lindholme gear
lindholme gear is five cylinder - shaped containers joined together by lengths of floating rope .
i wonder if this gear is the lindholme asr equipment mostly associated with the warwick asr aircraft .
we usually dropped upwind from the shack. this navigator did drop a lindholme gear and saved a few lives .
then in use. the lindholme gear is five cylinder - shaped containers joined together by lengths of floating rope .
finally 204 asr stage c or mk i aircraft were built. these could operate in four different configurations – lindholme gear only; lifeboat mk i and lindholme gear; the heavier lifeboat mk ii only; or long range with extra fuel .
next came twenty asr stage b aircraft. these carried the lifeboat, two sets of lindholme gear and were equipped with asv radar .
a raf training film produced by nettlefold at burgh island studios. shows air - sea rescue by dropping five containers with the lindholme dinghy gear and food and drink .
next came ten asr stage a aircraft. these could carry the airborne lifeboat mk i, designed to be dropped directly into the sea and two sets of lindholme gear .
hi kahu1, please pm me, i have some info on lindholme containers. cheers hangarman
as fareastdriver says, the lindholme or later asra gear was heavily drogued for the reasons stated. somewhere i have a copy of the dropping procedure used on the nimrod. if i can find it i shall scan it and post it here. ys
i would have thought that the lindeholme gear would have had water anchors and would have stayed where it was in the water. the survivors would then pull theirs up and drift towards it. survivors can paddle crosswind; lindeholme gear cannot .
the sar equipment carried by the standby aircraft is called lindholme gear, after the raf station which invented it, and is a series of dinghies and survival packs joined by buoyant rope. the string of equipment is dropped upwind of survivors and floats downwind to them .
please can anyone point me in the right direction? i am building a sanger models (vac - form) avro shackleton mr2 and am searching for some photos of the lindholme gear carried in the bomb bay of said
growler
/ 22000 rivets in close formation
.
the lindholme gear are the three' stacked' containers, whilst the large container with shj 1 on the end is a cle mk 3 paratroop supplies container in use as a land supplies container. the other two items are smoke floats or parachute flares (not sure) .
the gear would be carried in the weapons bay of the aircraft and dropped in a long line up - wind of the survivors .
the lindholme asra (air sea rescue apparatus) were linked together by a bouyant rope and they were two containers with supplies and a larger container containing a life raft .
believe it or not i do recollect that the gear was tested by dropping it into the river trent lower reaches. the defiant may have been the aircraft test platform .
the most important use of the warwick was as an air - sea rescue aircraft. it was decided to equip these aircraft with lindholme rescue gear and with air - droppable lifeboats. the asr warwick entered service in small numbers late in 1943, and appeared in large numbers in 1944, operating from bases around the british coast, on iceland, in the mediterranean and over the bay of bengal .
lindholme containers were made from waxed cardboard tubes with a metal cap on one end and the other end closed by fabric flaps retaining the parachute and hanks of bouyant rope, all three containers were yellow in colour .
... it would indicate the historical progression of development for airdropped dinghies was the defiants and others using type ms - the defiant asr was active in the med in 1942 - to airdropped hardhulled lifeboats like the uffa fox boat also dropped by the warwick... active from 1944 onwards... to the lindholme gear which was designed alongside them as the hardhulled lifeboats weren' t overly satisfactory .
this may help. shack mr3 phase 3 sharja asr standby. we also hung lindholme on to our valetta c1 on malta comm squadron after the mod disbanded 38 sqdn - and carried a few more plus smoke floats in the cabin: -
i' ve just seen a painting of a shackleton dropping a set of lindholme gear to shipwreck survivors. the drop has been made downwind. i thought the drop was made upwind so that the automatically inflated life - raft and accompanying survival containers (attached to the life - raft by 100 yd ropes) would be blown towards the survivors? is my brain playing its usual tricks or has the artist been badly advised? any coastal navigators out there remember the procedure ?
depended on the drift rate of the survivors. usually upwind but sometimes downwind. once dropped upwind on an inverted yacht, before the gear got to them the mast and rigging broke off and the hull sped away. next drop was downwind .
