A Short Type-184 seaplane of the Royal Naval Air Service, afloat, possibly at Calshot

Inscribed 'B' and 'Short' by the artist, lower left, this is a study of a Short Type-184 tractor biplane seaplane of the Royal Naval Air Service. The prototype was delivered in April 1915 and over 930 examples were built during the war. This example is carrying a pair of small anti-submarine bombs and is shown afloat, with two naval seamen (possibly in a boat, or wading in shallow water) beyond the far float, and a man - presumably the pilot - standing in the cockpit. The implication is that it has just landed or may be under prepation for take-off. The Naval air station at Calshot is a likely location where Wyllie could have made such a study. At the bottom of the sheet is a pencil sketch of a hard-chine-built rowing boat (apparently a flat-bottomed scow), an indecipherable diagram, and patches of test colours. A slight pencil sketch of waves is at the top.