Saunders Roe Severn Flying Boat RAF Crew England RARE 1930 - Original Photo For Sale

An original 6x8" vintage photo (NOT a modern reprint) from an impressive collection of original, early aviation photos and postcards that we acquired from an sale house in London. Professionally packaged in a rigid mailer for safe delivery.

Photo Overview

A remarkable c1930 photograph showing six Royal Air Force airmen posed in a hangar beneath the towering bow of the Saunders-Roe (Saro) Severn, a three-engined biplane flying boat. Three officers are seated in front, including pilots wearing RAF wings, with three enlisted crewmen standing behind them. Looming above is the Severn's massive hull with its distinctive diagonal-braced planking pattern, and its three uncowled Bristol Jupiter radial engines mounted between the biplane wings, each fitted with large wooden propellers.

The back of the photograph carries a period pencil annotation reading 'Sir A.V. Roe' - a reference to Sir Alliott Verdon Roe, the pioneer aviator who founded Avro and later became a principal of Saunders-Roe at Cowes, Isle of Wight, where this giant flying boat was built. Only one Severn was ever constructed (serial N240), making photographs of this aircraft genuinely scarce. A superb piece for collectors of British flying boat history, RAF interwar aviation, and Saunders-Roe material.

Historical Notes

The Saro Severn (A.7) first flew in July 1930 and was the largest aircraft Saunders-Roe had built to that time. The sole example, N240, was delivered to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe for service evaluation, and in 1931 it undertook a long-distance proving cruise to Aboukir, Egypt, and around the Mediterranean with RAF crews. The type was not ordered into production; the airframe suffered structural problems and was struck off charge shortly after its return. Saunders-Roe pressed on, however, and its next flying boat, the Saro London, was ordered in quantity and served with RAF Coastal Command into World War 2. Sir Alliott Verdon Roe, whose name is penciled on the back of this photograph, had sold his interest in Avro in 1928 and purchased control of S.E. Saunders Ltd, renaming it Saunders-Roe - the firm that would later produce the enormous ten-engined Princess flying boat and pioneer the hovercraft. As the only Severn ever built survived barely two years, original photographs of the aircraft and its crews are seldom encountered.

Text Present

Back of photo, handwritten in pencil at top: 'Sir A.V. Roe'

Print analysis

This is an original Type 1 silver gelatin photograph, printed at or very near the time the image was taken, c1930. The warm sepia toning, period paper stock, and contemporary pencil annotation on the reverse are all consistent with a print produced by or for the Saunders-Roe company or the RAF at the time of the Severn's brief service life.

Condition

In good to excellent vintage/antique condition. Please check photos for precise details.