several early attempts were made to improve the equipment that aircraft already carried or which could be dropped to airmen in dinghies. first of all came the ‘lindholme gear’ – an emergency supply cannister – invented by raf group captain waring and from this evolved the ‘bircham barrel’, (developed at nearby raf bircham newton, langham’s ‘parent’ air field). it was made from a cardboard delivery container for a bomb tail - fin, strengthened with steel. it held signal flares, tinned water, condensed milk, emergency rations and a first aid kit .
landing gear: the landing gear was a two - stage retractable type with the main wheels retracting vertically and then backwards into the inner engine nacelles taking part of their fairings with them. retraction was powered by electric motors with alternative hand operation. twin castoring retractable tailwheels type dunlop ws30. in order to accommodate the raf bomber command requirement to shorten the take - off and landing, a very long landing gear was utilized making the aircraft prone to swing violently on take - off and landing. the undercarriage retraction motors were originally located inside the nacelle, but were later relocated inside the fuselage to allow for manual retraction in the event of motor failure. the electric retraction motors often failed, being wholly inadequate for the task. the stirling had one of the largest tires, manufactured by dunlop, on a british aircraft at the time .
40 b. is were converted in production to
warwick asr mark i
configuration, retaining defensive armament, and hauling two airdropped lindholme rescue kits, each with an inflatable raft and survival kit, entering service in august 1943. they were followed by production asr. is, in three
stages
:
the earliest asr aircraft were conversions that were equipped to carry two sets of lindholme rescue equipment, a set of ten boxes that carried life rafts and supplies. in this configuration the aircraft was given the designation warwick bomber / asr. 40 or 50 were produced, some by converting the existing b. mk is .
* the wellesley was likely a futuristic - looking machine when it was introduced, and indeed it retains a certain sci - fi
retropunk
look in the 21st century. it had twin cockpits, one forward and one aft, connected by a cabin with windows on each side. it was powered by a bristol pegasus xx air - cooled nine - cylinder radial engine providing 690 kw (925 hp), driving a de havilland - hamilton three - bladed variable - pitch propeller. it had taildragger landing gear, the tailwheel being fixed, the single - wheel main gear pivoting from the wings towards the fuselage .
why include inflatable dinghies? . the airborne lifeboats, by their very nature, were dropped from aircraft, and in most cases to assist ditched airmen that were adrift in their aircraft dinghies. some explanation would have sufficed, but it is thought that more in depth details of design, development and construction was required to supplement the associated development of airborne lifeboats. airborne lifeboats were devised from observations of inflatable dinghies, and indeed the inflatable dinghy in the form of the air dropped lindholme gear was the eventual demise of the airborne lifeboat. raf marine craft also carried inflatable dinghies, and two types of marine craft were designed to carry airborne lifeboats - both for the same purpose .
the type 447 windsor had the geodetic construction of the wellesley, wellington, and warwick, with a skinning of a steel wire mesh - based composite material. it had taildragger landing gear; unusually, there were four main gear, one in each engine nacelle, all with single wheels. the type 447 had a wingspan of 35. 71 meters (117 feet 2 inches), a length of 23. 43 meters (76 feet 10 inches), and an empty weight of 17, 750 kilograms (28, 605 pounds). top speed was about 510 kph (315 mph / 275 kt), with a ceiling of 8, 300 meters (27, 250 feet) .
ninety more gr. mk iis were ordered for meteorological duties, although only fourteen were ever built. as with the gr. mk ii, the meteorological version never entered squadron service. the fourteen aircraft had their nose gun removed and replaced with a wide - vision glass nose, all bombing gear was removed to reduce weight and an oxygen system was installed .
hmmmmmmmmmmm! some say upwind, some say downwind... .... . suck it and sea! (i don' t feel bad about not remembering maybe that' s why we always carried two sets of lindholme on sar aircraft. thanks shackman, the 200 / 400 ft rings a bell - i always wondered why they didn' t use 300ft each side of the liferaft ?
when rfd gq, the equipment manufactures, heard that we were hanging lindholme mk3 on to our valetta, they very kindly sent us a few brochures out together with the offer to come out to malta to give us a hand to mount it under the aircraft. the offer was gently refused by the mod but i kept one of the brochures and have cobbled together bits and pieces from it that are relevant to this query .
i' ll give you a clue. .! 140'... 140kts... after faffing around with flame floats for a while. .
beam, capt, when i say mark drop one flame float. .
one gone !
not yet you eejit !
ad infinitum. . pretty sure the lindholme was dropped upwind so that the ms9 would drift down towards the survivor (s). happy days! sv
as a result, the wellington b. ia was followed by the
wellington bomber ic
, with 2, 685 built into 1942 by the main factory at weybridge (1, 052), plus the shadow factories at chester (1, 583), and blackpool (50). it had the updated armament fit, larger main gear wheels, plus better electrical and hydraulic systems. with refinements in production techniques, the complexity of the geodetic airframe became much less of an obstacle to manufacture .
