Saunders Roe SR.45 by Arsenal Model Group

1/350 scale
Kit No. 350-302
Price: $22.95
Decals: One version – BOAC livery
Comments: Engraved panel lines; photo-etch propellers; optional position wingtip floats; includes display stand

History

The Saunders-Roe SR.45 Princess was a multi-turboprop British flying boat developed and built by Saunders-Roe at their Cowes facility on the Isle of Wight. First taking flight on August 22, 1952, it was designed to serve as a larger and more luxurious successor to the pre-war commercial flying boats, such as the Short S.23 Empire. Saunders-Roe intended for it to serve the transatlantic route, carrying up to 100 passengers between Southampton in the United Kingdom and New York City in spacious and comfortable conditions. It has the distinction of being the largest all-metal flying boat ever built.

Before the Second World War, British airline Imperial Airways had successfully used large, passenger-carrying long-range flying boats like the Short Empire and Short S.26 to build up a network of long distance routes. These flying boats had not only pioneered new aerial routes across the British Empire which had previously not been served at all, but offered passengers air travel with an unprecedented level of comfort, including luxurious first class accommodations, features such as promenades, fully equipped galleys, separate bathrooms for men and women, and individual cabins for passengers, many with sleeping berths. However, commercial flying boat operations had been disrupted by the war, and in 1940, Imperial Airways merged with British Airways Ltd to form British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). While restricted operations of commercial flying boats did continue, such as the use of the American Boeing 314 for the transatlantic route, most of these planes were requisitioned for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) where they were typically pressed into service as maritime patrol aircraft.

During the pre-war era, flying boats were the preferred mode of travel for long distance flights since, unlike their land-based counterparts, they were not limited by available runway length (most runways were still grass-surfaced in the 1930’s) and as a long range airplane would be required to carry a large load of fuel, a larger size of aircraft could be permitted without the need to factor in challenges like limited runway length and small airfield sizes. In addition, for service to far-flung parts of the British Empire, the ability to land and take-off from any available body of water was a distinct advantage, for many destinations were remote and lacked proper airport facilities. With the end of World War II, flying boat services resumed for a time with newer types such as the Short Hythe, Short Sandringham, and Short Solentbeing. However, the war had also produced a legacy of large runways and sizable airports formerly used for military purposes that could now meet the needs of a larger generation of civilian land-based aircraft. The truth is that by 1947, the days of the flying boat were numbered, at least for commercial passenger service.

AMG provides photo-etch propellers for each of the SR. 45’s ten turboprop engines.

But in 1945, when the British Ministry of Supply approached Saunders-Roe and other companies seeking design submissions for a new, long range civilian flying boat, this reality had yet to sink in. The MOS wanted a newly designed flying boat that would operate in BOAC’s post-war fleet, providing transatlantic passenger service. Saunders-Roe submitted a bid based upon an earlier intriguing but never completed collaboration it had entered into with Short for an innovative flying boat, a project dating back to 1943. Work began on the new project immediately; following evaluations of several different propulsion methods and configurations, the design team selected the then in-development Bristol Proteus – one of the first turboprop engines – in a ten-engine configuration to meet the enormous power requirements of the proposed giant flying boat. In May 1946, Saunders-Roe’s bid was selected as the winner, and the company received an order for the production of three SR.45 flying boats.

Despite the fact that it never entered service, author John Stroud selected the SR.45 to adorn the cover of his book on famous airliners. As it would have entered service about 1953, the attire of the passengers is a bit out-of date….

From early on, delays and cost over-runs plagued the project, triggering skepticism of the flying boat’s viability within the House of Commons, which had come to regard the BOAC project as both a high-risk venture and, as time went on, an increasingly questionable investment. But it was not inefficiency on the part of Saunders-Roe; the designing and testing of the new airframe, as well as the independently-conducted development of the still unproven Proteus engine to power the SR.45 — which was itself subject to frustrating delays — had been major contributors to the higher-than-expected costs.

