The elegant Sunderland was the RAF's staple maritime patrol aircraft throughout World War II (1939-1945). Crucial in the Battle of the Atlantic, the Sunderland was instrumental in defeating the U-Boat menace which threatened to starve the UK into submission. Nicknamed the Flying Porcupine due to its heavy armoury of 14 guns, the Sunderland proved an immediate success in battle. Aside from its worldwide use with the RAF, it saw action with the RAAF, RNZAF and RCAF. This is the first book devoted to the Sunderland's WW2 service to be published in over a decade.

For a time, the flying boat was seen as the way of the future. These aircraft, so strange and foreign to the modern mind, once criss-crossed the world and fulfilled essential military roles. In his latest book for Fonthill, Charles Bain looks at the golden age of the flying boat, when these sometimes strange and often beautiful vessels spanned the globe. These vessels-a combination of ship and airplane-found themselves working as patrol aircraft, passenger aircraft, transports, and even as combat aircraft. This volume contains their stories, from memorable aircraft such as the Short Sunderland and Boeing 314 Clipper, to the craft that roamed the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War, to forgotten giants from Saunders-Roe and even strange jet fighters that once landed like ducks. It even includes the flying boat that has not let time get in the way of doing its job-the Martin Mars. Each of these aircraft has a story worthy of the telling, and often a memorable role to play in the history of aviation. `High Hulls' delves deeply into a long-vanished part of aviation's golden age.

“An account of the author’s first operational tour as an RAF navigator . . . in support of the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency.”—Pennant Magazine This is the first book to give a detailed, first-hand account of post-World War II RAF Short Sunderland operations in the Far East. Derek K. Empson was a navigator with 88 Squadron and later 205 Squadron, flying operations during the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency and many other operations. He was based at Seletar in Singapore, Kaitak in Hong Kong, Iwakuni near Hiroshima and various other operational bases throughout his two-and-a-half-year tour. The Sunderland flying boat was a unique aircraft in that each crew was allotted an aircraft which became their floating and airborne home. Among Empson’s noteworthy events is a return flight from Singapore to Hong Kong across 1,400 miles of ocean with a VIP passenger, his first operational flight as a 21 year old Pilot Officer navigator. He then undertakes an operation involving a return trip to Scotland which took three months. On moving to Kiatak, the Sunderlands provided air cover for search and rescue operations, taking off and landing amongst the port’s many small and erratically steered shipping craft. He flew sixty-one missions in support of the United Nations forces fighting in and around Korea, enduring the threat of Chinese fighters over the Yellow Sea. In one operation an engine fire caused the crew to ditch in the Tsushima Strait with serious structural failure and they were rescued by the USS De Haven, a US destroyer. This is a worthy record of some of the legendary Short Sunderland’s final roles in the RAF.

This is a story from a bygone age recalling the most successful flying-boat airliner ever built. Designed to a specification for Imperial Airways, then Britains national airline, it carried passengers and, more importantly, mail throughout the British Empire. The airliner offered luxurious travel for the privileged few, every journey being an adventure shared by passengers and crew.Short Brothers built 42 Empires at their factory in Rochester during the late 1930s. Imperial Airways were expanding their network to the furthermost outposts of the British Empire, whilst laying down the principles of scheduled airline operation.This is the tale of the realization of a dream and the efforts of those who made it possible. During World War II, the military Sunderland version became an icon.