Short SC.7 Skyvan

SC.7 Skyvan
SC.7 Skyvan at Oulu Airport, Finland.
Role Cargo aircraft
Manufacturer Short Brothers and Harland Ltd
First flight 17 January 1963
Produced 1963-1986
Number built 153
Developed into Short 330
Short 360

The Short SC.7 Skyvan (nicknamed the "flying shoebox")[1] is a 19-seat twin-turboprop aircraft manufactured by Short Brothers of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is used mainly for short-haul freight and skydiving.

The Skyvan is a high wing, twin-engined all-metal monoplane with a mid-mounted tailplane and twin rudders. The first flight of the Skyvan, the Skyvan 1, was on 17 January 1963. It is affectionately called "the shed" by pilots and crew.

The Short 330 and Short 360 are stretched models of the original SC.7, designed as regional airliners.

Design and development

In 1958, Shorts was approached by F.G. Miles Ltd (successor company to Miles Aircraft) which was seeking backing to produce a development of the H.D.M.106 Caravan design with a high aspect ratio wing similar to that of the Hurel-Dubois HD.31. Shorts acquired the design and data gathered from trials of the Miles Aerovan based H.D.M.105 prototype. After evaluating the Miles proposal, Shorts rejected the Caravan. They developed their own design for a utility all-metal aircraft which was called the Short SC.7 Skyvan. It was popular with freight operators compared to other small aircraft because of its large rear door for loading and unloading freight. Its fuselage resembles the shape of a railroad boxcar for simplicity and efficiency.

Skyvan 3 converted for survey work by Questor Surveys

Construction started at Sydenham Airport in 1960, and the prototype first flew on 17 January 1963, powered by two Continental piston engines. Later in 1963, the prototype was re-engined with the intended Turbomeca Astazou turboprop engines. The Skyvan is an all-metal, high-wing monoplane, with a braced, high aspect ratio wing, and an unpressurised, square-section fuselage. In 1968, production switched to the Skyvan Series 3 aircraft, which replaced the Astazou engines with Garrett AiResearch TPE331 turboprops. A total of 153 Skyvans (plus the prototype) was produced before production ended in 1986.

Operational history

Skyvans served widely in both military and civilian operations, and the type remained in service in 2009 with a number of civilian operators, and in military service in Guyana and Oman.

Invicta Aviation Skyvan on parachuting duties at the Cotswold Air Show. (2010).

In 1982, two Skyvans of the Argentine Naval Prefecture participated in the Falklands War. Both aircraft were ferried to Port Stanley in April 1982. One aircraft was damaged by British naval gunfire on Stanley racecourse, and did not fly again; it was finally destroyed by shellfire during British bombardments on 12/13 June 1982. The second aircraft was used at Pebble Island, where it became bogged down in the soft ground, and on 15 May 1982 it was destroyed in a British assault (see Raid on Pebble Island).[2]

Skyvans continue to be used for air-to-air photography and for skydiving operations. In 1970, Questor Surveys of Toronto Canada converted the first of two Skyvan 3s for aerial geological survey work.

Production

All built by Short in Belfast.

Company military demonstrator in 1982

Civilian operators

As of July 2009, a total of 40 Skyvan aircraft remained in airline service, with Pink Aviation Services (5), Sonair (1), Swala Airlines (2), Transway Air Services (1), Deraya Air Taxi (3), Layang Layang Aerospace (1), Macair Airlines (1), Malaysia Air Charter (1), Olympic Airways (1), Pan Malaysian Air Transport (1), Wirakris Udara (1), CAE Aviation (1), Deltacraft (1), Invicta Aviation (2), Advanced Air (1), Allwest Freight (2), Era Alaska (3), GB Airlink (1), North Star Air Cargo (5), Skylift Taxi Aereo (1), Skydive Arizona (7), Skydive DeLand (1), Skydive Lonestar (1), Sydney Skydivers (2), Skydive Pennsylvania and Summit Air (2).,[3] Sustut Air (1),[4] Ryan Air (Alaska),[5] Nomad Air (2), Aalto-university-Finland.

Military operators

 Argentina
Austrian Air Force Skyvan
 Austria
 Botswana
 Ciskei
 Ecuador
 Gambia
 Ghana
 Guyana
 Indonesia
 Japan
 Lesotho
 Malawi
 Mauritania
 Mexico
   Nepal
 North Yemen
 Oman
 Panama
 Singapore
 Thailand
 United Arab Emirates
 United Kingdom
 Yemen

Specification (Short Skyvan 3)

Data from Jane's Civil and Military Upgrades 1994-95[12]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
Related lists

References

Notes
  1. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/topics/transport/A957558.shtml
  2. ↑ Burden, Rodney et al. Falkland: The Air War. London: Arms and Armour, 1986. ISBN 0-85368-842-7.
  3. ↑ Flight International, 3–9 October 2006
  4. ↑ "Short SC.7 Skyvan." sustutair.com. Retrieved: 8 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "Short SC.7 Skyvan." texrus.com. Retrieved: 8 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "Short SC.7 Skyvan Picture." facebook.com. Retrieved: 8 January 2012.
  7. ↑ http://www.gotech.at/skyvan.htm/
  8. ↑ http://www.ghanaairforce.com/
  9. ↑ Hoyle 2013, p. 38.
  10. ↑ Hoyle 2013, p. 43.
  11. ↑ Taylor 1982, p. 271.
  12. ↑ Michell, Simon, ed. Jane's Civil and Military Upgrades, Second Edition, 1994-95. London: Jane's Information Group, 1994. ISBN 0-7106-1208-7.
Bibliography
  • Hoyle, Craig, "World Air Forces Directory". Flight International, 13–19 December 2011, pp. 26–52.
  • Hoyle, Craig. "World Air Forces Directory". Flight International, Vol. 184 No. 5419. 10–16 December 2013. pp. 24–51. ISSN 0015-3710.
  • Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919 (2nd edition). London: Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10014-X.
  • Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982–83. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1982. ISBN 0-7106-0748-2.

External links

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