Short S.31 aircraft

[johnbr]

Shorts built in 1938 a 1/2-scale prototype at its own expense. Powered by four 90hp Pobjoy Niagara III engines, this Short S.31 was mostly of wooden construction apart from a semi-monocoque fuselage, and seated two in tandem. In overall silver finish and marked M4, the Short S.31 flew on September 19, 1938, at Rochester. It later acquired a lengthened u/c (as adopted meanwhile on the Short S.29 to give greater effective wing incidence during take-off and landing); then in January 1939 it was fitted with 115hp Niagara IVs and in March with a larger tailplane. In 1940, now in green/brown camouflage with yellow undersides, the Short S.31 was fitted with Va-scale mock-ups of the Boulton Paul Type O ventral and Type H dorsal twin-cannon turrets proposed for a version of the Stirling II, and was tested in the RAE 7.3m wind tunnel. Further flights were made from March 13, 1942, onwards (with a shortened u/c), and the Short S.31 was scrapped after a takeoff accident at Stradishall in February 1944.

WEIGHTS
Take-off weight 2586 kg 5701 lb
DIMENSIONS
Wingspan 15.09 m 50 ft 6 in
Length 13.31 m 44 ft 8 in
PERFORMANCE
Max. speed 290 km/h 180 mph
Specification

 

[Wurger]

 

[Capt. Vick]

Cool!

 

[johnbr]

View attachment 509055 It is said S.31 was the only four-engined aircraft that Eric Brown looped.
The Half-Scale Model Short S.31 Stirling Taxiing at Rochester, UK, before her Maiden Flight on 19 September 1938 Flown on This Day by Shorts Chief Test-Pilot ...

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Cool shots!

 

[Jimbob]

Very cool...