* the
wellington bomber mark ii
was introduced in october 1940, the primary change being replacement of the pegasus xviii engines with rolls - royce merlin x water - cooled vee - 16 engines, providing 855 kw (1, 145 hp), instead of radials. it also had a larger tailplane, and beefed - up landing gear. an initial prototype, the
type 298
, had been flown before the outbreak of war. 401 b. is were built, all at weybridge .
* a viking 1b, the 158th viking built, became the prototype of the military
valletta
, named after the maltese city, this machine performing its initial flight on 30 june 1947, with mutt summers at the controls. the valleta featured more powerful hercules 230 radials with 1, 475 kw (1, 975 hp) each; a double cargo door, with an inset passenger door, on the left rear side of the fuselage; a reinforced floor; and longer - stroke landing gear. 211 were delivered to the raf as
valletta c. 1
utility transports, capable of carrying 34 equipped troops, 20 paratroops, or cargo .
virgo, my memory, like most on this thread it seems, is somewhat hazy! but something in the deep, dark, recesses of my brain is telling me that the sop for lindholme / asra drops from the andover was downwind. i do however remember the practice drops we used to do off the coast of masirah marking the pattern with smoke floats and marine markers. on one occasion the nav called
mark
and my mate, stood in the door with a float in his hand, replied
did you call nav ?
before realizing it was a command. you can probably guess what his name was! you also had to remember to take the
safety
pins out before the drop, very embarrasing if the ms 9 didn' t inflate! !
the b. 9 / 32 prototype, the vickers
type 271
, took to the air for the first time on 15 june 1936, the pilot being joseph
mutt
summers. it was a midwing monoplane with twin bristol pegasus x radial engines, providing 680 kw (915 hp) each and driving three - bladed variable - pitch props; retractable taildragger landing gear; and a fabric - covered geodesic airframe. the prototype was unarmed, though it was designed to have a single machine gun on a flexible mount in nose, tail, and dorsal positions. the prototype crashed after a flight structural failure on on 19 april 1937, the pilot being thrown out and parachuting to safety, the flight engineer being killed .
following end of production of the valletta, vickers then built a crew trainer variant, the
varsity t. 1
, as per air ministry specification t. 13 / 48, the initial prototype performing its first flight on 17 july 1949. the varsity was a major redesign, with tricycle landing gear; wider wingspan; a longer fuselage, with a longer nose, stretching length again by 71 centimeters (28 inches) to 20. 57 meters (67 feet 6 inches); a ventral pannier for a bombardier and practice bombs; and hercules 264 engines with 1, 455 kw (1, 950 hp) each. the maximum number of people carried was up to 11, though it was generally less than that, the number depending on the specific training requirement .
* following trials fit of bristol hercules iii radials, with 1, 065 kw (1, 425 hp) each, on a b. ic, production moved on to the
wellington bomber mark iii
, with hercules xi radials, providing 1, 185 kw (1, 590 hp) each. the b. iii also featured de - icing gear, plus - - following initial production - - a new fn mark 20 tail turret, with four 7. 7 - millimeter machine guns, instead of two. a total of 1, 519 b. iiis was built at weybridge (2), chester (737), and blackpool (780). the b. iii was the backbone of raf bomber command until the four - engine
heavies
such as the lancaster arrived .
to test the aerodynamics and controllability of the new type, the s. 31 was designed as the half - scale prototype with a powerplant of four 90 hp (67 kw) pobjoy niagara iii radial engines. the short s. 31 made its first flight on 19 september 1938 and revealed good overall handling characteristics. short had originally decided on an incidence of 3° giving the best possible cruise performance, but the raf asked that the incidence be increased to 6. 5°, being more concerned with improving take - off performance than the cruising speed. in order to accommodate the raf request for increased wing incidence a major re - design of the central fuselage would have normally be undertaken, but because of time restraints, short decided on a
quick fix
by lengthening the main landing gear legs to give a higher ground angle .
