Short 14/38 "STRATOLINER"

[evansb]

Did this aircraft actually exist? I am looking for 3-view drawings, photos, specs, etc. of this experimental high-altitude air liner which further development was abandoned due to the outbreak of WWII.
Superficially, it resembles the DC-4 prototype. A line drawing I have shows the civil registration of: G-AFMX. I have googled several sources but to no avail. I do not have access to the Putnam publication; "Shorts Aircraft since 1909 blah blah.." so I am looking for any substantive information on this aircraft. Thank you in advance...

[MReyn24050]

evansb
I have the Putnam book and there is reference to a Short S.32 Airliner. I do not have access to my scanner at present but will scan a picture later if required. Aircraft Registration G-AFMK was allocated along with ML and MM to this project. In March 1939 the King and Queen during their visit to Rochester were shown work on three fuselages but the completion of the first aircraft within the ensuing year became an impossible target under wartime conditions and the project was abandoned in May 1940. G-AFMX by the way was a Zlinn XII.
Mel

[evansb]

Mel, a scanned photo would be excellent! Somewhere, someone has a cockpit photo too.

[MReyn24050]

evansb
The photograph is of the model only. None of the aircraft were completed so I do not think a photograph of the cockpit layout exists.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c67/sabamel/Aircraft/ShortsS.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c67/sabamel/Aircraft/ShortsS-1.jpg.
One can see the wing was a typical Short's wing.
Mel

[MReyn24050]

Engine type was to be four turbo-supercharged Hercules VIC engines with a higher specific fuel consumption than the Hercules IV.

[evansb]

Thanks for the scanned image and 3-view. The top elevation view hints at an area rule "pinched" fuselage design. Although this technology was to aid supersonic flight, I'll guess the engineers did this for cabin pressurization considerations.

[Tim Inder]

Evansb, I think that the 'pinched' effect you speak of is in fact the line that the wing fairing takes along the fuselage.

[evansb]

Yes you are right, I believe the fuselage cross-section is indeed symetrical.

[evansb]

I don't know when or why the project designator 14/38 was changed to S.32.


http://tkfiles.storage.msn.com/x1pxzZ39wV--_cOVn2UBjqJV1Ax6KanjMCfEDwx1GIWKVVRpiK-kcJIbFn02Yf9BKXYOay6oo5yLL9uwGwCJU_k95Qhw81Df0WJjJ8I1-c4kX37TpLyYuAWvi-CRtSiDU-x_tIl_6cfxvk

[MReyn24050]

In response to a tender to specification 14/38 Shorts were awarded Contract No 762587/38 for three prototypes. S.32 was Short's design index for the project and was allocated when Construction Numbers S.1022-1024 along with Registrations G-AFMK to MM were reserved for the three prototypes, It was intended ,in any production version of the S.32, to introduce a nose-wheel landing gear. CH Barnes in his book "ShortsAircraft since 1900" states that in 1943 when Short Brothers were able to turn their attention to the Brabazon Committee's recomendations they did not revive the S.32 concept but investigated much larger layouts.