{"id":29615307,"date":"2026-10-26T10:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T09:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/short-s23-empire-flying-boat-canopus-imperial-airways-qantas\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T10:29:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T09:29:26","slug":"short-s23-empire-flying-boat-canopus-imperial-airways-qantas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fr\/short-s23-empire-flying-boat-canopus-imperial-airways-qantas\/","title":{"rendered":"Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat: The Ocean Liner of the 1930s Skies"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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The big silver hull handled so well that Parker simply opened the throttles and took off. He flew over Rochester for 14 minutes, then brought her back down.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The official first flight came the next day, 4 July 1936. The aircraft was G-ADHL, named <em>Canopus<\/em>, the first Short S.23 &ldquo;C-class&rdquo; Empire flying boat. Ninety years ago this week, at the end of October 1936, she was working her way across France and Italy on her first route-proving flight for Imperial Airways, bound for Alexandria.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Within two years, her sisters were carrying passengers and sacks of mail from Southampton to Durban and Sydney, with nine nights in hotels along the way. For a brief moment before the Second World War, the Empire boat was the closest thing aviation had to an ocean liner.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Short S.23 &ldquo;C-class&rdquo; Empire flying boat<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First flight:<\/strong> 4 July 1936, <em>Canopus<\/em> (G-ADHL), Rochester, pilot John Lankester Parker<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Engines:<\/strong> Four 920 hp Bristol Pegasus Xc radials<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Size:<\/strong> Wingspan 114 ft, length 88 ft<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Speed:<\/strong> Maximum 200 mph, cruise about 165 mph<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Operators:<\/strong> Imperial Airways, BOAC, Qantas Empire Airways, TEAL; RAF and RAAF in wartime<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Built:<\/strong> 42 C-class boats (31 S.23, 9 S.30, 2 S.33)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Australia to England:<\/strong> About nine to ten days, versus more than 40 days by sea<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">An order for an aircraft nobody had built<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>By the mid-1930s Imperial Airways, Britain&rsquo;s flag carrier, wanted a single aircraft that could carry passengers, mail and freight along the whole Empire route network. Its specification called for 24 passengers in comfort, a cruising speed of 170 mph and a normal range of at least 700 miles. For a network built around harbours, rivers and coastlines, the answer was a flying boat.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Short Brothers wanted to build and test a prototype first. Imperial Airways, desperate to replace its ageing fleet, refused. In 1935 the airline ordered 28 flying boats of a type that existed only on paper, straight off the drawing board. The British press called it one of the boldest experiments in aviation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;This re-equipment represents one of the boldest steps ever taken in British air transport.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Wonders of World Engineering<\/strong> &mdash; British partwork magazine, on Imperial Airways&rsquo; order for 28 Empire flying boats (1937)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The money behind it came from the Empire Air Mail Scheme. Conceived in 1934 by Imperial Airways&rsquo; chairman Sir Eric Geddes, it aimed to send all first-class mail within the British Empire by air at a cheap standard rate, with subsidies from Britain, the dominions and the colonies. Geddes preferred flying boats because he believed building airfields across the Empire would cost too much.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tkwIxTVqImI\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Period newsreel footage from AP Archive, dated 26 October 1936, showing the crew being briefed and the Empire mail boat <em>Canopus<\/em> taking off from Rochester for the Mediterranean.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">&ldquo;Ships that fly&rdquo;<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Arthur Gouge&rsquo;s design team at Rochester produced a clean, high-wing monoplane with four 920 hp Bristol Pegasus radial engines, a wingspan of 114 feet and a length of 88 feet. It could reach 200 mph and cruised at about 165 mph. Sections of the wing leading edge beside each engine folded down to become working platforms for the mechanics.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>To get the propellers high enough above the waves, Shorts made the hull unusually deep, around 17 feet. That gave room for two decks. The flight deck, radio station, mail hold and the office of the ship&rsquo;s clerk sat upstairs. Below were the passenger cabins, a galley and the mooring compartment with its anchor, drogues and boat hook. Its patented Gouge flaps raised the wing&rsquo;s lift by 30 percent while adding little drag.