Short Mayo Composite
Note: This is a sub-section of Short Brothers.
The Short Mayo Composite was a piggy-back long-range seaplane/flying boat combination produced by Short Brothers to provide a reliable long-range air transport service to the United States and the far reaches of the British Empire and the Commonwealth.
The Short-Mayo composite project, co-designed by Major Robert H. Mayo, and Shorts chief designer Arthur Gouge, comprised the Short S.21 Maia, (G-ADHK) which was a variant of the Short "C-Class" Empire flying-boat fitted with a trestle or pylon on the top of the fuselage to support the Short S.20 Mercury(G-ADHJ).[1]
1938 The first "heavier than air" commercial crossing of the North Atlantic took place using the Short-Mayo composite - Imperial Airways' Short S20 floatplane G-ADHJ was launched from the Short S21 flying boat G-ADHK near Foynes and flew non-stop to Montreal, a distance of 2,930 miles in 20 hours 20 minutes. The return flight was via the Azores and Lisbon.
See Also
Sources of Information