| A.37 Shrimp | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | research aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Saunders-Roe Limited |
| Designer | H Knowler |
| Status | Scrapped |
| Primary users | Saunders Roe Air Ministry |
| Number built | 1 |
| History | |
| Introduction date | 1939 |
| First flight | October 1939 |
| Retired | 1949 |
The Saunders Roe A.37 Shrimp was a 1930s British two-seat four-engined experimental flying boat built by Saunders-Roe Limited ("Saro") at Cowes.
Development
The Shrimp was designed by H Knowler in 1939 as a half-size research aircraft as part of a development programme for the Saunders-Roe S.38 a four-engined patrol flying-boat to Specification R.5/39 – a replacement for the Short Sunderland. The R.5/39 project was cancelled but the Shrimp was completed as a private venture. Registered as G-AFZS, it was first flown at Cowes in October 1939. It was based at Beaumaris, Anglesey where a slipway was built for it. The Ministry of Aircraft Production acquired it in 1944 with the serial TK580 for tests to help the design of the Short Shetland a successor to the R.5/39 project being developed jointly by Saro and Short Brothers. For this its twin rudder tail was swapped for a single fin and the hull was modified to represent that of the Shetland.
The Shrimp was scrapped at Felixstowe in 1949.
Operators
Specifications
Data from Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume 5: Flying Boats
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 43 ft 3+1⁄4 in (13.189 m)
- Wingspan: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
- Height: 12 ft 8+3⁄4 in (3.880 m)
- Wing area: 340 sq ft (32 m)
- Empty weight: 4,362 lb (1,979 kg)
- Gross weight: 5,700 lb (2,585 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 6,200 lb (2,812 kg)
- Powerplant: 4 × Pobjoy Niagara III 7-cylinder air-cooled geared radial piston engines, 95 hp (71 kW) each
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed: 130 mph (210 km/h, 110 kn)
- Endurance: 3 hours
- Rate of climb: 635 ft/min (3.23 m/s)
- Wing loading: 16.8 lb/sq ft (82 kg/m)
See also
Related lists
References
- Notes
- Jarrett 1991, p.146.
- Jarrett 1991, p.148.
- Green 1972, p. 90.
- Bibliography
- Green, William. Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume 5: Flying Boats. London: Macdonald & Company (Publishers) Ltd., 1962 (5th Impression 1972). ISBN 0-356-01449-5.
- Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919. London: Putnam & Company, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10014-X.
- Jarrett, Philip. "Nothing Ventured...No 12". Aeroplane Monthly, March 1991, Vol 19 No, 3 Issue 215. ISSN 0143-7240. pp. 146–150.
- London, Peter. Saunders and Saro Aircraft Since 1917. London: Putnam (Conway Maritime Press), London, 1988. ISBN 0-85177-814-3.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). Orbis Publishing.
External links
- Saro A.37 – British Aircraft Directory
- Saro A.37 – British aircraft of World War II
- "Dynamic Similarity" a 1940 Flight article
| Saunders-Roe/Saro aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Early aircraft | |
| A-series | |
| SR-series | |
| Helicopters | |
| Cancelled projects | |