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/short-s23-canopus-g-adhl-landing-lagos-lagoon-boac.jpg\" alt=\"Short S.23 Empire flying boat G-ADHL Canopus of BOAC alighting on Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria, during the Second World War\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\"><em>Canopus<\/em>, G-ADHL, the first Empire flying boat, alighting on Lagos Lagoon in Nigeria in BOAC service during the Second World War. Photo: Royal Air Force official photographer, IWM CH 14753 \/ public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The builders were in no doubt what they had made. Shorts liked to say that its Empire boats were ships rather than aircraft, and the language stuck. Crews were captains and first officers, the cockpit was the bridge, and newsreel announcers routinely called the aircraft &ldquo;ships&rdquo;.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t build aircraft that float, we build ships that fly.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Short Brothers<\/strong> &mdash; Company claim about its Empire flying boats, as quoted by Museums of History NSW<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Grapefruit, steak and a stroll at 5,000 feet<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>For passengers, the Empire boat felt more like a small, very fast ship than an airliner. There was a smoking cabin in the bow, a midships cabin, an aft cabin and, the highlight, a promenade cabin where windows set at standing height let passengers stroll and watch the landscape drift past. The boats usually flew no higher than about 5,000 feet, so the view was close and vivid.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Stewards in smart uniforms served food prepared without any proper cooking facilities. Museums of History NSW records a typical breakfast of grapefruit, steak and pineapple juice, and lunches of ham, salad and strawberry ice cream, with generous servings of fresh Hawkesbury oysters. The boats did not fly at night, so passengers slept in hotels such as Raffles in Singapore.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;Farther astern is a large cabin which, because its spaciousness permits passengers to &ldquo;take a stroll,&rdquo; is known as the promenade cabin.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Wonders of World Engineering<\/strong> &mdash; British partwork magazine, describing the Empire boat&rsquo;s passenger cabins (1937)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>It was a luxury few could afford. A ticket between Australia and England cost about the equivalent of a year&rsquo;s salary, and there was only one class. In return, a journey of more than 40 days by sea shrank to about nine or ten days.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Qantas and the water airport at Rose Bay<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The far end of the route belonged to Qantas Empire Airways, the joint company formed by Qantas and Imperial Airways in 1934. With help from the Australian government it ordered six Empire boats, and in May 1938 it moved its rapidly growing operation from Brisbane to Sydney. The harbourside suburb of Rose Bay became Australia&rsquo;s first international airport, chosen because it was a large, calm bay close to the city.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/qantas-empire-flying-boat-coolangatta-vh-abb-rose-bay-1938.jpg\" alt=\"Qantas Empire Airways flying boat VH-ABB Coolangatta landing at Rose Bay, Sydney, in 1938\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Qantas Empire Airways&rsquo; VH-ABB <em>Coolangatta<\/em> landing at Rose Bay, Sydney&rsquo;s flying-boat base, in 1938. Photo: Sam Hood, State Library of New South Wales \/ public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In July 1938 a thrice-weekly flying-boat service between Sydney and Southampton replaced the old landplane connection. Qantas crews flew the Sydney to Singapore sector, with overnight stops on the way, and Imperial Airways crews took the boats onwards to England. <em>Canopus<\/em> herself joined the pool of aircraft shared by the two airlines on the route.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b9rCn5wERps\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">&ldquo;Ticket to Sydney from Southampton by Empire Flying Boat, 1938&rdquo;, shared by the Southampton on Video channel.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Too much mail, too few boats<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The scheme&rsquo;s cheap mail rates worked almost too well. By December 1938 the public was posting far more letters than the Air Ministry had expected, while several Empire boats were out of service after accidents. Most of the type&rsquo;s accidents happened on landing, often blamed on pilots used to smaller aircraft who found it hard to judge height from the Empire&rsquo;s lofty cockpit. Imperial Airways had to lease extra landplanes, including Douglas airliners from Swissair, to keep the mail moving.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Shorts and Imperial Airways also pushed the design towards the North Atlantic. On 5 July 1937 <em>Caledonia<\/em> flew a survey crossing from Foynes in Ireland to Botwood in Newfoundland. The S.23 did not have the range for a commercial transatlantic service, which led to in-flight refuelling trials and to the remarkable <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/short-mayo-composite-piggyback-atlantic-1938\/\">Short Mayo Composite<\/a>, in which a modified Empire boat carried a smaller floatplane on its back.