Short Springbok

infobox Aircraft
name = Springbok I / II / Chamois
type = Two-seater biplane
manufacturer = Short Brothers


caption =
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
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user = Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE), Martlesham Heath
more users =
produced =
number built = 2 (S.3 Springbok I) 3 (S.3b Springbok II) 1 (S.3b Chamois)
unit cost =
variants with their own articles =

The Short Springbok was a two-seat, all-metal reconnaissance biplane produced for the British Air Ministry in the 1920s. Altogether six aircraft in the Springbok were built but none entered service with the armed forces.

Design

The Springbok fuselage was of streamlined monocoque construction mounted on the lower wing and almost filling the gap between the upper and lower wings. The wings were single-bay, of unequal span and unequal chord, constructed of steel spars with an aluminum (S.3/3a Springbok) / fabric covering (S.3b Chamois). The ailerons were on the upper wing only. The crew of two sat in tandem open cockpits, with a cut-out in the upper mainplane for the pilot's head; the observer/gunner sat behind the pilot, just behind the upper wing. The tail unit comprised a braced monoplane tail at top of fuselage with a single fin and rudder. The undercarriage was of the cross-axle type, situated under the nose and complemented by a tail skid at the rear.

History

The Springbok traces its history from the pioneering, all-metal Short Silver Streak, which was exhibited at the Olympia Aero Show in 1920. The Air Ministry had purchased the Silver Streak and subjected it to structural tests for two years at R.A.E., Farnborough. When in due course the Air Ministry issued a "Bristol Fighter-replacement" Specification 19/21, Short Brothers contracted to deliver two S.3 Springbok I two-seat reconnaissance biplanes (J6974 and J6975).

Powered by a 400 hp Bristol Jupiter IV radial engine, the S.3 Springbok I was a truly 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 J7925-J7927) 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 Specification 30/24 (as was the Vickers Vespa). The airframe of the first Springbok II (J7295) was adapted to take the more powerful 450 hp Jupiter VI. Its first flight took place at Lympne aerodrome on 14 March 1927, also flown by Lankester Parker.

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

; flag|United Kingdom
* Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE)

pecifications (Springbok)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=British Aircraft Directory [cite web|publisher=British Aircraft Directory|url=http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=400|title=Short Springbok|accessdate =2007-01-18]
crew=2
capacity=
payload main=
payload alt=
length main= 26 ft 11 in
length alt= 8.20 m
span main= 42 ft 0 in
span alt= 12.8 m
height main=
height alt=
area main= 463 ft²
area alt= 43 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main=
empty weight alt=
loaded weight main= 4,080 lb
loaded weight alt= 1,850 kg
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=

engine (prop)= Bristol Jupiter IV
type of prop= air-cooled radial engine
number of props= 1
power main= 400 hp
power alt=300 kW
power original=

max speed main= 105 knots
max speed alt= 121 mph, 195 km/h
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main=
ceiling alt=
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=

guns=1× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun

References

*

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Short Silver Streak
similar aircraft=
sequence
lists=
* List of aircraft of the RAF
see also=