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This site got me thinking http://theflyingboatforum.forumlaunch.net/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=257 ....

As part of the late 1930s Singapore strategy the Air Ministry announces a 1937 specification for a long range flying boat capable of flying to Singapore non-stop from Ceylon (1,700 miles) or Australia (2081 miles) while carrying 30 tons (68,000 lbs) of cargo, including capability to transport two Cruiser Mk I tanks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruiser_Mk_I). Expectation is to have sixteen to twenty aircraft in service by 1940.

Without venturing to one-off failures of the Spruce Goose variety, what can we have ready for 1940 using 1930s tech? The post-war Saunders-Roe Princess could likely carry such a load weight, but with turboprop engines. For the late 1930s, we'll likely need a multi-engined flying boat of similar-sized or larger than the napkinwaffe Dornier Do 214 or OTL BV-238 of 1944, but with 1930s engines. Also, how do you get a tank out of a flying boat with Me 323 sized doors without it sinking?



Now, I know this is contrarian-bait, so let's not make this about tanks, or the need for tanks, or the much easier marine-based methods to move tanks to Singapore if they were needed. I simply chose the British army's latest cruiser tank of the late 1930s to represent what in this scenario the Air Ministry used to represent the max load, be it trucks, Bren carriers, engineering equipment, troops, etc.

I'm more interested in what's possible engineering wise to get these built in the numbers specified by 1940.
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