wingspan of 74ft 8in (22.76m). Similarly, the
fuselage retained the rectangular cross-
section of the Skyvan, but lengthened to 58ft
(17.68m) by the insertion of ‘plugs’ fore and
aft of the wing. The rear-loading door was
deleted in favour of a smaller door which
gave access to a baggage hold in the rear
of the fuselage. Consideration was given
to converting the tail unit into a single- n
arrangement, which would have improved
performance, but the modi cation costs
would have been excessive, consequently
the twin n and rudder layout was retained.
The mainwheel units semi-retracted into
sponsons projecting from the fuselage
sides. This allowed the fuselage oor to be
nearer to the ground for easier loading and
unloading, while offering some protection
to the cabin in the event of a belly-landing.
Power was provided by a pair of Pratt &
Whitney Canada PT6A-45 engines driving
ve-bladed propellers, this combination
providing both increased power and reduced
noise levels.
The 30 passengers were seated in a
con guration of two-seats on the right-
side and one on the left with an offset
aisle; alternatively the interior could be
easily converted for the mixed-traffic role,
with around 18 passengers in a rear cabin
separated by a bulkhead from the forwardfreight compartment. The fuselage frame
spacing was re-arranged to allow a large
window to be situated at every seat row,
and the cabin was sufficiently tall to enable
passengers to stand and walk about
comfortably. Air-conditioning, overhead
lockers, and a galley and toilet all added
to the passenger appeal. Market research
predicted a demand for around 300 aircraft
in this category in the US alone during the
period from 1972 to 1981.US SUCCESS
The Shorts aircraft was the rst of the new
breed of 30-seat ‘feeder liners’, and, although
unpressurised, it was so far ahead of the
competition in its production schedule that,
for a short while, it enjoyed a near-monopoly
in this category. The rst prototype,
G-BSBH, made its maiden ight from the
company air eld at Sydenham, Belfast, on
August 22, 1974, making its public debut at
the Farnborough Air Show two weeks later.
The second prototype, G-BDBS, rst ew
in July 1975 and was used for certi cation
ying. This was completed shortly after the
maiden ight of the rst production example
on December 15, 1975.
The rst orders came from North
America, with the Canadian carrier Time Air
starting services with the type on August 24,1976 on routes from Lethbridge to Calgary
and Edmonton. Command Airways, of
Poughkeepsie, New York State, followed
suit on October 18, 1976, using the third
production example on feeder services into
New York’s John F Kennedy and LaGuardia
airports from points which included Boston,
Burlington and White Plains. However, the
US was hit hard by the oil crisis of 1976 and
air traffic took time to recover. By 1979 there
were only around 50 aircraft in the commuter
category in service in the US. By the middle
of that year worldwide sales of the Shorts
330, as the type had been marketed, totalled- Early European customers included
Germany’s DLT and the rst UK company,
Loganair. In July 1979 this airline began
using a 330 on the ‘Translink’ feeder service
to Prestwick from Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
This replaced similar links own by Viscount
aircraft on hire to BOAC, and was subsidised
by the Scottish Airports Division of the
British Airports Authority, with the aim
of making it easier for Scottish travellers
to connect with transatlantic services at
Prestwick instead of ying via London.
Other UK 330 users included Air UK and
Genair, the latter being a founder member
of British Caledonian’s BCAL Commuter
network for feeder services into Gatwick.
Genair went onto become the UK’s most
http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 21Genair Shorts 330 G-ERSI in BCAL
Commuter livery at Manchester in 1982.
AirTeamImages.com/Bob O’Brien Collection.20-24_shortsDC.mfDCDC.mf.indd 21 03/02/2017 15:06