Short SD3-60 Variant 100 leaving Dalcross airport, Inverness, Highland Region. GAV 2014-59
The history of the aircraft goes back to 1959 when it was designed as a short-field, low cost aircraft. The first flyable aircraft, the SC-7 Skyvan, rolled down a runway in 1963. After several other designs such as the SD3-30 with its twin tail, in 1981 the SD-3-60-100 flew the first time. The SD-3-60-200 is powered by two PT6A-65R engines with five-bladed propellers. The cabin with space for 30 pax is unpressurised, although the aircraft is certified for 20,000 feet. The reason is to reach some of the high situated airfields in South America. The normal cruising altitude is however FL060 and matching speed is apr. 160 knots, or 190 for high speed cruise. Nowadays the SD-3-60 is not in production. One of the major reason was Short´s inability to produce enough to satisfy the market, hence many purchasers went elsewhere. Air Cargo began flying 3,500 lb. capacity Shorts Skyvan aircraft and grew to a fleet of 5 such aircraft. Starting in 1990, Shorts SD3-30 aircraft were added to the fleet. Even larger capacity Shorts 360’s were introduced into Air Cargo operations in 1995. The Skyvans have been phased out over time by moving them to an airline that is associated with Air Cargo Carriers. This airline, North Star Air Cargo, operates the aircraft but Air Cargo Carriers provides operating assistance in the form of dispatching, spares provisioning and other services. This has been an advantage to Air Cargo as North Star has been able to inaugurate routes with lower volumes than Air Cargo operates with the larger Shorts 330’s and 360’s. As volumes grow on the routes it is an easy upgrade to the larger 330’s and 360’s.
Size: 6072px × 3881px
Location: Inverness, Dalcross Airport. Highland Region, Scotland United Kingdom.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: &, 330., 1981., 36-39, 360-100, 5, 360, aeroplane, airborne, aircraft, airport, airways, aviation, blade, bladed, british, brothers., built, canada, cargo, cicil, commuter, constant, dalcross, engines, flight, flying, hartzell, haul, internal, introduced, inverness, larger, loganair, military, operations, passenger, passengers, powered, pratt, propellors, pt6a-65r, scotland, sd3-60-100, seats, service, short, speed, turboprop, version, whitney
