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In the first Tender Conference of Oct '36, the B-P design came second after the Vickers design. However, in November after lobbying by R J mitchell the placings were revised Supermarine first & B-P second. But in January '37 when prototypes were ordered it was two Supermarine and two from Shorts!

Some stats:
Boulton-Paul P.90 (Barnsley)
Span 100' length 77' 3", w/area 1,450 sq ft., max weight 47,922 lbs.

Shorts S.29
Span 102', length 86' 6", w/area 1,300 sq ft., max weight 53.100 lbs.
Shorts S.29 (revised)
Span 100' length 86' 8", w/area 1,300 sq ft., max weight 56,000 lbs.
Stirling Mk I
Span 99' 1", length 87' 3", w/area 1,300 sq ft., max weight 70,000 lbs.

So the question is how much better could the 'Barnsley' have been in comparison, if it had remained second choice (as per OTL Supermarine doesn't get built due to bomb damage to the prototype), and with the Stirling not ordered, seems plausible to me that a military version of the Short 'G' Class flying boat could have been built - it would have meant no blind spots in mid Atlantic.
To elaborate, the Sunderland and the Short 'C' Class shared much in development, while the 'C' was intended for Empire routes, the 'G' Class was intended for a non-stop transatlantic mail service.

I had a similar post on another forum, see what comments I would get here.
Pleased that my previous Threads weren't derided as being implausible!
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