variant built mod notes _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ viking 3 prototypes. viking 1a 19 initial production, with wellington wings. viking 1 29? metal wings, 12 as raf
viking c. 2
. viking 1b 113 fuselage stretch. nene viking - 1 temporary jet viking 1b conversion. 164 subtotal valletta c. 1 211 military utility transport. valletta c. 2 11 military vip transport with more fuel. valletta t. 3 40 crew trainer. valletta t. 4 - 18 t. 3 with radar nose. 262 subtotal varsity t. 1 163 crew trainer with tricycle landing gear, etc. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 589 total _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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urltoken
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i thought you might be interested in this item at urltoken title: journal publisher: [ wotton - under - edge ]: royal air force historical society. isbn / issn: 1361 - 4231 oclc: 175174953
great britain. - - royal air force - - history - - periodicals .
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journal / royal air force historical society. ;; [ wotton - under - edge ]: royal air force historical society .
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hi ,
obsessed member
- sad to say, but you just replicated my search (or at least the first 5 minutes of it) .
incidentaly, the cle conatiner was designed by the central landing establishment in 1941 and remained in service with the nimrod fleet by which time it was known as the container land equipment, the raf having forgotten its origins as a paratroopers weapon container .
not a lot julien. my biggest regret is that i didn' t manage to get a shot of 51' s varsity with
hookah
aerials fitted to the wings - looked like big tobacco pipes but by using my youngest son as an excuse, i managed to get a shot of one of the comets with
cherryaid
fitted in place of the square windows. i didn' t push my luck and ask what it did .
oh boy you are new! ! - hth = h ope t hat h elps. heard a good one on qi last night. you' ve heard of lol - you must have, how about mas = m ildly a mused s mirk .
thank you aeronut, that is one of the most succinct and accurate descriptions that i have ever seen on this site - saved me from doing it! thanks pal. the two smaller items were in fact parachute flares which we did not carry on the valetta. the smoke floats had small rounded fins at one end and were painted green .
i have attached also a photo of the asr shack at sharja showing the guns that were always fitted to these aircraft, irrespective of the role at the time. have also attached a photo of my pride and joy for two years vw856 with the mk3 underslung on the rear external points. the containers, when carried, were slung from the front external points .
airfix - humbrol note. the bottom shot is of a vickers valetta - a british designed and built transport. and you ain' t heard nothing till you' ve heard twin hercules radials purring away gently whilst you cruise the med at someone else' s expense. i / we / us need a kit of it - and at my time of life - make it snappy! ! (please ?) .
sign up for a new account in our community. it' s easy !
also, i' m trying to find out how it was carried. i assume if in a large - ish canister - it had to be carried on a bolt - on
universal no. 1 bomb carrier
?? ?
.... the same as the asr version of the lysander could on its wingstubs. does anyone know if this canister is the same as the small stores container... this one? ? ?
well - i wasn' t able to find out the actual weight... . but instead i was able to find something better !
as you can see - instead of going for the obvious and using a pair of the light series carrier mounting lugs to hang a universal carrier and hang the dinghy container on that... . the raf in a month from february 1942 to march 1942 came up with an entirely different and rather
heath robinson
solution !
and as for why - i know we all have our own little special areas of research .
harry - i don' t think so; looking at the wiki description of it ...
the centre container would house a nine - man inflatable dinghy with the other containers housing survival equipment such as emergency rations and clothing .
... even the
central
dinghy container for a 9 - man dinghy must have been far bigger than the defiant item .
... and the shackleton and nimrod! it' s still in use, though the present
asr mk4
as it has become known comprises only two tethered para - braked containers .
i' m very new to this site - tonight in fact - at the start of a journey to find out about my fathers ww2 service. he died 13 years ago and never talked about the war. all i know is he flew defiants, served in port said, rhodesia and malta - his name was tom scott - he was scottish and hailed from either tranent nr edinburgh - or if my grandparents had moved by then, greenock, south west of glasgow. i' ve just downloaded a form to send off with my £30 to try and obtain his war record, but just wondered if you might have served with him .
