Short Skyvan projects

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I am currently writing a book on the Short Skyvan. I wonder if anyone has information (description, drawings etc) on Shorts project P.D.50 described as a "Skyvan VTOL test-bed", and P.D.62 listed in the Putnam as "Skyvan with B.L.C" but elsewhere as "Skyvan Feeder Liner". Both seem quite intriguing.

Apart from the obvious P.D.36, P.D.51 and the much discussed COIN variant, are there any other unbuilt Skyvan projects?

Regards,

John Hayles
 
Cessna Skyvan, Flying Review International, June 1969

... US. funded 20x Short Skyvan for South Vietnamese Air Force, 1970 (part of F.111 offset, inc. C.10 Jetstream for USAF. and EE. Lightning for Jordan (in place of ex. German F.104G)

131268584_274462054065511_5092966025349762942_n.jpg
 

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Hi,

"Flight Evaluation of Short Brothers and Harland Limited SC7 Military Skyvan-Series 3M" by the US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Equipment Development Center, San Dimas, June 1973, by Marshall C. Miller:


Includes dimensioned threeview drawing.

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)
 
Most of my Skyvan experience has been jumping out of them.
It started with a series of skydiving boogies that focussed on the Pink Skyvan out of Austria. I only attended a single Skyvan booige in Saint Johan im Tyrol, Austria, but several more in Baden-Baden, Schweighofen, etc. in West Germany.
The last time I saw a Skyvan haul skydivers was this past summer (mid July 2024) at Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada. It was contracted to carry the Canadian Armed Force Parachute Demonstration Team (aka. Skyhawks) on a tour of Vancouver Island and they stopped to do a show for the military veterans gathered for Operation Pegasus Jump. That Skyvan is owned and operated by Nomad Air out of Northern B.C. or the Yukon.
Nomad Air also supplies Skyvans to the Canadian Air Force's Search and Rescue School at CFB Comox, also on Vancouver Island.
Yes, Skyvans are popular with skydivers because you can easily launch a 10-,man formation with grips. I also know why it is a bad idea to launch 20-ways. Hah! Hah!
Several large American civilian skydiving centers (Perris Valley, California; Eloy, Arizona; DeLand, Florida; etc.)also operate Skyvans. Their primary role is to teach freefall skills to military special operations soldiers. With only 20 seats, a Skyvan can teach the basics for a fraction of the cost of a C-130 Hercules.
 
Hi,

was there any more Info about Shorts PD.50 ?.
 
To me the Skyvan looks like something you would see in a kids programme.
 
Hi Rob,

riggerrob said:
Nomad Air also supplies Skyvans to the Canadian Air Force's Search and Rescue School at CFB Comox, also on Vancouver Island.
Yes, Skyvans are popular with skydivers because you can easily launch a 10-,man formation with grips. I also know why it is a bad idea to launch 20-ways. Hah! Hah!
Click to expand...

According to this site, the problem with more than 10 jumpers was the shift of the centre of gravity.

diverdriver.com

SC-7 Skyvan Skydiving Aircraft - DiverDriver.com

SC-7 Skyvan Skydiving Aircraft Just like the Twin Otter, the Shorts Skyvan is a very purpose built aircraft! Ruggedly built to haul bulky loads out of short unimproved strips. Affectionately called “the shed” by pilots and crew the Skyvan is a strut braced high wing aircraft with a fixed landing...
diverdriver.com

But maybe from the jumper's perspective, there was yet another problem?

Conincedentally, I only saw my first Skyvan out in the wild 2 weeks ago. Before that, I only knew the Austrian military examples, which were regular guests at airshows but unfortunately restricted their presence to standing around in the static exhibition.

(With the TPE-331-02, which wasn't flat-rated and thus lost power with altitude pretty quickly, it appears the Austrian Skyvans were a bit low on performance when it came to operating at alpine altitudes, and the absence of powerful de-icing equipment further limited their operational utility, so it seems the Austrians weren't entirely happy with the type.)

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)
 
O/T

I remember watching an attempt at the largest skydiving formation on TV…all I remember was a youngster tearing into an old gentleman, throwing him off the team.

I don’t know if it was deserved or not (you can’t have a slow man on fast equipment)—but it came across as ugly.
 
HoHun said:
Hi Rob,



According to this site, the problem with more than 10 jumpers was the shift of the centre of gravity.

diverdriver.com

SC-7 Skyvan Skydiving Aircraft - DiverDriver.com

SC-7 Skyvan Skydiving Aircraft Just like the Twin Otter, the Shorts Skyvan is a very purpose built aircraft! Ruggedly built to haul bulky loads out of short unimproved strips. Affectionately called “the shed” by pilots and crew the Skyvan is a strut braced high wing aircraft with a fixed landing...
diverdriver.com

But maybe from the jumper's perspective, there was yet another problem?

Conincedentally, I only saw my first Skyvan out in the wild 2 weeks ago. Before that, I only knew the Austrian military examples, which were regular guests at airshows but unfortunately restricted their presence to standing around in the static exhibition.

(With the TPE-331-02, which wasn't flat-rated and thus lost power with altitude pretty quickly, it appears the Austrian Skyvans were a bit low on performance when it came to operating at alpine altitudes, and the absence of powerful de-icing equipment further limited their operational utility, so it seems the Austrians weren't entirely happy with the type.)

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)
Click to expand...
The problem aocurrs when all 20 jumpers try to crowd the ramp in an attempt to launch a large formation. This happened during a Pink Skyvan Boogie in Schweighofen, West Germany during the summer of 1987. I was number 17 in the line-up. All that weight - aft of the center-of-gravity destabilized the airplane and it stalled, then started to spin. Skydivers hesitated. Eventually we launched the skydive. Afterwards I chatted with the pilot. He was pale and scared. He said that he spin a turn and a half before recovering control! This stall/spin scared an Austrian Air Force pilot whose day job included fly SAAB jet trainers THROUGH the alps ... not over the alps ... THROUGH the alps.
I have also seen a couple of Skyvans tipped back on their tails - on the ground - while rehearsing the same 20-ways. This usually results in bent tail fins. The solution is adding a steel bar below the edge of the ramp.
A secondary solution is painting a red line on the floor, along with the words "No more than 10 jumpers behind this line."
 
HoHun said:
(With the TPE-331-02, which wasn't flat-rated and thus lost power with altitude pretty quickly, it appears the Austrian Skyvans were a bit low on performance when it came to operating at alpine altitudes, and the absence of powerful de-icing equipment further limited their operational utility, so it seems the Austrians weren't entirely happy with the type.)
Click to expand...

The Super-2 engine compressor mods weren't particularly expensive to install and provided flat-rating up into the high teens so it's difficult to have sympathy for an operator who failed to invest in their assets.
 
Hi,

Kiltonge said:
The Super-2 engine compressor mods weren't particularly expensive to install and provided flat-rating up into the high teens so it's difficult to have sympathy for an operator who failed to invest in their assets.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the hint! Do you have any more detail on the Super-2 mod?

I found this old thread ...


... and looked up the referenced supplemental type certificate:

Dynamic Regulatory System

drs.faa.gov drs.faa.gov

... but that seems to have been a straightforward swap of the TPE331-2 against the TPE-331-6, so I'm still not sure what the Super-2's capabilities were (unless the Super-2 was basically the same as a normal -6).

The SC-7 Series 3, Variant 200 mentioned by the type certificate seems to have been the US-approved version, which had a few changes compared to the British original original, which I think is implied to be the the Variant 100. It seems Skyvan designations can be a source of confusion sometimes, though.

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)
 

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