Commemoration of the 1938 flight of Captain Bennett from the Tay Estuary to South West Africa
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Commemoration of the 1938 flight of Captain Bennett from the Tay Estuary to South West Africa by Russel Wills as part of the Geograph project.
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Commemoration of the 1938 flight of Captain Bennett from the Tay Estuary to South West Africa
Image: © Russel Wills Taken: 13 Jun 2021
The world record long distance flight by a seaplane was achieved by the aircraft 'Mercury' the upper component of the Short Mayo Composite that took off from the Tay Estuary at Dundee on 6th October 1938. The seaplane was positioned on top of the Maia flying boat for assisted take-off enabling her to carry a greater fuel load. The planes separated in the skies north of Dundee and Mercury flew 6,041 miles to Alexander Bay, South West Africa. The two experiment planes 'Mercury' and 'Maia' were built by Short Brothers Ltd. for Imperial Airways and designed to carry mail long distances without refuelling.
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Image Location
Latitude
56.456023
Longitude
-2.969278