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/boac-short-empire-cambria-g-aduv-takeoff-nile-cairo.jpg\" alt=\"BOAC Short S.23 Empire flying boat G-ADUV Cambria taking off from the Nile at the Rod el Farag flying-boat base in Cairo\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">BOAC&rsquo;s <em>Cambria<\/em>, one of the Empire boats used for the 1937 Atlantic survey flights, taking off from the Nile at Cairo, a key stop on the wartime Horseshoe Route. Photo: Royal Air Force official photographer, IWM CH 14781 \/ public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Horseshoe Route and the war<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The Second World War ended the age of luxury almost overnight. When Italy entered the war in June 1940, the Mediterranean was closed to British civil flights. <em>Canopus<\/em> was flying from Singapore towards Karachi at the time and had to turn back. Within weeks, the airlines had improvised the &ldquo;Horseshoe Route&rdquo;: Sydney to Durban by flying boat via Singapore, India and Cairo, then onwards to Britain by sea.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Horseshoe was a vital link between Australia and Britain until Singapore fell in February 1942. The Australian government also impressed Empire boats into service with the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/royal-australian-air-force\/\">Royal Australian Air Force<\/a>, and in Britain they worked alongside the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/short-sunderland\/\">Short Sunderland<\/a>, the maritime patrol bomber developed in parallel from the same design ideas. Its story is told in <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/short-sunderland-flying-porcupine\/\">The Flying Porcupine<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/short-s23-empire-with-raf-sunderlands-sullom-voe-1941.jpg\" alt=\"A Short S.23 Empire flying boat taxiing ahead of three Short Sunderlands of No. 204 Squadron RAF at Sullom Voe around 1941\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Short S.23 ahead of three Sunderlands of No. 204 Squadron RAF at Sullom Voe in Shetland, around 1941, showing how closely the airliner and its military sibling were related. Photo: IWM MH 6666 \/ public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The war was hard on the civilian boats. Accidents and enemy action destroyed about half of the Qantas-operated fleet, and at least two Empire boats were shot down by Japanese aircraft in early 1942. Museums of History NSW notes that by 1944, all the Empires that had seen service there had either crashed or been destroyed by enemy fire.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The end of the line<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p><em>Canopus<\/em> survived it all. She ended the war flying between Cairo and Durban for BOAC, Imperial Airways&rsquo; successor, and operated her last commercial service in September 1946. After a ferry flight to Poole, she was offered to the town for preservation. The offer was turned down, and she was broken up at Marchwood on Southampton Water in 1947, having flown around 15,200 hours and some two million miles.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Only 42 C-class Empire boats were built, and by the time the war was over, landplanes had moved on. The airstrips and long-range landplanes built for the war made the big flying boat airliner more expensive and less useful, and its era faded quickly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wBOs-6aU4f4\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">The Queensland Air Museum talks to historian Paul Sheehan about the design and performance of the Short Empire flying boats.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Yet the Empire boat set the pattern for long-haul flying. Scheduled departures across half the world, a uniformed crew, meals served at your seat, a promenade where you could stretch your legs: much of what we still expect from a long flight started on a silver hull lifting off the Medway in the summer of 1936.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Museums of History NSW, Wonders of World Engineering, aussieairliners.org (G-ADHL history), Imperial War Museums, State Library of New South Wales, AP Archive, Wikipedia (Short Empire; Empire Air Mail Scheme; Imperial Airways; History of Qantas)<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What was the Short S.23 Empire flying boat?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Short S.23 Empire was a four-engined British flying boat airliner built by Short Brothers at Rochester for Imperial Airways. Known as the C-class, it carried passengers and air mail across the British Empire from 1936, with routes from Southampton to South Africa and, with Qantas, to Australia.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When did the Short Empire flying boat first fly?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The first Short Empire flying boat, G-ADHL Canopus, made its official first flight on 4 July 1936 from the River Medway at Rochester, flown by Shorts chief test pilot John Lankester Parker. During taxi trials the day before, Parker had already lifted it off for a 14-minute flight.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was the Empire Air Mail Scheme?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Empire Air Mail Scheme was a plan conceived in 1934 by Imperial Airways chairman Sir Eric Geddes to carry all first-class mail within the British Empire by air at a cheap standard rate. It was the reason Imperial Airways ordered 28 Short Empire flying boats in 1935, before the type had flown.