Researched 2026-10-11 from the sources listed below. Airframes move between hangars, workshops and loans: check with Solent Sky before travelling to see this one.
The airframe in brief
| Serial / registration | TG263 |
|---|---|
| Type | Saunders-Roe SR.A/1 |
| First flew | 16 July 1947, Geoffrey Tyson |
| Units / operator | Saunders-Roe test programme |
| Last flight | June 1951, Festival of Britain visit as G-12-1 |
| Later homes | College of Aeronautics, Cranfield; Skyfame, Staverton (1966); Imperial War Museum (1978) |
| Arrived | 1991 on loan; bought by Solent Sky in 2011 |
| Status | On display |
| Where | Solent Sky, Southampton |
The story of TG263
TG263 was the first of three SR.A/1 prototypes, Saunders-Roe's twin-jet flying-boat fighter. Geoffrey Tyson flew it for the first time on 16 July 1947. About two weeks later, on its fifth flight, he demonstrated it to officials from the Royal Navy, the RAF and the Royal Aircraft Establishment. It appeared in a Pathé newsreel that July and flew at the SBAC show roughly two months after its first flight.
The other two prototypes, TG267 and TG271, were both lost in accidents, leaving TG263 as the only survivor. It went into storage in 1950. Interest revived during the Korean War, and in June 1951 Tyson flew it up the Thames to London for the Festival of Britain. It wore the civil test marking G-12-1 rather than roundels. That month was its last flight.
TG263 was then presented to the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield. In 1954 one of its Beryl engines was lent to Donald Campbell for his Bluebird K7 water speed record boat. The airframe moved to the Skyfame Museum at Staverton in 1966 and joined the Imperial War Museum collection in 1978. It came to Southampton on loan in 1991. Solent Sky bought it outright in 2011, along with its surviving Beryl engine.
Seeing TG263 today
On permanent display at Solent Sky, the only one of the three SR.A/1 prototypes to survive.
| Museum | Adult entry | Airframes | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solent SkySouthampton, Hampshire | £14 | 23 | Supermarine S.6A N248, the 1929 Schneider Trophy racer from the bloodline that begat the Spitfire — parked beneath its descendant for… |
Also known as: SR.A/1 · Saro SR.A1 · SRA1 · G-12-1 · jet flying boat