Saro A.37 Shrimp

Manufacturer: Saunders-Roe Limited
Designed by: H Knowler
First flight: October 1939
Introduced: 1939
Retired: 1949
Status: Scrapped
Primary users: Saunders Roe Air Ministry
Number built: 1

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 TK850 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

United Kingdom

Air Ministry
Saunders Roe

Specifications

Data from Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume 5: Flying Boats

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 42 ft 3¼ in (12.89 m)
Wingspan: 50 ft (15.24 m)
Height: 12 ft 8¾ in (3.88 m)
Wing area: 340 ft² (31.6 m²)
Empty weight: 4,362 lb (1,983 kg)
Loaded weight: 5,700 lb (2,591 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 6,200 lb (2,818 kg)
Powerplant: 4x— Pobjoy Niagara III radial engine, 95 hp (71 kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 113 knots (130 mph, 209 km/h)
Rate of climb: 635 ft/min (3.22 m/s)
Wing loading: 16.8 lb/ft² (82 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.067 hp/lb (0.11 kW/kg)
Endurance 3 hours

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.

Saro Shrimp Pictures

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Source: WikiPedia