Short Crusader

Crusader

National origin: UK
Manufacturer: Short Brothers
Designed by: W A Bristow
First flight: 4 May 1927
Primary user: Royal Air Force, High Speed Flight
Number built: 1

The Short Crusader was a British racing seaplane of the 1920s built by Short Brothers.

Powered by a Bristol Mercury engine, it was designed under Colonel W.A. Bristow, the detail design work being carried out by C.T.P Lipscomb at Shorts and construction by Shorts at Rochester.

It was used as a backup and a training aircraft for the RAF High Speed Flight in their bid to win the Schneider Trophy in the 1927 competition staged at Venice. It crashed before competing, however, as a result of the inadvertent crossover of the aileron cables during reassembly after the trip to Italy.

Operators

United Kingdom

Royal Air Force
High Speed Flight RAF

Specifications

Data from Barnes & James

General characteristics

Length: 25 ft 0 in (7.62 m)
Wingspan: 26 ft 6 in (8.07 m)
Height: ()
Wing area: 120 sq ft (11.15 m²)
Empty weight: 1,938 lb (878 kg)
Loaded weight: 2,712 lb (1,227 kg)
Powerplant: 1x— Bristol Mercury tractor nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 810 hp (604 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 270 mph (235 knots, 435 km/h)

Comparable aircraft

Supermarine S.5
Macchi M.52

Barnes, C.H.; James D.N. (1989). Shorts Aircraft since 1900. London: Putnam. pp. 560. ISBN 0-85177-819-4.
http://www.airracinghistory.freeola.com/aircraft/Short%20Crusader.htm accessed 23 April 2008

Short Crusader Pictures

Living Warbirds: The best warbirds DVD series.

Source: WikiPedia