Short Springbok
Springbok I / II / Chamois | |
---|---|
Springbok I prototype (J6974), Martlesham Heath 1923 | |
Role | Two-seater biplane |
Manufacturer | Short Brothers |
Designer | Oswald Short |
First flight | S.3 (Springbok I): 19 April 1923 S.3a (Springbok II): 25 March 1925 S.3b (Chamois): 14 March 1927 |
Primary user | Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE), Martlesham Heath |
Number built | 2 (S.3 Springbok I) 3 (S.3b Springbok II) 1 (S.3b Chamois) |
The Short Springbok was a two-seat, all-metal reconnaissance biplane produced for the British Air Ministry in the 1920s. All together six aircraft of the Springbok design were built but none entered service with the armed forces.
Design
The Springbok
History
The Springbok traces its history from the pioneering, all-metal
Powered by a 400 hp Bristol Jupiter IV radial engine, the S.3 Springbok I was an all-metal aircraft, with a duralumin monocoque fuselage and two-bay, equal-span wings. The strength/weight factor of the mainplanes was disappointing and the Air Ministry ordered three more Springboks with lighter, fabric-covered wings attached directly to the lower fuselage and a redesigned tail assembly. The first of these S.3a Springbok IIs (numbered J7295-J7297) was flown by Shorts' Chief Test Pilot J. Lankester Parker at the Isle of Grain on 25 March 1925.
The S.3b Chamois was produced in response to
The tests, from 27 April 1927 by Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE), then at Martlesham Heath, determined that its performance was disappointing and the only prototype was scrapped.
Operators
Specifications (Springbok I)
Data from Shorts Aircraft since 1900[2]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 26 ft 11 in (8.20 m)
- Wingspan: 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)
- Wing area: 463 sq ft (43.0 m2)
- Gross weight: 4,080 lb (1,851 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Jupiter IV air-cooled 9-cylinder radial engine, 425 hp (317 kW) [3]
Performance
- Maximum speed: 121 mph (195 km/h, 105 kn)
Armament
- Guns:
- 1× fixed, forward-firing .303 in (7.7mm) Vickers machine gun[4]
- 2× .303 in (7.7mm) Lewis guns on scarff ring in rear cockpit[4]
See also
Related development
Related lists
References
- ^ Mason 1992, pp. 159–160
- ^ Barnes 1967, p. 173
- ^ Mason 1992, p. 160
- ^ a b Barnes 1967, p. 169
- Mason, Francis K. (1992). The British Fighter since 1912. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-082-7.
- Barnes, C.H. (1967). Shorts Aircraft since 1900. London: Putnam.