Saunders-Roe SR.A/1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saunders-Roe_SR.A/1

The Saunders-Roe SR./A.1 was a prototype flying boat fighter aircraft designed
and built by Saunders-Roe. It was tested by the Royal Air Force shortly after
World War II.


Role
Flying boat fighter

Manufacturer
Saunders-Roe

First flight
16 July 1947

Retired
1951

Status
Experimental

Primary user
Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment

Number built
3

The SR./A.1 was directly inspired by the (modest) successes experienced by the
Imperial Japanese Navy with seaplane fighters such as the Nakajima A6M2-N (an
adaptation of the Mitsubishi Zero) and the Kawanishi N1K. In theory, seaplanes
were ideally suited to conditions in the Pacific theatre, and could turn any
relatively calm area of coast into an airbase. Their main disadvantage came from
the way in which the bulk of their floatation gear penalised their performance
compared to other fighters.

Saunders-Roe realised that the new turbojet engine presented an opportunity to
overcome this drawback. Not requiring clearance for a propeller, the fuselage
could sit lower in the water and use a flying boat-type hull. The company first
presented their idea – SR.44 -to the Air Ministry in mid-1943. Performance with
Halford H.1 engines was estimated at 520 mph at 40,000 ft. Criticism of the
design included the wing thickness/chord ratio which was considered by the
Ministry to be too high for a high-speed fighter operating at altitude. The
design was modified and specification E.6/44 was raised in April 1944 on the
modified design with an accompanying development contract for three prototypes
in May 1944.

With the end of the war, Saunders-Roe concentrated its efforts on the
Saunders-Roe Princess long-range civilian flying boat project, and development
of the fighter slipped behind.

The first prototype, piloted by Geoffrey Tyson, flew on 16 July 1947, and while
it and its two sisters proved to have good performance and handling — Tyson made
a demonstration of aerobatics and inverted flight at the 1948 SBAC Display — the
need for such aircraft had completely evaporated with the end of the war.
Furthermore, the success of the aircraft carrier in the Pacific had demonstrated
a far more effective way to project airpower over the oceans, though
Saunders-Roe argued that carriers and their escorts were still very vulnerable
to aircraft or other vessels. In addition, the cockpit canopy was small and
heavily framed, giving the pilot a poor view outside the aircraft. An automatic
mooring system was incorporated so that the pilot could moor the aircraft
without external aid or leaving the cockpit. A fundamental problem was that
production of the Beryl engine had ceased when Metropolitan-Vickers had
withdrawn from jet engine development, and only a limited number of engines was
available. The project was suspended and the prototype put into storage in 1950.
It was briefly resurrected in November 1950, after the outbreak of the Korean
War, before the realisation that it was obsolete compared with land-based
fighters, together with the inability to solve the engine problem, forced a
final cancellation. The prototype flew for the last time in June 1951.

The two SR./A.1 prototypes were fitted with the first two production
Martin-Baker ejection seats built.

Although the aircraft never received an official name, it was referred to by
company workers as "Squirt".

Specification (SR/A.1)

General characteristics
Crew: one
Length: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
Wingspan: 46 ft 0 in (14.02 m)
Height: 16 ft 9 in (5.11 m)
Wing area: 415 ft² (38.6 m²)
Empty weight: 11,262 lb (5,108 kg)
Loaded weight: 16,000 lb (7,273 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Metropolitan-Vickers Beryl MVB.2 turbojets, 3,850 lbf (17.2 kN)
each

Performance
Maximum speed: 512 mph (445 knots, 824 km/h)
Endurance: 1 hour 48 min
Service ceiling: 48,000 ft (14,600 m)
Wing loading: 38.6 lb/ft² (188 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 0.48

Armament

Guns: 4x 20 mm Hispano Mk 5
Bombs: 2x 1000 lb (455 kg) bombs or rockets




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