The Short S.22 Scion Senior was a 1930s British four-engined nine-passenger floatplane built by Short Brothers.

Design and development

The Scion Senior was developed as an enlarged version of the Scion light transport for nine passengers. Unfortunately, the aircraft failed to win orders from internal airline operators, who had already adopted the

De Havilland Dragon The de Havilland DH.84 Dragon is a successful small commercial aircraft that was designed and built by the de Havilland company. Design and construction Following the commercial success of its single-engined de Havilland Fox Moth that had fir ...

and Dragon Rapide; instead it proved attractive as a seaplane for survey and river transport purposes overseas, and the first order came from the

Irrawaddy Irrawaddy may refer to: *Irrawaddy River, the main river of Burma *Irrawaddy Delta, a rice growing region of the country *Ayeyarwady Region, an administrative division of Burma *''The Irrawaddy'', a Burmese news publication based in Chiang Mai, Tha ...

Flotilla Co. in Burma, with a promise of further orders if the first seaplane proved satisfactory. So the Scion Senior was designed basically as a seaplane with an alternative land chassis. The first two aircraft, built as floatplanes, were shipped to Rangoon as soon as they had received their Certificate of Airworthiness; the third aircraft was built as a landplane for Shorts to use as a demonstrator; the remaining three were built as floatplanes, although one (S.835, G-AENX) was actually first flown as a landplane before being converted to its intended floatplane configuration.

Operational history

The last aircraft built (serial number ''L9786'') was acquired by the Air Ministry for testing flying boat hull designs particularly for the

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North East ...

. Redesignated the Scion Senior FB (for Flying Boat), it was fitted with a duralumin, flush-riveted central float and outrigger floats. During 1942, a series of trials by the

Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment The Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment (MAEE) was a British military research and test organisation. It was originally formed as the Marine Aircraft Experimental Station in October 1918 at RAF Isle of Grain, a former Royal Naval Air Serv ...

(MAEE) was undertaken, determining attitude and stability characteristics of the design. The sole test example was lost at sea on 15 March 1944 off Helensburgh, Argyll, when an attempt was made to take off from the Clyde in frosty conditions. H.G. White, a Flight Test Officer at MAEE Helenburgh, died when the aircraft stalled into the water and sank. The other two members of the crew were rescued.Test Flying memorial Project web site
/ref> The Scion Senior landplane was eventually sold to Palestine Air Transport in December

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

, to be based in Haifa. It was impressed into Royal Air Force service in the Middle East in February

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

and lost in action on 22 September 1943.

Operators

Floatplane ; *Irrawaddy Flotilla Co Ltd ; * Palestine Airways Ltd ; Sierra Leone * Elders Colonial Airways Ltd ; * Air Ministry (MAEE) * Royal Air Force *West of Scotland Air Services Ltd Landplane ; *Iraq Petroleum Transport Co Ltd ; *Jersey Airways Ltd * Royal Air Force * Short Brothers (demonstrator)

Specifications (Scion Senior Floatplane)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * . * ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (part: 1982–1985)''. London: Orbis Publishing, 1985. * *

External links

Short Scion Senior
– British Aircraft of World War II {{Short Brothers aircraft 1930s British airliners Floatplanes Short Brothers aircraft Four-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1935 Four-engined piston aircraft