The Short S.4 Satellite was a small

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, ...

two-seater sporting monoplane, produced in 1924 to take part in the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

's Two-Seater Light Aeroplane competition on 27 September of that year.

Design

Design began in July, with only weeks available before the competition, so the monocoque fuselage was of conventional design, with wooden box spars; the ribs however were of

duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a tra ...

, as were the tailplane, elevators, fin and rudder. The cantilever wings had a span of 34 ft (10.3 m) and they, the tail and the fuselage were fabric-covered. The Satellite was fitted initially with an ungeared

Bristol Cherub The Bristol Cherub is a British two-cylinder, air-cooled, aircraft engine designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Introduced in 1923 it was a popular engine for ultralight and small aircraft in the 1930s. Variants ;Cherub I :Initi ...

engine, with which it had a top speed of without a passenger.

History

The aircraft was initially fitted with an ungeared Bristol Cherub engine at the Air Ministry's Two-Seater Light Aeroplane competition at

Lympne Lympne (), formerly also Lymne, is a village on the former shallow-gradient sea cliffs above the expansive agricultural plain of Romney Marsh in Kent. The settlement forms an L shape stretching from Port Lympne Zoo via Lympne Castle facing Lympne ...

in 1924, where the Satellite was flown by the company's chief

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

J. Lankester Parker. The engine delivered insufficient power to fly with a passenger, so the Satellite, along with nine of the other 18 entrants, failed to meet the competition's success criteria. It was fitted with a tuned version of the Cherub within the week and on 4 October took part in the Grosvenor Cup race, completing the course and finishing in seventh place. It was later fitted with a geared Cherub II, later still with an

ABC Motors ABC Motors Limited ("All British (Engine) Company") of Hersham, Surrey, England was a manufacturer of cars, aircraft, motor scooters, and engines for road and air. Established by Ronald Charteris in Hersham, Surrey in 1912, its chief designer ...

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

Mk. II engine, both of which greatly improved its performance. As a result of violent wing flutter experienced at , the wingspan was reduced by ; this solved the problem and no flutter was experienced even at dives of up to 120 mph. The Satellite was sometimes irreverently referred to as "Parker's Tin Kettle" because he frequently flew the aircraft.Shorts Quarterly Review p.24.

Specifications

Notes

References

*
"The Guild of Aircraft Pilots and Navigators of London 1929 - 2004"
* {{Short Brothers aircraft 1920s British sport aircraft Short Brothers aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1924