| S.81 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Gun-carrying Seaplane |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Short Brothers |
| First flight | 1914 |
| Introduction | 1914 |
| Retired | 1915 |
| Primary user | Royal Naval Air Service |
| Number built | 1 |
The Short S.81 was an experimental British gun-carrying pusher biplane seaplane, ordered from Short Brothers by the British Admiralty in 1913 for use by the Royal Naval Air Service.[1]
The seaplane, manufacturers serial number S.81, was built at Eastchurch and allocated the military serial number 126.[1] S.81 was delivered to Calshot on 25 May 1914 and accepted by the Navy on 2 June 1914.[1] It had three-bay wings with overhanging upper wings, and was powered by a 160 hp (119 kW) Gnome rotary engine.[2] It was first fitted with a 1½ pounder (37 mm) semi-automatic Vickers quick-firing gun in July 1914. Tests with this gun showed that recoil was severe, with claims that firing the gun would induce a stall.[3][4] It was fitted with a number of different guns for trials,[1] testing a six-pounder (57 mm) Davis gun (an early recoilless gun) in 1915.[5] In 1915 it had a dynamo and searchlight fitted. No longer needed for trials, it was deleted from the inventory in October 1915.[1]
