AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft Plate 265 / 278

Plate 265 of 278 · Cold War · Commuter turboprop airliner

Short 330

330-100, G-OGIL, painted as G-OGIL, constructor’s number SH3068, a Short 330-100 built at Sydenham, Belfast, in 1981, first registered G-BITV and flown by Inter-City Airlines, Brymon, Air Ecosse and Connectair before joining the Newcastle airline Gill Air in 1989, and given to the North East Land, Sea and Air Museums at Sunderland in 1993: the boxy 30-seat commuter airliner Shorts developed from the Skyvan, with a slab-sided square-section fuselage, a long, narrow high wing braced by a single strut on each side, two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-45 turboprops driving five-bladed propellers, main wheels retracting into fairings on short stub wings, a nose baggage bay and twin fins and rudders on a constant-chord tailplane: white overall with a black nose cap, a cheat line of two navy pinstripes over narrow and broad gold bands, ‘GillAir’ titles in navy and red on both sides, black ‘G-OGIL’ behind the rear door and dark blue fins and rudders, as flown by Gill Air between 1989 and 1992 and still worn on its port side at the museum (shape from a 1976 Air International three-view, checked against later three-views and side-on photographs of the aircraft as G-BITV and G-OGIL); the museum’s aircraft has lost its engines, propellers and outer wings, so the model shows it complete.

3D model

Turn it over

A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as G-OGIL, constructor’s number SH3068, a Short 330-100 built at Sydenham, Belfast, in 1981, first registered G-BITV and flown by Inter-City Airlines, Brymon, Air Ecosse and Connectair before joining the Newcastle airline Gill Air in 1989, and given to the North East Land, Sea and Air Museums at Sunderland in 1993: the boxy 30-seat commuter airliner Shorts developed from the Skyvan, with a slab-sided square-section fuselage, a long, narrow high wing braced by a single strut on each side, two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-45 turboprops driving five-bladed propellers, main wheels retracting into fairings on short stub wings, a nose baggage bay and twin fins and rudders on a constant-chord tailplane: white overall with a black nose cap, a cheat line of two navy pinstripes over narrow and broad gold bands, ‘GillAir’ titles in navy and red on both sides, black ‘G-OGIL’ behind the rear door and dark blue fins and rudders, as flown by Gill Air between 1989 and 1992 and still worn on its port side at the museum (shape from a 1976 Air International three-view, checked against later three-views and side-on photographs of the aircraft as G-BITV and G-OGIL); the museum’s aircraft has lost its engines, propellers and outer wings, so the model shows it complete. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (1.3 MB)

Data plate

Specification

First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (330-100); engine, crew and dimensions are for the 330-100, G-OGIL modelled here.

History

The 330-100

By the early 1970s Shorts’ SC.7 Skyvan, a small, square-bodied utility transport, had shown that its boxy layout made a roomy cabin cheaply. When the United States relaxed its rules for commuter airlines, letting them fly aircraft of up to 30 seats, Shorts drew up a stretched, airliner version as the SD3-30. It kept the Skyvan’s slab-sided fuselage, braced high wing and twin fins, but lengthened the cabin, extended the wing, added a nose baggage bay and retractable undercarriage, and fitted Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprops. The prototype, G-BSBH, first flew from Sydenham, Belfast, on 22 August 1974.

Renamed the Short 330 for its 30 seats, it entered service with Time Air in Canada in August 1976, and sold to commuter airlines in North America, Britain and Europe. It was neither fast nor pressurised, but its square cabin had full standing headroom and wide seats, and it was quiet, rugged and cheap to run on short routes. Pilots and passengers called it the ‘Shed’. The United States Air Force bought it as the C-23A Sherpa, with a rear loading ramp, to carry spare parts between its European bases, and the US Army later used the Sherpa for many years.

The 330 led to the longer 36-seat Short 360, with a single fin, which first flew in 1981 and largely replaced it on the production line. Production of the 330 ended in the early 1990s. In Britain it flew with Loganair, Brymon, Air Ecosse and other regional airlines. The Ulster Aviation Society keeps the production prototype G-BDBS near Belfast, where the type was built.

This airframe

Short 330-100 G-OGIL

G-OGILThe airframe modelled

G-OGIL, constructor’s number SH3068, first flew at Sydenham on 8 April 1981 and was registered G-BITV two days later. It was delivered to Inter-City Airlines in May 1981, and in the following years flew on lease with British Air Ferries, Brymon Airways, Air Ecosse and Connectair. In 1989 it joined the Newcastle airline Gill Air and was re-registered G-OGIL. After it was damaged in a taxiing accident at Newcastle in 1992, Gill Air gave it to the North East Land, Sea and Air Museums at Sunderland, where it arrived in April 1993 without its engines; its propellers and outer wings have also gone. The model shows it complete, as Gill Air flew it between 1989 and 1992 and as its port side still appears at the museum: white overall with a black nose cap, a cheat line of two navy pinstripes over narrow and broad gold bands, ‘GillAir’ titles in navy and red, black ‘G-OGIL’ behind the rear door and dark blue fins and rudders. Its shape comes from a 1976 Air International three-view, checked against later three-views and side-on photographs of the aircraft as G-BITV and G-OGIL.

See it at North East Land, Sea and Air Museums

Where to see one

In the gazetteer

The gazetteer records the 330-100 in 2 UK collections. The airframe modelled here is marked.

Every airframe and serial All 278 plates

Profiles and models are procedural interpretations built in Blender from published dimensions, three-view drawings and photographs of each airframe. Treat the museum aircraft as the reference.