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The Short SB.6 Seamew was a British aircraft designed in 1951 by David Keith-Lucas of Shorts as a lightweight anti-submarine platform to replace the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA)'s Grumman Avenger AS 4 with the Reserve branch of the service. It first flew on 23 August 1953, but, due to poor performance coupled with shifting defence doctrine, it never reached service and only 24 production aircraft had flown before the project was cancelled. It has been described as a "camel amongst race-horses".〔Winchester 2005, p. 46.〕 ==Design and development== The Short Seamew was selected to fulfill Admiralty Specification M.123D for a simple, lightweight anti-submarine aircraft capable of unassisted operation from any of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers in all but the worst of conditions, in particular escort carriers which the UK still had in considerable numbers from World War Two.〔("For Escort Carriers." ) ''Flight'', 18 December 1953, p. 814.〕 Although specifically designed for naval operations, the Seamew was also intended for land-based use by the RAF.〔Flintham, Vic. ("Short Seamew". ) ''Cancelled Types'', 2007. Retrieved: 12 August 2008.〕 It was to be suitable for mass production and operation by the Air Branch of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). This specification was in response to the alarming increase in capabilities of the Soviet submarine forces following the Second World War. Three prototypes were ordered in April 1952 and the first flight (''XA209''), piloted by test pilot Sqn. Ldr. Walter J. "Wally" Runciman,〔Sqdn.Ldr. W.J. Runciman, A.F.C, D.F.M〕 took place on 23 August 1953. This same aircraft, also piloted by Runciman, took part in the 1953 Farnborough Airshow three weeks later. In 1954 both ''XA209'' and the second prototype ''XA213'' took part at Farnborough, where the following year both prototypes and two production AS Mk 1 models (''XE171'' and ''XE172'') gave a formation display.〔Barnes and James 1989, pp. 450–453.〕 The fourth Seamew prototype (''XE175'') was flown by Runciman for a series of sales tours in 1956 to Italy (March), Yugoslavia (April) and West Germany (May). It was this same aircraft in which Runciman was killed when it crashed during the Sydenham (Belfast) Air Display on 9 June 1956. Rumours that the crash had been caused by a material failure were current at the time but the accident investigation board did not confirm them. The MR Mark 2 for use by Coastal Command was similar in every respect to the AS Mk 1 except that it was optimised for land-based use from hastily prepared airstrips. Naval equipment was deleted although manual wing folding was retained. Slightly heavier than the naval version, the MR Mk 2 had oversize low pressure tyres and could carry a higher weapons load. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Short Seamew」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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