Short SC.7 Skyvan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| SC.7 Skyvan | |
|---|---|
 SC.7 Skyvan at Oulu Airport, Finland. |
|
| Type | Airliner |
| Manufacturer | Short Brothers and Harland Ltd |
| Maiden flight | 17 January 1963 |
| Produced | 1963-1986 |
| Number built | 153 |
| Variants | Shorts 330 |
The Skyvan is a 19-seater twin turboprop aircraft manufactured by Short Brothers, at the time Short Brothers & Harland Ltd, and used mainly for short-haul freight and skydiving.
The Skyvan is a high wing twin engined all-metal monoplane with a high cantilever tailplane with twin rudders. The first flight of the Skyvan, the Skyvan 1, was on 17 January 1963.
Contents |
[edit] Design and development
In 1958, Shorts were approached by F.G. Miles Ltd (successor company to Miles Aircraft) who were seeking backing to produce a development of the H.D.M.106 Caravan design with a Hurel Dubois high aspect ratio wing. 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 and developed their own design for a utility all-metal box-car version known as the Short SC.7 Skyvan.
Construction started at Sydenham, Belfast in 1960 and the first flight of the prototype occurred on 17 January 1963, powered by two Continental piston engines. The prototype was re-engined with the intended Turbomeca Astazou turboprop engines later in 1963. The Skyvan is an all-metal, high wing monoplane, with a braced, high aspect ratio wing (similar to that used on Hurel-Dubois aircraft), and an unpressurised, square section fuselage. Production switched in 1968 to the Skyvan Series 3 aircraft, which replaced the Astazous with Garrett TPE331 turboprops. A total of 153 Skyvans (plus the prototype) were produced by the time production ended in 1986.
[edit] Operational history
Skyvans served widely in both military and civilian operations, with the type remaining in service with a number of civilian operators, and in military service in Guyana and Oman [1].
The Short 330 is a stretched derivative of the Skyvan.
On 1982, the 2 Skyvans of the Argentine Naval Prefecture participated in the Falklands War. The first one presented failures when operating, and the second one was destroyed by enemy fire on Pebble Island (see Raid on Pebble Island).
[edit] Production
All built by Shorts in Belfast.
- Skyvan 1 : Prototype, one built. 2 x Continental GTSIO-520 engines.
- Skyvan 1A : Re-engined prototype. 2 x 388 kW (520 hp) Turboméca Astazou engines.
- Skyvan 2 : Asaztou powered production. 8 series 2 produced.
- Skyvan 3 : Garrett TPE 331 powered production. 145 produced (all series 3 models)
- Skyvan 3A : Higher gross weight version of Skyvan Series 3.
- Skyvan 3M : Military transport version. It can be used for supply dropping, assault transport, dropping paratroops, troop transport, cargo transport, casualty evacuation, plus search and rescue missions.
- Skyvan 3M-200 : High gross weight version of Skyvan 3M (M-TOW 6,804 kg, 15,000 lb).
- Skyliner : Deluxe all-passenger version.
[edit] Civilian Operators
As of August 2006 a total of 35 Shorts Skyvan aircraft remain in airline service, with Sonair (1), Swala Airlines (2), Transway Air Services (1), Deraya Air Taxi (3), Layang Layang Aerospace (1), Macair Airlines (1), Malaysia Air Charter (1), Pan-Malaysian Air Transport (1), Wirakris Udara (1), CAE Aviation (1), Deltacraft (1), Invicta Aviation (2), Pink Aviation Services (4), Advanced Air (1), Allwest Freight (2), Arctic Circle Air Service (3), GB Airlink (1), North Star Air Cargo (5), Skylift Taxi Aereo (1) and Summit Air (2).[2]
[edit] Military Operators
Argentina
Austria
Botswana
Ecuador
Ghana
Guyana
Indonesia
Lesotho
Malawi
Mauritania
Mexico
Nepal
Oman
Singapore
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
[edit] Specification (Short Skyvan 3)
Data from Jane's Civil and Military Upgrades 1994-95[3]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1-2
- Capacity: 19 passengers
- Length: 12.21 m (40 ft 1 in)
- Wingspan: 19.79 m (64 ft 11 in)
- Height: 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
- Wing area: 35.12 m² (378 ft²)
- Empty weight: 3,331 kg (7,344 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 5,670 kg (12,500 lb)
- Powerplant: 2× Garrett AiResearch TPE-331-201 Turboprops, 533 kW (715 hp) each
Performance
- Never exceed speed: 402 km/h (250 mph)
- Maximum speed: 324 km/h (202 mph)
- Cruise speed: 315 km/h (knots, mph)
- Stall speed: 111 km/h (69 mph)
- Range: 1,200 km (694 miles)
- Service ceiling 6858m (22,500 ft)
- Rate of climb: 500 m/min (1,640 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 136.6 kg/m² (33.5 lb/ft²)
[edit] See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ Scramble. [1] Access date: 21 December 2006.
- ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
- ^ Michell, Simon, ed. Jane's Civil and Military Upgrades, Second Edition, 1994-95. London: Jane's Information Group, 1994. ISBN 0-7106-1208-7.
[edit] Bibliography
- Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919 (2nd edition). London: Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10014-X.
[edit] External links
- British Aircraft Directory entry
- Pink Aviation Services, Austria, operating five Skyvans
- Sydney Skydivers, Sydney Australia, operate two Skyvans
- The Skyvans of the Austrian Air Force
- A pilot relates his experiences with the Skyvan out of Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