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hi bob, from memory the early ones were large cardboard tubes with a plywood base one end and a parachute at the other. the later ones were fibreglass. will have a look through my paperwork for more info. hangarman
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air crews were precious. if there was a hope of saving airmen, a rescue attempt was organised. nowadays, helicopters do a lot of air sea rescue work. in world war 2 helicopters were still in the early stages of development .
airmen who had to ditch into the sea close to the british coast stood some chance of being successfully picked up by a rescue boat. when they had to ditch near the enemy - occupied coast, it was a different matter. the planes carried emergency dinghies but these were very small .
in this situation, aircrews could use their radios to send an distress message. if the radio was damaged, many aircraft carried pigeons as an emergency form of communication .
even in midsummer it’s no joke being in the water of the north sea. in cold water, hypothermia quickly sets in. your arms and legs lose strength, your mind slows and you lose determination. help for these stricken airmen had to come quickly .
in a period of just three weeks during the battle of britain in 1940, 220 airmen were killed or went missing over the sea .
this was a huge loss of human life but on a coldly practical level, the hard pressed raf simply could not continue to fight the war if this rate of losses among aircrew were to continue. for both of these reasons, effective rescue services were urgently needed .
group captain waring then had the idea of an airborne lifeboat to be carried onboard aircraft and dropped into the sea to help ditched aircrews .
however, the requirements for such a craft were stringent. it had to be light and aerodynamic so that it could be carried under an aircraft but sturdy enough to cope with being dropped into the sea at around 25mph. it had to be safe in stormy weather, so virtually unsinkable and self - righting. it also had to have easy - start engines, very simple sails and carry enough fuel to sail 500 miles .
and of course, in a wartime economy, it had to be quick and cheap to build .
boat - building expert, lieutenant robb, drew up initial plans and celebrated yacht designer, uffa fox, developed them. after a long gestation, the first successful lifeboat drop happened on 5th may 1943 .
more than 400 of these boats were built in small boat yards all over the country. there were blueprints for every tiny component and standards were exact. the boats all had to be identical to avoid confusion and frustration when they were put to use .
the airborne lifeboat’s hull was a double skin of mahogany with water - proofed calico cloth between. eight watertight compartments contained equipment and supplies, an instruction book and the two engines. each boat was 23. 5ft (7. 2m) long, 5. 5ft (1. 7m) wide and weighed 1630lbs (740kg). it had two 4 hp engines as well as a sail and could float in just 1ft (30cm) of water .
any member of the allied forces whose life had been saved by a life jacket (‘mae west’), or a rescue boat was eligible to join the gold fish club .
they received a badge but since it was unofficial, aircrew used to sew it under the lapel on their uniform. by the end of the war there were 9000 members !
the airborne lifeboat played its part, saving some 5, 721 aircrew lives around britain .
an airborne lifeboat and warwick of 280 squadron, langham 1944. © trustees of the raf museum .
a member of the crew of an raf coastal command lockheed hudson holding a carrier pigeon, 1942. © iwm (tr 42) .
not at langham. a lifeboat is loaded underneath a warwick. © www. flypast. com .
an airborne lifeboat (top) at the museum of the broads. © ugly studios .
an airborne lifeboat at the norfolk and suffolk aviation museum. © ugly studios .
280 squadron warwicks flew air - sea rescue (asr) missions from langham. a failed bomber, its success in asr is often overlooked, along with the bravery of the crews. © pete west .
we partner with the raf radar museum at neatishead. get a £1 discount on production of your radar museum ticket
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air - dropped rescue equipment designed during the second world war to aid survivors in the water and was still in use in the 21st century .
the survivors can then use the dinghy and haul in the containers of equipment and await rescue .
