Supermarine S.6
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The Supermarine S.6 (later designated the S.6A) is a 1920s British single-engined single-seat racing
seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...
built by
Supermarine Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer. It is most famous for producing the Spitfire fighter plane during World War II. The company built a range of seaplanes and flying boats, winning the Schneider Trophy for seaplanes with three cons ...
and designed by its chief designer, R.J. Mitchell, who refined the earlier Supermarine S.5 to produce a larger, more powerful aircraft. Two aircraft, ''N247'' and ''N248'', were built to participate in the 1929
Schneider Trophy The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded first annually, and later biennially, to the winner of a race for seaplanes and ...
contest.
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
produced the R engine for the new all-metal aircraft. The engine's initial issues—such as the short
time between overhauls Time between overhauls (abbreviated as TBO or TBOH) is the manufacturer's recommended number of running hours or calendar time before an aircraft engine or other component requires overhaul. On rotorcraft, many components have recommended or ma ...
and the heat generated when the
engine power Engine power is the power that an engine can develop. It can be expressed in power units, most commonly kilowatt, metric horsepower (often abbreviated PS), or horsepower. In terms of internal combustion engines, the engine power usually describ ...
was increased to —were resolved within a few months before the aircraft were completed at Supermarine’s works at
Woolston, Southampton Woolston is a suburb of Southampton, located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen. It is bounded by the River Itchen, Sholing, Peartree Green, Itchen and Weston. The area has a strong maritime and aviation history. The former hamlet gr ...
. The day before the 1929 race, one of ''N247''s
piston A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder (engine), cylinder a ...
s was discovered to be faulty; the piston was replaced during the night. The race on the following day was won by the British team, with ''N247'' coming first at a speed of , whilst ''N248'' set World closed-circuit records for . For the 1931 race, the S.6 was redesigned as the Supermarine S.6B, to take a more powerful version of the R engine. The two existing S.6s were brought up to a similar standard as the S.6Bs, but ''N247'' was destroyed prior to the contest during a fatal accident. The S.Bs were retired after the 1931 contest. The surviving S.6A is on display at the
Solent Sky Solent Sky (previously known as the Southampton Hall of Aviation) is an aviation museum in Southampton, England. The museum depicts the history of aviation in Southampton, the Solent area and Hampshire. There is a focus on Supermarine, the air ...
museum in
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
.


Design and development

Following the success of the Supermarine S.5 in the 1927
Schneider Trophy The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded first annually, and later biennially, to the winner of a race for seaplanes and ...
contest. Supermarine's chief designer R.J. Mitchell designed its successor, the Supermarine S.6, to Specification 8/28. Refining the design of the earlier S.5, Mitchell designed a larger all-metal aircraft. The metal-framed wings of the S.6 were designed to be made using aluminium, so as to assist in reducing the overall weight of the aircraft. To achieve the required
lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...
, the wings were made to be longer than those of the lighter S.5. The aircraft industry during the First World War had used up nearly all the world supply of seasoned
spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...
, a requirement for wooden aeroplanes at that time, and so the ability to produce metal-built aircraft for any future conflict was deemed by the British government to be essential. An innovation by Mitchell was the use of
duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age hardening, age-hardenable aluminium–copper alloys. The term is a combination of ''Düren'' and ''aluminium'' ...
radiators on the surface of the wings. Made both to withstand forces that tended to cause the wings to twist, and to minimise air resistance, they were made of two thicknesses of metal that allowed water to pass between them.


Rolls-Royce R engine

As the
Napier Lion The Napier Lion is a 12-cylinder, petrol-fueled 'broad arrow' W12 engine, W12 configuration aircraft engine built by D. Napier & Son from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept ...
VIIB engine was judged by
Supermarine Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer. It is most famous for producing the Spitfire fighter plane during World War II. The company built a range of seaplanes and flying boats, winning the Schneider Trophy for seaplanes with three cons ...
to be incapable of further development, in February 1929, the British Government signalled to
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
that they could proceed with producing the R engine for Supermarine. The engine, an adaptation of the Rolls-Royce Buzzard, was designed and manufactured by 4 May, but this machine was found to overheat after 15 minutes. By the middle of July, many of the engine's initial problems had been resolved, but the valves were still causing problems. The
time between overhauls Time between overhauls (abbreviated as TBO or TBOH) is the manufacturer's recommended number of running hours or calendar time before an aircraft engine or other component requires overhaul. On rotorcraft, many components have recommended or ma ...
was able to be lengthened to five hours when the fuel was diluted, and the
engine power Engine power is the power that an engine can develop. It can be expressed in power units, most commonly kilowatt, metric horsepower (often abbreviated PS), or horsepower. In terms of internal combustion engines, the engine power usually describ ...
was able to be increased to at a
frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...
of 3,000 
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. The engine needed of petrol to complete a race, as it consumed fuel at a rate of . By July 1928, Mitchell had been given drawings of the engine from Rolls-Royce, which he used to work on improving the aerodynamic qualities of the aircraft. To help alleviate problems of
engine cooling Internal combustion engine cooling uses either air or liquid to remove the waste heat from an internal combustion engine. For small or special purpose engines, cooling using air from the atmosphere makes for a lightweight and relatively simple syst ...
caused by the high rate of heat generation, the S.6 had surface radiators built into the floats as well as on the wings. Additional cooling was provided by means of air flowing through the internal structure of the wings. The new engine weighed , a weight that meant that it had to be better supported by moving the float
strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. A stay is sometimes used as a synonym for ...
s forward by a slight amount. The increase in fuel consumption meant that both floats had to incorporate steel fuel tanks. In February 1929, Supermarine was authorised to build two machines for the 1929 contest. The aircraft (with designated
serial numbers A serial number (SN) is a unique identifier used to ''uniquely'' identify an item, and is usually assigned incrementally or sequentially. Despite being called serial "numbers", they do not need to be strictly numerical and may contain letter ...
''N247'' and ''N248'') were built together at their works at
Woolston, Southampton Woolston is a suburb of Southampton, located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen. It is bounded by the River Itchen, Sholing, Peartree Green, Itchen and Weston. The area has a strong maritime and aviation history. The former hamlet gr ...
.


