The Solent was a development of the Short S.45 Seaford,
which was in turn a development of the Sunderland ( and originally
designated Sunderland IV). The first aircraft produced was a civilianised
Seaford, and after trials, 12 aircraft were ordered for BOAC service.
These Solent II's carried a crew of seven and 30 passengers. In 1948 six
unfinished Seafords were completed as Solent III's, capable of carrying 39
passengers. In 1949 TEAL ordered four of what would be the final model,
the 44 passenger Solent IV. This featured a number of changes to meet TEAL
specifications, including the 2040 hp Bristol Hercules 733 engines
(compared to the 1690 hp Hercules 733) on improved mounts which made the
engine thrust line parallel to the airframe centreline (rather than
splayed outward 3 degrees as on the earlier models), a maximum all up
weight of 36,742kg (81,000lb) compared to the 35,643 (78,600lb) Solent
III, and a range of 3745km. Two and a half years after the BOAC Solents
entered service, BOAC ended all its Flying Boat operations and the
aircraft went into storage. One of these Solent III's was purchased by
TEAL in 1951 as Solent production had ended.
The Solent was the final flying boat
type operated by TEAL, an airline best remembered for such services. In
1935 the Chairman of the Union Steamship Company Ltd (Norrie Falla) had
raised the possibility of a Trans-Tasman air link with Imperial Airways
services. In 1937, after protracted discussions, the Short S23 Empire
Class flying boat 'Centaurus' (G-ADUT) was used to prove the route,
arriving in Auckland on December 27th. Subsequently Tasman Empire Airways
Ltd (TEAL) was formed with a shareholding split between the New Zealand
Government, Union Airways, Imperial Airways and QANTAS (the three airlines
effectively operating TEAL for their respective governments). An order of
three S30 flying boats (a development of the S23 with Bristol Perseus XIIc
engines, a 2400km range and higher all up weight) for QANTAS was diverted
to TEAL - although only two were eventually delivered, the third being
diverted for wartime services with Imperial Airways and BOAC. The two
aircraft ZK-AMA (c/n S886) 'Aoteoroa' and ZK-AMC (c/n S884) 'Awarua' went
into service in 1940 and flew Tasman and Pacific routes until 1947. In
1946 the decision was taken to replace the S30's with Sandringhams IV's (a
civil modification of the Sunderland III). The decision was a political
one, overiding a preference amongst TEAL's senior personnel for land-based
DC-4's. The 'Tasman Class' Sandringhams (ZK-AMB/ML761 'Tasman', ZK-AMD/NJ255
'Australia', ZK-AME/NJ719 'New Zealand', and ZK-AMH/JM715 'Auckland') only
remained in service until 1949, proving to be underpowered and prone to
overheating in the trans-Tasman environment. They were replaced in 1949 by
the Short Solent IV. Again the decision had political overtones as TEAL's
senior personnel still preferred land-based DC-4's or DC-6's.
TEAL's trans-Tasman Solent services
commenced in November 1949, beginning with Auckland-Sydney and then
Wellington-Sydney in 1950. The RNZAF Sunderland services to Fiji were also
taken over by TEAL, as well as services to the Chatham Islands. In
December 1951 the Coral route was established - this was primarily a mail
service, but provided one of the last 'luxury' tourist routes. The journey
harked back to the 1930's with the twin deck flying boat carrying a
relatively small number of passengers. Initially a monthly service, the
journeys were made fortnightly in 1952, and the route extended to include
Samoa. The route and typical flying times were: Auckland - (7.30hrs) -
Fiji - (3.45hrs) - Samoa - (5.00hrs) - Cook Islands - ( 4.05hrs) - Tahiti.
In
March 1954 three DC-6's were transferred to TEAL after the winding up of
British Commonwealth Pacific Airways. This sounded the finale for the
trans-Tasman flying boat services as the Solents were replaced on the
Tasman and Fiji routes. One Solent IV, ZK-AMO was retained for the Coral
route and the Solent III ZK_AMQ provided a reserve. The final flight from
Fiji occurred on September 15th, 1960. After due ceremony, the aircraft
departed from the flying boat base at Lauthala Bay carrying somewhat
modified markings to return to Mechanics Bay in Auckland. From there it
was towed to Hobsonville for storage before being beached for display at
MOTAT.
The other TEAL Solent IVs were ZK-AML 'Aoteoroa
II' (c/n SH-1556), ZK-AMM 'Ararangi' (c/n SH-1557), and ZK-AMN 'Awatere'
(c/n SH-1558). The sole Solent III was ZK-AMQ 'Aparima (c/n S-1296) which
was originally G-AKNR 'City of Belfast' with BOAC. AMQ was scrapped at
Auckland in 1957 after making its last flight in October 1956. AMM was
broken up for spares after being damaged in a fire during maintainance in
May 1954. AML and AMN were sold to Aquila Airways - an English company
formed to provide air support during the Berlin Airlift in 1948 which went
on to fly from Southampton to various Mediterranean destinations.
Unfortunately the company failed in 1958 and the flying boats were left to
become derelict on a beach in the Tagus Estuary near Lisbon, Portugal.
They were eventually scrapped in August 1971.
The aircraft illustrated below, ZK-AMO 'Aranui'
(c/n SH-1559) is the world's sole surviving Solent IV. (although there are
also several Solent III's in existence). Built by Short Bros & Harland of
Belfast, the aircraft was delivered in November 1949. As noted above,
after entering service in December 1949 Aranui remained in operation until
1960, flying the 'coral' route. This is the last purpose built large
commercial flying boat, and as such has an important place in aviation
history.
