Short S.11 Valetta
Short Brothers · United Kingdom · first flew 1930 · airliner
The Short S.11 Valetta was a 1930s British passenger monoplane designed and built by Short Brothers at Rochester.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 3 × piston, wing-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 21.47 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Three-engined high-wing monoplane
- Built to compare a floatplane or landplane with a flying boat
- Three Bristol Jupiter XIF engines
It is a three-engined monoplane. As a floatplane it ran on floats; the landplane version had a landing gear.
Specifications
- The Short S.11 Valetta has a length of 21.47 m (70 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 32.62 m (107 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 217 km/h (135 mph).
- Typical crew: 2.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
The Valetta was designed and built for the Air Ministry to enable comparisons between a floatplane or landplane and a flying boat. It was powered by three Bristol Jupiter XIF engines and first flew on 21 May 1930 as a floatplane.
Variants
It flew as a floatplane until November 1931 and was then converted to a landplane. Only one was built.
Where you'll see it
It had room for two crew and 16 passengers. In July 1931 it left Rochester on an African survey flight flown by Sir Alan Cobham, and returned in September 1931 after flying 12,300 miles. It later went through trials with Imperial Airways and the Air Ministry, and the RAF used it as an instructional aircraft at Halton.
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- Short S.8 Rangoon
- Short Gurnard
- Short S.17 Kent
- Short S.14 Sarafand
- DAR 4
- Dornier Do S
- Farman F.300
- Focke-Wulf A 32 Bussard
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