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How long did it take to fly from Australia to England by Empire flying boat?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">In 1938 an Empire flying boat journey between Sydney and Southampton took about nine to ten days, with the aircraft stopping each night and passengers staying in hotels such as Raffles in Singapore. By sea, the same trip took more than 40 days. A ticket cost about a year&rsquo;s salary.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Did Qantas fly the Short Empire flying boat?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. Qantas Empire Airways, formed by Qantas and Imperial Airways in 1934, ordered six Short Empire flying boats and flew them from Rose Bay in Sydney from 1938. Its crews flew the Sydney to Singapore sector of the thrice-weekly Sydney to Southampton service that began in July 1938.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What happened to the Empire flying boats in the Second World War?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">When Italy entered the war in June 1940, Empire flying boats switched to the Horseshoe Route between Sydney and Durban until Singapore fell in February 1942. Some were impressed into the Royal Australian Air Force and the RAF, and several were lost to accidents and Japanese attacks.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What happened to Canopus, the first Empire flying boat?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Canopus served Imperial Airways and then BOAC throughout the war and flew its last commercial service in September 1946. After the town of Poole declined an offer to preserve it, the flying boat was broken up at Marchwood on Southampton Water in 1947, having flown roughly two million miles.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Short S.23 Empire flying boat?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Short S.23 Empire was a four-engined British flying boat airliner built by Short Brothers at Rochester for Imperial Airways. Known as the C-class, it carried passengers and air mail across the British Empire from 1936, with routes from Southampton to South Africa and, with Qantas, to Australia.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When did the Short Empire flying boat first fly?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The first Short Empire flying boat, G-ADHL Canopus, made its official first flight on 4 July 1936 from the River Medway at Rochester, flown by Shorts chief test pilot John Lankester Parker. During taxi trials the day before, Parker had already lifted it off for a 14-minute flight.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Empire Air Mail Scheme?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Empire Air Mail Scheme was a plan conceived in 1934 by Imperial Airways chairman Sir Eric Geddes to carry all first-class mail within the British Empire by air at a cheap standard rate. It was the reason Imperial Airways ordered 28 Short Empire flying boats in 1935, before the type had flown.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How long did it take to fly from Australia to England by Empire flying boat?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"In 1938 an Empire flying boat journey between Sydney and Southampton took about nine to ten days, with the aircraft stopping each night and passengers staying in hotels such as Raffles in Singapore. By sea, the same trip took more than 40 days. A ticket cost about a year\u2019s salary.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did Qantas fly the Short Empire flying boat?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. Qantas Empire Airways, formed by Qantas and Imperial Airways in 1934, ordered six Short Empire flying boats and flew them from Rose Bay in Sydney from 1938. 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After the town of Poole declined an offer to preserve it, the flying boat was broken up at Marchwood on Southampton Water in 1947, having flown roughly two million miles.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/short-mayo-composite-piggyback-atlantic-1938\/\">Piggyback Plane That Beat the Atlantic<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/short-sunderland-flying-porcupine\/\">The Flying Porcupine: The Sunderland That U-Boats Feared<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/handley-page-hp42-imperial-airways-biplane-airliner\/\">Handley Page H.P.42: The Biplane Airliner That Refused to Hurry<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/qantas-double-sunrise-catalina-longest-flight\/\">Qantas&rsquo;s Secret Double Sunrise Flights<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ninety years ago, the Short S.23 Empire flying boat Canopus entered service. How Imperial Airways and Qantas flew mail and passengers across the Empire in style.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":29614997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665,666],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29615307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-history-and-legends"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat: 1930s Luxury | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Short S.23 Empire flying boat carried Imperial Airways and Qantas passengers and mail across the British Empire from 1936, in ocean-liner style.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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