2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Short Calcutta L'Aérophile June,1928: L'Aérophile magazine· Public domain
- 2. Short S.8 Calcutta from FlightGlobal Archive: Unknown author Unknown author· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The Short Calcutta or S.8 was a civilian biplane airliner flying boat made by Short Brothers.
How to recognise it: 3 piston engines with propellers · 28.4 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 98 years ago, in 1928.
- Wingspan of 28.4 m: about 6 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1928-02-14
- introduced
- 1928
- number built
- 7
- role
- biplane airliner flying boat
- makers
- Short Brothers
- engines
- 3× Bristol Jupiter IXF
- crew
- 3
- passengers
- 15
- length
- 20.4 m
- wingspan
- 28.4 m
- height
- 7.2 m
- max take-off weight
- 10.2 t
- top speed
- 190 km/h
- cruise speed
- 156 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 4,115 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q2279957, Wikipedia: Short S.8 Calcutta (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.