Operational history

The two S.6s were delivered to
Calshot Calshot is a coastal village in Hampshire, England, at the west corner of Southampton Water where it joins the Solent.OS Explorer Map, New Forest, Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey B4 edition (2013). History In 1539, Henry VIII ord ...
in August 1929 for operation by the RAF High Speed Flight. ''N247'' first flew on 10 August, and ''N248'' a fortnight later. Soon after ''N247'' arrived at Calshot, it was found that one of the floats was so low in the water on take-off that it made the aircraft rotate on the surface. Ripples were sufficient to enable ''N247'' to become airborne. An issue with overheating was sorted by installing extra radiators. When a British entrant, a Gloster VI was forced by engine trouble to be withdrawn, the only two British entrants that remained were the S.6s, and so the S.5 (N219) was prepared for the contest. During a final check of ''N247'', a speck of metal was discovered on a
spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...
, which revealed a faulty
piston A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder (engine), cylinder a ...
. It was forbidden for the entire engine to be replaced once it was installed, but components could be changed prior to the race. The
engine block In an internal combustion engine, the engine block is the structure that contains the cylinders and other components. The engine block in an early automotive engine consisted of just the cylinder block, to which a separate crankcase was attach ...
was changed during the night—by specialist Rolls-Royce engineers from a party who happened to have come down to Southampton from Derby to watch the race—so that the engine was running smoothly by the start of the next day. The 1929 Schneider Trophy race took place off the English coast north of the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
, under ideal weather conditions, and with at least a million people assembled along the beaches to witness the event. ''N247'', piloted by
Flying Officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...
H.R.D. Waghorn, came first at a speed of . ''N248'' was disqualified when it turned inside one of the marker poles, but nonetheless, set World closed-circuit records for during its run. Following the victory, the British Prime Minister
Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...
publicly pledged official support for the 1931 contest, a decision that was later reversed by the government. For the 1931 Schneider Trophy race, also to be held at Calshot, the S.6 was adapted to take a more powerful version of the R engine. Two new aircraft, designated the Supermarine S.6B, were built. The two existing S.6s, now designated as S.6As, were provided with new floats, additional cooling areas and statically-balanced control surfaces. All four aircraft were brought up to a similar standard. During the initial flight of the improved ''N247'' on 2 June, the pilot experience dangerous levels of tail flutter (a form of
resonance Resonance is a phenomenon that occurs when an object or system is subjected to an external force or vibration whose frequency matches a resonant frequency (or resonance frequency) of the system, defined as a frequency that generates a maximu ...
), which was only alleviated when masses were fixed to the rudder. The British plan for the 1931 contest was to fly one of the S.6Bs, ''S1595'', around the course alone, with ''N248'' in reserve. If both ''S1595'' and ''N248'' failed in their attempts, ''N247'' would be used. However, ''N247'', flown by Navy Lieutenant G.N. Brinton, was destroyed in a fatal takeoff accident during a pre-contest training exercise. ''N248'' remained as part of the team but did not fly in the race. ''S1595'' went on to win a race in which only British aircraft participated.


Aircraft on display

''N248'' was used in the 1942 British
biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...
about Mitchell, ''
The First of the Few ''The First of the Few'' (US title ''Spitfire'') is a 1942 British black-and-white biographical film produced and directed by Leslie Howard (actor), Leslie Howard, who stars as R. J. Mitchell, the designer of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter air ...
''. Until the 1960s, the aircraft was displayed incorrectly as S.6B ''S1596'' as a visitor attraction in a building adjacent to the Royal Pier, Southampton. The S.6A was restored from 1983 onwards, and repainted in its original 1931 scheme. It can be seen on display at the
Solent Sky Solent Sky (previously known as the Southampton Hall of Aviation) is an aviation museum in Southampton, England. The museum depicts the history of aviation in Southampton, the Solent area and Hampshire. There is a focus on Supermarine, the air ...
museum in
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
.


Operators

; *
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
** High Speed Flight


Specifications (N247)


See also


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * *


Further reading

*


External links

* Silent news reels (
Transport – Aviation: Supermarine Schneider Cup Plane (1929)
';
To Keep That Schneider Cup (1929)
'
357+ Miles an Hour (aka 357.7 Miles per Hour) (1929)
from
British Pathe British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

Article
from ''
Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...
'' about the S.6 and the 1929 Schneider Cup contest, based on
December 1929 edition of the magazine
{{Supermarine aircraft Schneider Trophy 1920s British sport aircraft Floatplanes S.6 Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1929 Single-engined piston aircraft