The Short Mayo Composite Aircraft - Weird and Wacky! The story of the Short Mayo Composite aircraft begins in the 1930s. By this time, it was well understood that aircraft could maintain flight carrying greater loads than they could take off with. An aircraft’s take-off weight was the limiting factor in how much fuel and cargo it could carry. For Major R.H. Mayo, the Technical General Manager of Imperial Airways, this presented a challenge — and an opportunity. What if an ove