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vickers viscount, vickers wellington, vickers vc. 1 viking, vickers viking, vickers vildebeest
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air ministry specification b. 12 / 36 called for the design and development of a strategic four - engined heavy bomber that could quickly is placed into production, giving the raf bomber command a high - speed aircraft capable of delivering a large bombload at long ranges. it was to be crewed by seven or eight men with defensive armament consisting of multi - gunned nose, ventral and tail turrets. the initial maximum take - off weight had to be between 48, 000 lbs (21769 kg) and 53, 000 lbs (24036 kg), but with the capability of that figure being increased to around 65, 000 lbs (29478 kg). the weapons bays also had to be compatible with all standard raf bomb ordnance in use at that time. the specification also demanded that the aircraft be capable of lifting off a 500 ft (152. 4 m) runway and is able to clear 50 ft (15. 2 m) trees at the end, with the wingspan not exceeding 100 ft (30. 48 m) .
several companies submitted their designs to the air ministry, these being armstrong whitworth, short brothers and supermarine. the armstrong whitworth design was rejected, and both short brothers and supermarine were asked to construct prototypes. supermarine' s type 317 prototype was still under construction when the factory was bombed by the luftwaffe early in the war. the factory and prototype were virtually destroyed, causing supermarine to withdraw from the competition leaving only the short brothers design .
at the end of 1938, this change was incorporated on the short s. 31 prototype. other changes included the installation of four 115 hp (86 kw) pobjoy niagara iv radial engines. in order to address longitudinal control problems horn - balanced elevators were installed but these were soon replaced by a larger tailplane with conventional elevators .
a short s. 29 stirling mk iii (w7455 oj - b) based in mildenhall in early 1942 with no. 149 squadron. later in the war this particular aircraft was lost to a night intruder over great thurlow .
as 1942 progressed, no. 7 squadron (with its stirling' s) and other bomber command squadrons were transferred to form the nucleus of the newly formed no. 8 (pathfinder) group. by the end of the year, the new mk. iii stirling' s, equipped with 1, 675 hp bristol hercules xvi engines and a new dorsal turret design, were entering service and slowly replacing the mk i' s .
by late 1943, german flak defences were inflicting serious losses to the stirlings, mostly due to its low ceiling caused by its restricted wing span. it was soon evident that such losses could not continue and air marshal harris, was forced to withdraw the aircraft from operations. by early 1944, as supplies of the avro lancaster became available, most of the stirling squadron' s began to re - equipped with this type. although, it would not be until september 8, 1944 that no. 149 squadron, flew last operation stirling sorties against le havre .
the stirling never lived up to it potential as a great bomber (in no small part to the raf bomber commands requirement changes) but it a proved very popular aircraft with its crews, who dubbed it the
fighter bomber
due to its excellent manoeuvrability and rugged construction. on one occasion four german night fighters attacked a stirling from no. 218 squadron on a night raid in 1942. manoeuvring for its life, the stirling managed to shoot down three of the attackers before returning to base safely, although a little battered. as a result of its high wing loading, the stirling had a high roll rate and was manoeuvrable enough to out - turn the junkers ju 88 and bf 110 night fighters .
the stirling mk v transport was the last version of the aircraft built for raf transport command. this was configured to carry 40 troops, or 20 fully equipped paratroops, or 12 stretchers and 14 seated casualties. it could be used also for loads such as two jeeps with trailers, or a jeep with a field gun, trailer and ammunition. the mk vs were the last stirlings in service, being gradually replaced by the avro york, with the last of them withdrawn from use in 1946. production on belfast built mk v totalled 160 aircraft. during 1947 airtech limited of thame, oxon, converted 12 stirling mk vs for use by a belgian civil operator under the name silver stirling .
official service figures credit the stirling with 18, 440 sorties flown in which 27, 821 tons (28268 tonnes) of bombs were dropped and 20, 000 mines were laid, for the loss of 769 aircraft .
manufacturer: short brothers (rochester & bedford) limited based in rochester, kent, england. the company was founded in 1898 by the brothers eustace and oswald short, originally building spherical balloons but they later concentrated on the building of flying boats. in 1936, short brothers limited and harland & wolff limited (shipbuilders) of queen' s island, belfast, northern ireland, formed a partnership under the name short & harland limited. also built by austin motors limited in longbridge. production would eventually be dispersed to over 20 different factories .
powerplant: four 1, 675 hp (1250 kw) bristol hercules xvi 14 - cylinder sleeve - valve double - row air - cooled radial engines rated at 2, 900 rpm at 4, 500 ft (1370 m); 1, 615 hp (1205 kw) at 2, 900 rpm for take - off; 1, 050 hp (783 kw) at 2, 400 rpm at 10, 250 ft (3130 m). engine weight (dry) 1, 930 lbs (875 kg). the fuel used was 100 or 130 octane. the propeller was a metal three - bladed de havilland hydromatic type 55 / 10 variable pitch, constant speed full - feathering airscrew with a diameter of 13 ft 6 in (4. 11 m) .
