Seaplane Base
The Tay was first home to seaplanes before World War One when a base was established near the Stannergate. despite its distance from the battlefields of mainland Europe, aircraft from the base saw action on numerous occasions - including a battle against Zeppelin airships using revolvers and rifles carried aboard the aircraft. The base was disbanded in 1919 then reopened as HMS Condor II (A satellite of HMS Condor in Arbroath) in 1940 until 1944.
The base was established in 1913 with a hastily constructed runway adjacent to Broughty Ferry Road opening for it's first arrival in February 1914, five months before the war was declared. Aircraft from Dundee carried out long patrols out into the North Sea to help protect coastal shipping and search for submarines. One of the pilots was Major Christopher Draper who went on to earn the nickname the "Mad Major" due to his trick of flying through the arches of the Tay Rail Bridge.
The presence of the base is recognised by a sculpture on the waters edge, created by Scottish artist Jeremy Cunningham. The actual location of the base was a little distance west of the sculpture on land now used by the Port Of Dundee frr servicing the wind farms in the North Sea.
Record Breaking Mercury and Maia Flight
Perhaps the most notable seaplane flight from Dundee was a world record attempt in 1938. Imperial Airways decided to challenge the Russian held record of 6,306 miles with a flight from Dundee to Cape Town in South Africa (6,370miles). The main challenge was how a plane could take off with the weight of the 2,000gallons of fuel needed to sustain its 50hour journey.
The answer was to mount a smaller seaplane (the Mercury) on top of a larger one (The Maia) for the take off, then release the smaller aircraft in mid air. Ultimately bad weather didn't allow them to break the distance record, but they did achieve the record for the longest non-stop seaplane flight.
