The BOAC Short 'C' Class flying boat G-AFBL Cooee, at Rod El Farag, Egypt, c. 1946
Role
Flying boat mail and passenger carrier
Type of aircraft
Manufacturer
Short Brothers
Designer
Arthur Gouge[1]
First flight
3 July 1936[1]
Introduction
Delivered 22 October 1936,[1] First revenue flight 6 February 1937
Retired
1946–47
Status
Retired
Primary users
Imperial Airways/BOAC Qantas Empire Airways Royal Australian Air Force Royal Air Force
Produced
1936–1940[1]
Number built
42[1]
Variants
Short Mayo Composite
The Short Empire was a medium-range four-engined monoplane flying boat, designed and developed by Short Brothers during the 1930s to meet the requirements of the growing commercial airline sector, with a particular emphasis upon its usefulness upon the core routes that served the United Kingdom. It was developed and manufactured in parallel with the Short Sunderland maritime patrol bomber, which went on to serve in the Second World War; a further derivative that was later developed was the piggy-back Short Mayo Composite.
The development of the Short Empire had been heavily influenced by its primary customer, Imperial Airways, which had originally developed the requirements to which it was initially ordered and designed. Imperial Airways, and its successor, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), along with Qantas and TEAL, operated the type in commercial service. Upon entering service, the Empire routinely flew between the British mainland and Australia and the various British colonies in Africa and Asia, typically carrying a combination of passenger and mail cargoes; Empires were also used on various other routes, such as between Bermuda and New York City.
The Empire also saw military service during the Second World War. The Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), and briefly the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) used the type to conduct various military operations, particularly as an airborne platform for anti-submarine patrols and for general transport duties.
^ abcdeCassidy, Brian (1996). Flying Empires Short 'C' class Empire flying boats. Bath, UK: Queens Parade Press. pp. 21, 54–55. ISBN 0-9529298-2-1.
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