performance: maximum speed 270 mph (435 km / h) at 14, 500 ft (4420 m); economical cruising speed of 233 mph (375 km / h) at 11, 000 ft (3355 m); service ceiling 17, 000 ft (5180 m); initial rate of climb 800 ft (245 m) per minute .
fuel capacity: seven cylindrical self - sealing (except the leading - edge tank) fuel tanks in each wing outboard of the wing bomb cells, giving a total of 2, 254 imperial gallons (2, 707 us gallons or 10246 litres), plus provision for 220 imperial gallons (264 us gallons or 1000 litres) of auxiliary fuel in tanks installed in each of the wing bomb cells for an additional total of 440 imperial gallons (528 us gallons or 2000 litres). the systems could be interconnected if necessary by operating an inter - system balance cock in the centre section .
oil capacity: each engine had its own oil tank with a capacity of 33 imperial gallons (40 us gallons or 150 litres) .
range: 590 miles (950 km) on internal fuel with a bombload of 14, 000 lbs (6350 kg). 2, 010 miles (3237 km) on normal internal fuel with a bombload of 3, 500 lbs (1587 kg). ferry range (clean) of over 3, 000 miles (4831 km) was possible using auxiliary fuel tanks. range on the short s. 29 stirling was one of its major weaknesses. while it was capable of carrying a tremendous amount of ordnance, it could only do this a very short distance. as a result, on most missions to get the desired range, bombload was sacrificed .
weights & loadings: empty (clean) 43, 200 lbs (19595 kg), empty (equipped) 59, 400 lbs (26939 kg) with a maximum take - off weight of 70, 000 lbs (31751 kg). wing loading 48 lbs / sq ft (234 kg / sq m); power loading 10. 6 lbs / hp (4. 85 kg / hp) .
dimensions: span 99 ft 1 in (30. 20 m); length 87 ft 3 in (26. 59 m); height 22 ft 9 in (6. 93 m); wing area 1, 460. 0 sq ft (135. 63 sq m) .
armament: a total of eight 7. 7 mm (0. 303 in) browning machine - guns plus up to 14, 000 lbs (6350 kg) of bombs. disposable stores were carried in a lower fuselage weapons bay rated at 11, 000 lbs (4989 kg) and in 6 wing cells each rated at 500 lbs (227 kg). normal loadout usually consisted of 2, 000 lbs (907 kg) armour - piercing bombs and / or 500 lbs (227 kg) general - purpose high explosive bombs. the main bomb - bay in the fuselage is formed of two main longitudinal girders with arched members to the main floor. the bay is 42 ft 7 in (13. 0 m) long and fitted with six hinged doors. internal stowage for bombs is also provided in the centre - section inboard of the inner engine nacelles. a bomb overload of up to 25, 500 lbs (11567 kg) was possible but it reduced the range considerably .
2 × 7. 7 mm (0. 303 in) browning trainable forward - firing machine - guns in the power - operated frazer - nash f. n. 5 nose turret .
2 × 7. 7 mm (0. 303 in) browning trainable machine - guns in the power - operated frazer - nash f. n. 50 (boulton - paul) dorsal turret .
4 × 7. 7 mm (0. 303 in) browning trainable rearward - firing machine - guns in the power - operated frazer - nash f. n. 20a tail turret .
1 x 7. 7 mm (0. 303 in) browning trainable rearward firing machine - gun in a manually operated ventral position (some aircraft only) .
variants: stirling mk i, stirling mk ii (two prototypes only), stirling mk iii, stirling mk iv, stirling mk v (transport) .
wings / fuselage / tail unit: the wings are of a mid - wing cantilever monoplane type with a two - spar all - metal structure similar to that of the short
empire
flying boat. gouge type trailing - edge flaps with chord equal to 48 percent of the total chord. the leading - edges of the wings are armoured and are provided with barrage - balloon cable cutters. the fuselage is a rectangular section with rounded corners with an all - metal structure built up of transverse frames covered with aluminium - alloy sheet with intercoastal stiffeners and all joints joggled flush with flush riveting. the tail unit is a cantilever monoplane type with a single fin and rudder similar in form and construction to those of the
empire
flying boats .
