Inside The Cockpit - Short Sunderland

Comments · 805

• NI

  @nicktaylor2820 · 3 years ago (edited)

  My old boy undertook 3 tours of operations between 1939 and 1945.  Towards the end of the war he transitioned to Coastal Command on Sunderlands as a WOpAG.  He then went on to fly as an AOE/Instructor on Shacks and then Nimrods and retired in 1975 having joined up in 1937.  He received the DFC, MID *2, KCVS (Air) *2 and was awarded LDeH before he died at the age of 97.  He loved the Sunderland.

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• KA

  @kayak2hell · 3 years ago (edited)

  I showed this video to my grandmother's cousin whose older brother, Frank, flew RCAF Sunderlands through the Donegal Gap on 12+ hour anti-submarine patrols over the North Atlantic until KIA in Oct 1943,  This walkaround  brought tears of joy to a 94 year old man who still mourns and misses his brother. Sincere thanks!

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• RO

  @robg5958 · 3 years ago

  Hi. Ex Short Brothers engineering apprentice here. Gouge flaps were designed by Arthur Gouge, Short Brothers Chief Designer. Hence the name. I don't know of any other aircraft using Gouge flaps; the design may have been copyrighted. Great video!

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• RI

  @rickbarker6699 · 3 years ago

  Thanks to you and the RAF museum for the terrific tour.

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• MA

  @matthewrikihana6818 · 3 years ago

  Probably the first WW2 Era flight deck I got to sit in at eight years old. That was 1979 and I've loved the Sunderland ever since. In the decades since, New Zealand's Museum of Engineering and Technology has restricted internal public access so I'm lucky to have my childhood photos.

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• PR

  @priceyA320 · 3 years ago

  If you like large flying boats and happen to find yourself in Auckland, New Zealand, you can see TWO of them side by side at the MOTAT aviation park. A Sunderland and a Short Solent MK4. They are both beautifully restored and sitting side by side. Well worth a look.

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• 64

  @648Roland · 2 years ago

  My father was part of coastal command stationed at Pembroke Dock, my birthplace and was the radio operator on a Sunderland, named BOY. Know he was involved in the supplying the British Artic Expedition. Landing was the most dangerous especially on choppy water.

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• ST

  @stuartmoles7138 · 3 years ago

  As an ATC cadet I was visting RAF Pembroke Dock in 1952 and was fortunte to fly in a Sunderland for about 4 hours when we flew around Southampton. I then went on the join the RAF for 5 years and  spent following 40 years in the Aviation industry, flew on many old aircraft such as the Anson, Tiger Moth and Lincoln bomber. But I never once  experianced the excitment of that Sunderland trip and it will always remain one of my favourite Aircraft, apparently named a flying Porcupine by the German airforce.

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• FI

  @Fizzoid · 3 years ago

  Absolutely love the Sunderland. For many of her crews, they were their home

  96

• GR

  @GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles · 3 years ago (edited)

  I'm watching this later, but posting now for the algorithm. I'm also curious to see how well this video does in terms of views. Do people want sea plane stuff? I know I want to watch it.

  46

• GA

  @GaldirEonai · 3 years ago

  One of my childhood dreams was living in one of these things. Just hopping around between oceans and lakes as a flying yacht...

  14

• DO

  @dodgem259 · 3 years ago

  All the Short Sunderland's that were built at Shorts in Rochester Kent my grandfather was responsible for building and installing the cockpit sections. He was team lead/senior engineer/manager of a group of men that built and installed the the cockpit section, all the instrument panelling, the wiring etc etc. Funny thing is though he would never talk about his time working on the planes but then again I was just a very very young boy. The company changed to Marconi Avionics and I do remember when on school holiday visiting my grandparents, my father and me driving out there to pick up my grandfather from work. It was a massive place, the car park was huge :)

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