The Short S.32 was a British four-engined all-metal long-range transport monoplane designed by
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
to
Air Ministry Specification 14/38. The project was abandoned in May 1940.
If produced, it would have been one of the first British pressurised airliners.
Development
In 1938 the British
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
issued two specifications (14/38 and 15/38) for large transport aircraft comparable in size with the
Junkers Ju 90
The Junkers Ju 90 was a four-engined airliner and transport aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers.
Derived from the abortive Ju 89 strategic bomber, it was developed to be used as a long-distance commercia ...
and
Focke-Wulf Fw 200
The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 ''Condor'', also known as ''Kurier'' (German language, German for ''courier'') to the Allies of World War II, Allies, is an all-metal four-engined monoplane designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wul ...
, with Specification 14/38 being for use on Empire routes and 15/38 for European routes.
[Barnes 1967, p. 341.][Brookes ''Flight'' 9 May 1958, p. 632.] The Ministry placed a contract with Shorts for three prototypes designated the Short S.32 against specification 14/38 and a production order for 14
Fairey FC1s against specification 15/38.
The S.32 was a four-engined mid-wing monoplane powered by
Bristol Hercules
The Bristol Hercules is a 14-cylinder two-row radial aircraft engine designed by Sir Roy Fedden and produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1939. It was the most numerous of their single sleeve valve ( Burt-McCollum, or Argyll, ty ...
radials. The S.32 had a tailwheel landing gear to overcome problems with a nose wheel retracting into a pressurised fuselage. The build of three prototypes for the Air Ministry was started at Rochester but due to the urgent need for the factory to build the
Short Stirling
The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the war (the earlier Handley ...
construction was abandoned.
Specifications
See also
References
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{{Short Brothers aircraft
1930s British airliners
S.32
Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United Kingdom
Mid-wing aircraft
Four-engined tractor aircraft
Four-engined piston aircraft