Aeroplane Magazine Sunderland Special Issue

THE ARRIVAL of the Short Sunderland in RAF service
in 1938 raised the bar considerably with regard to
flying-boat design, compared to what airmen had
previously experienced. Gone were the draughty,
cluttered cockpits, cramped fuselages and mediocre
performance associated with average inter-war fl ying
boat. The Sunderland brought a host of improvements
which remained, only marginally altered, for the aircraft’s
21 years of RAF service. Those crews still operating the
Saro London and Supermarine Stranraer must have
looked on in envy as the Sunderland crews enjoyed a
‘bridge’, a galley, a dining room and even a sleeping area,
thanks to the flying boat’s cavernous hull.
Coastal Command would operate almost 50 diff erent
types during the Second World War but only the
Sunderland would continually serve on the front-line
from the first day to the last. This, and the fact that the
flying-boat remained in RAF service until 1958, and
almost a decade beyond – with the RNZAF – is testimony
to the aircraft’s forward thinking design.
The Sunderland was by far the best flying-boat the
RAF had ever received and, sadly, was also the last. It
reluctantly gave way to another RAF stalwart, the Avro
Shackleton, when military policy dictated that maritime
operations could be more efficiently carried out by
land-based aircraft. The last three remaining Sunderlands
were withdrawn from service in 1960, with ML824
making a nostalgic final flight to Pembroke Dock in 1961.
The Sunderland holds a very special place in virtually
every aviation enthusiast heart, and even more so to the
thousands of aircrew who experienced serving on one of
the RAF’s ‘Queen of Boats’. It was a unique experience;
the combination of water, aircraft and large tight knit
crew working together for hours on end.