Solent III BOAC G-AKNP ''City of Cardiff'' on display]]
*Short Solent IV ZK-AMO, RMA ''Aranui'', was firstly used by [[Tasman Empire Airways Limited|TEAL]] between [[Mechanics Bay]] on [[Auckland Harbour]] and [[Rose Bay, New South Wales|Rose Bay]] Sydney, Australia until superseded on scheduled services by the land based propliners. ZK-AMO was redeployed on the iconic '''Coral Route''' from [[Auckland]] [[New Zealand]] to [[Fiji]], [[Samoa]], [[Cook Islands]], [[Tonga]] and [[Tahiti]], until once again superseded by propliners in September 1960. ZK-AMO has been fully restored and preserved at the [[Museum of Transport and Technology]] in [[Auckland]]. It was briefly overhauled outside when the Keith Park Memorial Aviation Display at MOTAT was enlarged in 2010–2011.
*An ex-BOAC Solent III, later owned by [[Howard Hughes]], has been rescued and is in the United States at the [[Oakland Aviation Museum]] in [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], [[California]].;<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://oaklandaviationmuseum.org/solent_flying_boat_32.html |title=Solent at the Oakland Aviation Museum, Oakland, California |access-date=14 March 2015 |archive-date=19 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619044717/http://oaklandaviationmuseum.org/solent_flying_boat_32.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> it is this Solent which appears briefly (and anachronistically) in the film ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', though through [[Matte (filmmaking)|matte]] effects is made to resemble a more historically accurate [[Boeing 314 Clipper]].<ref>Verschuere, Gilles. [http://www.theraider.net/films/raiders/making_6_postproduction.php "The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark: Concluding the Adventure."] ''The Raider.Net'', 2009.</ref>

==Specifications (Solent II)==

{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Barnes and James<ref>Barnes and James, p. 412</ref>
|prime units?=imp
<!--
        General characteristics
-->
|genhide=

|crew=7
|capacity=34 passengers
|length m=
|length ft=87
|length in=8
|span m=
|span ft=112
|span in=9
|height m=
|height ft=34
|height in=3+1/4
|height note=<ref name="Jackson v3 p160">Jackson 1988, p.160.</ref>
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=1487
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=47760
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=78000
|fuel capacity=
<!--
        Powerplant
-->
|eng1 number=4
|eng1 name=[[Bristol Hercules]] 637
|eng1 type=14-cylinder [[radial engine]]s
|eng1 kw=<!-- prop engines -->
|eng1 hp=1690<!-- prop engines -->

|prop blade number=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop name=
|prop dia m=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia ft=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia in=<!-- propeller aircraft -->

<!--
        Performance
-->
|perfhide=

|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=273
|max speed kts=
|max speed mach=<!-- supersonic aircraft -->
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=244
|cruise speed note=<ref name="Jackson v3 p160"/>
|range km=
|range miles=1800
|range nmi=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=17000
|ceiling note=<ref name="Jackson v3 p160"/>
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=925
|climb rate note=<ref name="Jackson v3 p160"/>
|more performance=

|avionics=
}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | last = Barnes| first =C.H.|author2=James D.N. | title =Shorts Aircraft since 1900| publisher =Putnam | year =1989 | location =London  | isbn = 0-85177-819-4}}
*{{cite book |last= Jackson|first= A.J |title= British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 3|year= 1988|publisher= Putnam|location= London|isbn=0-85177-818-6}}
*{{cite magazine|last=Warner|first=Guy|title=From Bombay to Bombardier: Aircraft Production at Sydenham, Part One|magazine=[[Air Enthusiast]] |date=July–August 2002|issue=100 |pages=13–24 |issn=0143-5450}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Short Solent}}
* [http://theflyingboatforum.hostingdelivered.com/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=985&start=20 Short Flying Boats in New Zealand]
* [http://www.teal.co.nz/teal/default.htm Tasman Empire Airways Limited] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050827114607/http://www.teal.co.nz/teal/default.htm |date=27 August 2005 }}
* [http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/coming%20of%20age/flying%20boats/Short%20Solent.htm Century of Flight]

{{Short Brothers aircraft}}

[[Category:1940s British airliners]]
[[Category:Short Brothers aircraft]]
[[Category:Flying boats]]
[[Category:Four-engined tractor aircraft]]
[[Category:High-wing aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1946]]
[[Category:Four-engined piston aircraft]]