Sunderland Flying Boat RAF 1/72 Scale Mahogany Model

Introducing the ready-built FBSF8TE Desktop Model. This 1/72 scale model was handmade with precision and accuracy to produce the finest model that will be the centerpiece of your collection for years to come. This model is a perfect gift for pilots and aviation enthusiasts alike. Not too big or too small, this model features a wingspan of 13.75 inches and a length of 18.88 inches. This model features a very accurate paint scheme with realistic panel lines.

The Short S.25 Sunderland was a British flying boat patrol bomber developed for the Royal Air Force by Short Brothers, first flown on 16 October 1937 by Shorts' Chief Test Pilot, John Lankester Parker. Based in part upon the S.23 Empire flying boat, the flagship of Imperial Airways, the S.25 was extensively re-engineered for military service. It was one of the most powerful and widely used flying boats throughout the Second World War, and was involved in countering the threat posed by German U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic. It took its name from the town of Sunderland in northeast England.

The early 1930s saw intense competition in developing long-range flying boats for intercontinental passenger service. The United Kingdom had no match for the new American Sikorsky S-42 flying boats, which were making headlines all over the world. The powers-that-be in Britain felt that something should be done.

In 1934, the British Postmaster General declared that all first-class Royal Mail sent overseas was to travel by air, effectively establishing a subsidy for the development of intercontinental air transportation in a fashion similar to the U.S. domestic program a decade earlier. In response, Imperial Airways announced a competition between aircraft manufacturers to design and produce 28 flying boats, each weighing 18 tons (18.2 tonnes) and having a range of 700 miles (1,130 km) with capacity for 24 passengers.

The contract went almost directly to Short Brothers of Rochester, England. Although Short had long built flying boats for the military and for Imperial Airways, none of them was in the class of size and sophistication requested, but the business opportunity was too great to pass up. Oswald Short, head of the company, began a fast-track program to come up with a design for a flying boat far beyond anything they had ever built.

While the first S.23 was under development, the British Air Ministry was taking actions that would result in a purely military version of the big Shorts flying boats. The 1933 Air Ministry requirement "R.2/33" called for a next-generation flying boat for ocean reconnaissance, in which the new aircraft had to have four engines but could be either a monoplane or biplane design.

The R.2/33 specification was released roughly in parallel with the Imperial Airways requirement, and while Shorts continued to develop the S.23, they also worked on a response to the Air Ministry's need at a lower priority. The military flying boat variant was designated S.25 and the design was submitted to the Air Ministry in 1934.

Chief Designer Arthur Gouge originally intended that a 37 mm gun be mounted in the bow with a single Lewis gun in the tail. As with the S.23, he tried to make the drag as low as possible. The nose was much longer than that of the S.23.

Saunders-Roe also designed a flying boat, designated the "A.33", in response to the R.2/33 competition, and prototypes of both the S.25 and A.33 were ordered by the Ministry for evaluation.