The Short S.22 Scion Senior was a 1930s
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
four-engined nine-passenger floatplane 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 Scion Senior was developed as an enlarged version of the
Scion
Scion may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
*Scion, a playable class in the game ''Path of Exile'' (2013)
*Atlantean Scion, a device in the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series
*Scions, an alien race in the video game ''Ba ...
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 Flotilla Co. in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, 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
A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-spraye ...
; 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
![Short_Scion_Senior_FB](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Short_Scion_Senior_FB.jpg)
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
Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local governm ...
,
Argyll
Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.
Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...
, 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
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
service in the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
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
Palestine Airways ( he, נתיבי אוויר ארץ ישראל, Netivei Avir Eretz Yisrael, lit=Land of Israel Airways, ar, شركة الطرق الجوية بفلسطين) was an airline founded by Zionist Pinhas Rutenberg in British Palestin ...
Ltd
;Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
* Elders Colonial Airways, Elders Colonial Airways Ltd
;
* Air Ministry (MAEE)
*Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
*West of Scotland Air Services Ltd
Landplane
;
*Iraq Petroleum Transport Co Ltd
;
*Jersey Airways Ltd
*Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
*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 ...
(demonstrator)
Specifications (Scion Senior Floatplane)
See also
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