Short Brothers: Valetta
Note: This is a sub-section of Short Brothers.
Type
- Three Engined Valetta Monoplane Seaplane
Manufacturers
Number produced
- 1 (G-AAJY).
Engines
- 3 x Bristol Engine Co: Jupiter 525 hp (392 kW) each.
Designed and built for the Air Ministry to enable comparisons between a floatplane/landplane and a flying boat. The Valetta was a monoplane powered by three Bristol Jupiter XIF engines and first flown on 21 May 1930 as a floatplane. It had room for two crew and 16 passengers.
In July 1931 it left Rochester on an African survey flight flown by Sir Alan Cobham, it returned to Rochester in September 1931 after flying 12,300 miles. The aircraft last flew as a floatplane in November 1931 and was converted to a landplane. It then underwent trials with Imperial Airways and the Air Ministry before being withdrawn from use and used by the Royal Air Force as an instructional aircraft at RAF Halton.