Short Sunderland

Flight Journal, Aug 1999 by Davisson, Budd

The most endangered of all marine birds is the flying boat. All seagoing airplanes are rare, but those that are pure flying boats and are totally dependent on water to land are represented by only a handful of flying machines. In the case of the Short Sunderland, the sole remaining airworthy example is owned by aircraft collector Kermit Weeks and is based at his Fantasy of Flight Museum just west of Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

The Sunderland evolved from the civilian Empire flying boat just as WW II began when the Royal Navy put out a design specification for a long-range, maritime reconnaissance and patrol aircraft. The different versions of the massive Sunderland (112-foot wingspan, 58,000 pounds) were fitted with a variety of armaments, including four-gun power turrets in the nose and tail.

Weeks' aircraft, a 1944 Mk III updated to a Mk V, with its original Pegasus engines changed to 1,200hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830s, served briefly with the RAF, was transferred to the RCAF and ended the War wearing Norwegian colors. The New Zealand Air Force bought the airplane shortly after the War.

As early as 1943, Short refitted a number of Sunderlands and turned them over to BOAC. Directly after the War, however, Short set up a production line to convert wartime aircraft to passenger configuration and certify them for airline use. Those aircraft carried the new name of "Sandringham." Weeks' Sunderland, however, was purchased by an Australian airline that made its own passenger conversion, never obtaining official certification for it. This lack of certification later prevented Charley Blair, the legendary owner of Antilles Airboats in the Caribbean, from using the airplane after purchasing it from the Australians.

The airplane migrated through a number of hands before coming to rest not far from its first home in Britain. There, were it not for a dedicated group of enthusiasts, the Sunderland would have deteriorated beyond repair before Weeks could purchase it in 1993 and move it to the U.S. The airplane now "holds court" as the still airworthy crown jewel of an impressive collection of equally rare aircraft. Another marine species has been saved for the ages.