Shorts SC.7 Skyvan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| SC.7 Skyvan | |
|---|---|
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| 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 17 January 1963.
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[edit] History
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 evaluation 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 in 1960 and the first flight of the prototype occurring 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. Skyvans served widely in both military and civilian operators, with it remaining in service with a number of civilian operators, and with the militaries of Guyana and Oman [1].
The Shorts 330 is a stretched derivative of the Skyvan.
[edit] Production
All built by Shorts in Belfast.
- Skyvan 1 : Prototype, 1 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] Specification (Shorts Skyvan 3)
Data from Jane's Civil and Military Upgrades 1994-95[2]
General characteristics
- Crew: 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 (12,5000 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: km/h (knots, mph)
- Stall speed: 111 km/h (69 mph)
- Range: 1,115 km (694 miles)
- Service ceiling: 6858m (12,250 ft)
- Rate of climb: 500 m/min (1,640 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 136.6 kg/m² (33.5 lb/ft²)
[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).[3]
[edit] Military Operators
- Argentina, Austria, Botswana, Ecuador, Ghana, Guyana, Indonesia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritania, Mexico, Nepal, Oman, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.
[edit] Comparable aircraft
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Scramble. Retrieved on 2006-12-21.
- ^ Michell, Simon (Editor) (1994). Jane's Civil and Military Upgrades, Second Edition, 1994-95. Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-1208-7.
- ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 (2nd editiond). London: Putnam. ISBN 0 370 10014 X.
[edit] External link
- British Aircraft Directory entry
- Pink Aviation Services, Austria, operating 5 Skyvans
- A pilot relates his experiences with the Skyvan out of Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska
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