SARO SR.A1 Jet Flying Boat

Towards the latter half of 1944, the Royal Air Force placed an order for three Saunders-Roe SR.A/1 prototypes, sometimes known as “The Squirt.” They were principally created for the southern parts of the then British Empire in order to keep up with the ongoing fight with the Japanese in the theatre of the South Pacific and Orient. They were built at Cowes and their primary target was the south.

The only thing that was required for operations was for the coastal seas to be calm, which eliminated the need for land-based airbases. As a result, a fighter flying boat would prove to be a very effective weapon since its pilot would not need to worry as much about the underwater strip.

Geoffrey Tyson was the one who piloted the first prototype aircraft that took to the air on July 16, 1947. They suffered from strong performance and handling qualities, but had limited sight, and the original engine makers, Metropolitan-Vickers, were no longer making the Beryl engine that it utilised. Despite these drawbacks, they had good performance and handling characteristics. The difficulties that arose turned out to be almost impossible to solve due to the fact that there were too few individuals available to address them and the teething problems that arose.

In June of 1951, the TG 263 completed its last flight. The very first two production Martin-Baker ejection seats that were ever produced were installed in both of the prototypes’ two aeroplanes.

 
The Prototypes

• TG263 –  Now on display at Solent Sky Aviation Museum in Southampton.
  
• TG267 –  Plane and pilot lost in an accident at Felixstowe, 17th September 1949. Crashed on impact after flight manoeuvres went wrong.
  
• TG271 –  Lost in an accident on landing after hitting submerged log. Pilot Lt. Cmdr. Eric “Winkle” Brown was flying and was assisted from the stricken sinking aircraft in the nick of time by Geoffrey Tyson, SARO’s test pilot.  The prototype sank in the Medina / Solent estuary and has never been located.