The Short S.38 was an early British aircraft built by

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

Design and development

The Short S.38 was originally a

Short S.27 The Short S.27 and its derivative, the Short Improved S.27 (sometimes called the Short-Sommer biplane), were a series of early British aircraft built by Short Brothers. They were used by the Admiralty and Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps fo ...

with the manufacturer's number S.38. After an accident when hoisting this aircraft aboard the remains were returned to Shorts, where the aircraft was rebuilt with extensive modifications, the resulting design becoming known as the Short S.38 type. The rebuilt S.38 had the same basic layout as the original aircraft, being an unequal-span pusher

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

with a forward-mounted

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

and an

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

carried on wire-braced wooden booms behind the wing. It differed in having new wings of increased span, a

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...

to accommodate the two crew members seated in tandem, and modified tail surfaces, the tailplane being enlarged and twin rudders fitted. The front elevator was mounted on booms, as on the original aircraft. Production aircraft differed in having the front elevator mounted on an upswept outrigger on the front of the nacelle. Additionally, the outer panels of the upper wing had a swept back leading edge, and were rigged with a slight dihedral.

Service history

The aircraft was first flown by Lt. C.R. Samson on 30 August 1912. Shorts subsequently built nine production aircraft (c/n S.54-62), with some remaining in use with the RNAS after the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, being used for coastal patrol work at RNAS Great Yarmouth, and later for training purposes at

RNAS Eastchurch Royal Air Force Eastchurch or more simply RAF Eastchurch (formerly RNAS Eastchurch) is a former Royal Air Force station near Eastchurch village, on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England. The history of aviation at Eastchurch stretches back to the fi ...

. In 1915, the RNAS, pleased with their Short pushers, wanted to place orders for further S.38-type aircraft for use as basic trainers. As Short Brothers was busy building later types, orders were instead placed with subcontractors, twelve aircraft being built by Pemberton-Billing Ltd and 24 S.38s by

White and Thompson The Norman Thompson Flight Company was a British aircraft manufacturer specialising in the construction of flying boats. It was formed as the White and Thompson Company in 1912, and designed and built the Norman Thompson NT.4 patrol aircraft a ...

, with deliveries continuing until 1916 and the type remaining in service until 1917.Bruce 1957, p. 471.Goodall 1995, pp. 71–72.

Accidents and incidents

The type had two fatal accidents: *12 September 1915 –

Serial number A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it. Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist enti ...

''65'' was destroyed in a midair collision with a Caudron G.III at Eastchurch, pilots of both aircraft killed. *10 January 1916 – Serial number ''3148'' crashed while low-flying near Eastbourne, two crew killed.Sturtivant and Page 1992, p. 87

Specifications

Notes

References

*Barnes, C.H. ''Shorts Aircraft Since 1900''. London: Putnam, 1967. *Bruce, J.M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914–18''. London: Putnam, 1957. *Goodall, Michael H. ''The Norman Thompson File''. Tunbridge Wells, UK: Air Britain (Historians), 1995. . * Ray Sturtivant and Gordon Page ''Royal Navy Aircraft Serials and Units 1911–1919''

Air-Britain Air-Britain, traditionally sub-titled "The International Association of Aviation Enthusiasts", is a non-profit aviation society founded in July 1948. As from 2015, it is constituted as a British charitable trust and book publisher. History Air-Brit ...

, 1992. *Thetford, Owen ''British Naval Aircraft Since 1912''. London: Putnam, 1982. {{Short Brothers aircraft 1910s British experimental aircraft 1910s British military trainer aircraft S.38 Aircraft first flown in 1912 Biplanes