This poster - a magnificant print of an oil on canvas - depicts a three - quarter front view of a Supermarine Southampton Flying Boat ( R.A.F. ) taking off from Southampton Water. Caractéristiques Format 85 x 61,1 cm Auteur Lawrence Bagley Editeur SOLOMON & WHITEHEAD ( Guild Prints ) LTD. Année d’édition 1981 Description The Supermarine Southampton Flying Boat was designed by Reginald Joseph Mitchell ( 1895 - 1937 ), famed architect of the S.4 to S.6B Schneider Seaplane series lead to his brilliant Supermarine Spitfire. The flying boat is seen taking off from Southampton Water. In the background is Calshot Castle, built during the reign of Henry VIII. Design and development The Supermarine Southampton was a development of the Supermarine Swan, which was used for a ten - passenger service between England and France. Due to the success of the Swan, the Air Ministry ordered six Southamptons direct from the drawing board, which was unusual. As the Swan had acted in effect as a prototype, development time was short. The Southampton was a twin - engine biplane flying boat, with the tractor engines mounted between the wings. The Southampton Mark I had both its hull and its wings manufactured from wood. The Southampton Mark II had a hull with a single thickness of metal ( duralumin ). In 1929, 24 of the Mark I's were converted by having newly built metal hulls replacing the wooden ones. Some of the later aircraft were built with metal wings and were probably designated as Southampton Mk III. There were three positions for machine guns, one in the nose and two staggered in the rear fuselage. The first flight of a production aircraft was made on March 10th, 1925, and delivery to the R.A.F. started in mid - 1925. Operational history Southamptons first entered R.A.F. service in August 1925 with No. 480 ( Coastal Reconnaissance ) Flight at R.A.F. Calshot. In a series of ’ showing the flag ’ flights, the type quickly became famous for long - distance formation flights ; the most notable was a 43,500 km ( 27,000 miles ) expedition in 1927 and 1928. It was carried out by four Southamptons of the Far East Flight, setting out from Felixstowe ( Suffolk, England ) via the Mediterranean and India to Singapore. Further Southamptons were sold to a number of other countries. Eight new aircraft were sold to Argentina, with Turkey purchasing six aircraft and Australia buying two ex - R.A.F. Mk I aircraft. Japan also purchased a single aircraft which was later converted into an 18 - passenger cabin airliner. One R.A.F. aircraft was loaned to Imperial Airways, with British Civil Registration G - AASH, for three months from December 1929 to replace a crashed Short Calcutta on the airmail run between Genoa ( Italy ) and Alexandria ( Egypt ). In all, 83 Southamptons were constructed, excluding the three - engined Southampton Mark X which was a single prototype. ( source : Wikipedia )
