Caption: While visually similar to the Macchi MC72 (the speed record holder), the Seablade would have fewer bracing struts and a clean carbon fibre surface
Reclaiming a ninety-year-old speed record for a piston-powered seaplane is the aim of the team behind the Seablade project, a Community Interest Company (CIC) that was set up by a group ‘inspired by the UK’s great aviation heritage’.
The last British aircraft to hold the speed record was RJ Mitchell’s iconic Supermarine S6B in 1931. However, it is the 1934 record set by the Italian Macchi MC72 that the Seablade team now hopes to honour – and surpass – by reaching the 500mph mark.
A high-level concept design has already been completed by Professor Andrew Rae of the University of the Highlands and Islands, who is to serve as Director of Design and Engineering. The company’s founding Director Peter Thomson described the project as being of “near national importance when considering the history, culture and heritage of the halcyon days of Schneider Trophy racing and the Spitfire’s subsequent development”. Fittingly, the project was launched this year at the Imperial War Museum Duxford during the 85th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Britain.
As with the S6B, power will come from a Rolls-Royce engine – in this case, a fully restored Griffon 87, driving contra-rotating propellers. A STEM education programme will accompany the initiative in order to encourage uptake, inclusion and promotion of tech skills across the UK, notably by bringing together academia, the military, and civil organisations across the aerospace sector.
While the shape of the Seablade is similar to the Macchi MC72, it will have some key advantages over the Italian design. Thomson explained: “The power plant might be one advantage. In addition, there would be fewer bracing struts and wires, and of course clean carbon-fibre surfaces.”
Further details are available at www.seablade.co.uk
PHOTO: Seablade
