Arthur Longmore
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Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Murray Longmore, was an early naval aviator, before reaching high rank in the Royal Air Force. He was Commander-in-Chief of the RAF's Middle East Command from 1940 to 1941
Longmore in the gardens of Air Headquarters, Middle East Command, in Cairo, c. 1940–41
Then-Lieutenant Longmore (in dark coat walking toward camera on right) on 1 December 1911 immediately after he became the first person in the United Kingdom to take off from land and make a successful water landing, using the aircraft behind him, a Short Improved S.27 bearing Admiralty number 38, later often called the "Short S.38."
Short S.27
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The Short S.27 and its derivative, the Short Improved S.27, were a series of early British aircraft built by Short Brothers. They were used by the Admiralty and Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps fo
Arthur Longmore
…year, assisted by Oswald Short of Short Brothers, he devised a way of mounting streamlined air bags on the undercarriage struts and under the tail of a Short Improved S.27 biplane with the construction number S.38—later often referred to as the "Short S.38"—and on 1 December 1911, using the air bags for flotation…
Short S.27
An Improved S.27 series aeroplane with extended upper wing.
An Improved S.27 with nacelle for the pilot and passenger.
No.38 perched on the foredeck runway installed on HMS Hibernia, shortly before Commander Charles Samson piloted it on the world's first aircraft take-off from a moving ship on 9 May 1912.