Avis 72031 Short S.1 Cockle Limited Edition

The Short S.1 Cockle was a British sports flying boat from the interwar period. The prototype's flight took place in November 1924, but the machine never entered production. The drive was provided by two Bristol Cherub engines with 32 HP each. The machine was 7.52 meters long with a wingspan of 10.97 meters. The maximum speed did not exceed 120 km / h. The Short S.1 Cockle airplane was developed primarily to check whether it is possible to make flying boats and seaplane elements (especially floats) from metal, and more precisely from duralumin. The plane was commissioned by one of the company's Australian customers, and its entire fuselage was just made of duralumin, which was a huge novelty at that time. The machine, although it had moderately good flight properties and could hardly detach from the water surface, fully proved the possibility of using duralumin in aircraft structures operating in water reservoirs.