Meanwhile, throughout the late 1940’s the economic realities of operating any flying boat service, which would compete with the long range, land-based propeller driven aircraft developed during and immediately after the war, were beginning to dawn on aircraft companies on both sides of the Atlantic. In the U.S., the Boeing 314, the zenith of flying boat development as of 1939, enjoyed a revival in its civilian passenger service after the war, but it was short-lived, with Pan Am shutting down the service by the end of 1946. Modern airliners such as the American DC-4, DC-6 and Lockheed Constellation suffered from no shortage of lengthy concrete runways to accommodate them on a trans-Atlantic crossing in either direction. The post-war availability and affordability of the DC-4 and Constellation in particular were another driving factor. All that was challenge enough; but the maiden flights in 1949 of new, jet-powered airliners such as the Bristol Brabazon and deHavilland Comet, offering even greater speed and comfort, were sufficient to torpedo the fading hopes of even the most ardent flying boat proponents.

From the viewpoint of the aircrews who operated the flying boats, the primary issue was safety. The newer land-based planes were relatively easy to fly, and did not require the extensive pilot training programs mandated for seaplane operations. One of the Boeing 314’s most experienced pilots said, “We were indeed glad to change to DC-4s, and I argued daily for eliminating all flying boats. The landplanes were much safer. No one in the operations department… had any idea of the hazards of flying boat operations. The main problem…was lack of the very high level of experience and competence required of seaplane pilots.”

In 1951, as the SR. 45 prototype neared completion, BOAC performed an in-depth re-evaluation of its requirements, and determined that the airline presently had no need for the Princess, or any new large flying boat. BOAC had already elected to terminate its existing flying boat services during 1950. In late 1951, it was announced that construction of the three Princesses would proceed with the intention of using them as transport aircraft in RAF service, but this never materialized.

The three prototypes were put into storage and ultimately sold in 1964 to Eoin Mekie on behalf of Aero Spacelines. Mr. Mekie planned to use them as heavy-duty freight aircraft for transporting Saturn V rocket components for NASA in support of the American space program. But when the cocooning was removed, the SR.45’s were in a badly corroded state (the contract for maintenance and inspection of the stored aircraft had been allowed to lapse, which resulted in the airframes deteriorating rapidly), and all three Princesses were broken up by 1967. With that, a beautiful aircraft harking back to the Golden Age of Aviation, with all its romance and elegance, met a sad end similar to that of all flying boats. These were the last fixed-wing commercial aircraft produced by Saunders-Roe.

The SR.45 was a majestic sight in flight, a shining emblem of a bygone era. For all its beauty, it would never join the ranks of the world’s airliners.

The Kit

AMG’s Saunders Roe SR. 45 Princess comes in a rather lightweight box and consists of 32 parts of injection molded grey plastic on two sprues, plus 12 photo-etch parts for the propellers, wing and antenna details. The engraved panel lines are a welcome refinement, particularly in a kit this small — the fuselage is just under 13mm long, and the wingspan comes in at 18mm. The fuselage is made up of three parts, two halves plus a third part for the starboard side of the vertical tail. The wing assembly features engine nacelles that are integrally molded into the leading edge of the wing, and includes two photo-etch parts for the wing tips, individually mounted exhaust pipes for the engines, and separately mounted trailing edge flaps — an impressive bit of detail for this scale.

Given that the kit is 1/350 scale, not surprisingly no attempt is made to represent any part of the cockpit or cabin interior. There are separately mounted spinners for each airscrew, and the kit faithfully recreates the propeller arrangement, with a single propeller on each of the two outboard engines, and two propellers for each of the four inboard engines — the SR.45 had two turboprop engines each in its four inboard engine nacelles, with counter-rotating propellers, and a single engine and propeller in the outboard engines. Modelers have the option of depicting the wingtip floats in either the deployed or in-flight position. Despite the diminutive scale of the kit, it does feature small but definite locator pins, a bit of a pleasant surprise as this is likely a short run if high quality mold.

Markings

Decals are provided for the first SR.45 prototype, serial G-ALUN, and include markings for the numerous cabin windows as well as the cockpit windscreen. The BOAC livery markings are fully in register, and feature gold and dark blue striping in realistic color with no bleeding, as well as Union Jack markings that are again, fully in register — noteworthy because that particular flag is one that manufacturers often botch in terms of proper alignment. Not so with AMG.

Conclusion

This is an interesting little weekend kit that harks back to a forgotten era of aviation history — and an ill-fated attempt to revive it in the years following World War II. Highly recommended.

References

• aviastar.org
• wikipedia.org