Short Admiralty Type 74
Short Brothers · United Kingdom · first flew 1914 · reconnaissance aircraft
The Short Admiralty Type 74 was a single-engined tractor biplane seaplane with non-folding wings, used by the Royal Naval Air Service in the First World War.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Two main floats under the fuselage and a single tail float |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Biplane seaplane with non-folding wings
- Two main floats under the fuselage and a single tail float
- Smaller floats under the lower wingtips
It has two rubber-sprung main floats and a tail float, with smaller floats under the lower wingtips. Ailerons are on the upper wing only, which extends beyond the lower wing.
Specifications
- The Short Admiralty Type 74 has a length of 11.89 m (39 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 17.37 m (57 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 105 km/h (65 mph).
- Typical crew: 2.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
The Royal Navy ordered seven of these 100 hp seaplanes from Shorts in 1913. The first flew on 4 January 1914, piloted by Gordon Bell, Shorts chief test pilot.
Variants
Seven were built, with Navy numbers 74 to 80, and the whole batch became known by the number of the first aircraft.
Where you'll see it
Four of the seven went to the air station at Dundee and three stayed at Grain. The Dundee aircraft took part in the 1914 Royal Fleet Review off Spithead.
Related aircraft
- Short Type 827
- Short Admiralty Type 81
- Short Bomber
- Short S.80
- Albatros B.II
- Aviatik B.I
- Avro 510
- Burgess-Dunne AH-7
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