BMANC to Imperial Airways
In-flight refuelling
Carrying sufficient fuel for non-stop flight was a problem when
long-distance flight was in its infancy in the 1930s. In the
spring of 1939 training began over Southampton Water with in-flight
refuelling of the flying boats using converted bombers. The
man who came up with the answer of how to refuel in flight was Sir
Alan Cobham; he founded a company called Flight Refuelling
Limited. This meant that for one month in August 1939 a weekly
service from Southampton to New York was begun, with the flying
boats relying on air-to-air refuelling from Handley Page Harrow
bombers converted to tankers, and stationed in Ireland and
Newfoundland. The service was stopped after only eight flights at
the outbreak of World War Two.
Imperial Airways had ordered three new S-26 G-Class flying
boats from Shorts but these last planes made for the company
were immediately transferred to the Royal Air Force and
fitted with guns. The war meant big changes for the flying
boats and Southampton.
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