history: first flight (s. 31 research aircraft) 19 september 1938; first flight (s. 29 prototype) 14 may 1939; first flight (production mk i) 7 may 1940; final operational sortie 8 september 1944; final production (mk v) november 1945; withdrawn from service (raf) 1946 .
the vickers warwick was one of many examples of promising aircraft whose development was delayed by the choice of engines. it was originally designed as a twin - engined heavy bomber, and like the avro manchester was to use the rolls royce vulture. when the vulture failed to live up to expectations avro installed four merlin engines in the manchester, to produce the excellent avro lancaster, but vickers decided to keep the twin - engined design, and searched for more powerful engines. eventually over 800 warwicks would be produced, powered by either the pratt & whitney double wasp or the bristol centaurus .
the vickers warwick was developed as a twin - engined heavy bomber to satisfy specification b. 1 / 35. this was a thoroughly un - ambitious specification, calling for an aircraft powered by two 1, 000hp engines and capable of carrying 2, 000lb of bombs over 1, 500 miles at a speed of 195mph – by the time it entered service the wellington medium bomber could carry twice the bomb load, had a range of 2, 550 miles and a speed of 235mph, and the wellington was powered by two 1, 050hp bristol pegasus engines, giving it only 100hp more than envisaged for the b. 1 / 35 .
the warwick was developed alongside the final version of the wellington. although the specification for the wellington had been issued in 1932 (b. 9 / 32), it had taken four years for the first prototype to make its maiden flight (15 june 1936). this early version of the aircraft was then virtually abandoned, and a complete redesign was begun. the redesigned b. 9 / 32 became the vickers type 285, while the prototype of the warwick was the type 284. structurally the wellington was essentially a cut - down version of the warwick. as a result the two aircraft had many components in common, especially in the geodesic members .
the first vickers design, of july 1935, was powered by two bristol hercules heism engines. the company was awarded a contract to produce one prototype on 7 october 1935. this prototype (serial number k8178) would not make its maiden flight until 13 august 1939. by this point the aircraft was powered by rolls royce vulture engines, a complex piece of machinery that merged two inline v engines and failed to produce as much power as had been hoped, while also proving very unreliable .
a second prototype was ordered on 2 july 1937 (serial number l9704). this aircraft eventually made its maiden flight in april 1940, by which time it was powered by a pair of bristol centaurus engines. it had been hoped to use the napier sabre, but that engine failed to materialise in time, and when it did become available was reserved for fighter aircraft .
by the time the second prototype took to the air, the warwick was no longer needed as a heavy bomber, that role having been taken by the new four - engined heavies. despite that, on 3 january 1941 vickers was given a contract to produce 150 warwick mk is, powered by the pratt & whitney double wasp and 100 warwick mk iis, powered by the centaurus. only 16 mk. is and 1 mk. ii were ever completed .
the warwick was eventually produced in significant numbers. in january 1943 it was decided to turn it into an air - sea rescue aircraft. a total of 369 asr warwicks were produced. another 328 warwicks were produced as general reconnaissance aircraft for coastal command, but only a handful were ever used in combat. another 114 were produced as transport aircraft, and by the time production finished 845 had been built .
on 3 january 1941 150 warwick b. mk is, powered by the pratt & whitney double wasp r - 2800 - s1a4 - g engine were ordered. of these aircraft only sixteen were completed as bombers, for by the time the warwick was ready in the spring of 1942 the need for it no longer existed – the avro lancaster had already begun to enter service. some of the warwick b. mk is were used for service tests during the second half of 1942, before most were converted to the asr / bomber role.
lindholme gear ( also known as air sea rescue apparatus mk 4 ) was a british air-dropped rescue equipment designed during the second world war to aid survivors in the water and was still in use in the 21st century . 
lindholme gear (also known as air sea rescue apparatus mk 4) was a british air-dropped rescue equipment designed during the second world war to aid survivors in the water and was still in use in the 21st century.
lindholme gear (also known as air sea rescue apparatus mk 4) was a british air-dropped rescue equipment designed during the second world war to aid survivors in the water and was still in use in the 21st century.