Saro A.36
Lerwick L7266
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Two shots of the relatively
rare Lerwick. Above is seen an example climbing away
from its
manufacturer's base over Southampton Water, while below an unidentified
one is taking off.
Never a
success like the Sunderland
or Catalina were, the Lerwick achieved limited operational
status.
One of the problems (especially for a long range patrol aircraft) was
that its hands off
performance was horrible. One
literally had to fly the thing this whole time. Not a desirable
trait for lengthy sorties. Only 21
were built and all had been retired by
1943. RCAF No 422
Squadron operating out of
the UK during
WW II received several of them
whilst awaiting their
Sunderlands.