Shorts 330/360
 

saw a thread on here the other day about 2 UK reg' Skyvans. Does anyone know if there are any 330's or 360's still flying. its a pity there aren,t any in the uk for airshow (rides)

There is at least one German 360 that does freight flights.

SHORTS 330/360
 

Why did they fall out of favour? It's hard to believe there are so few still operating!

Cheap to operate, but slow and unpressurised.

There is usually one up in INV, BenAir I think.

i flew on a 360 a few weeks back operating out of punta cana (puj) on tourist trips. cant remember the operators name unfortunately. was in pretty good nick.

Have some memories regarding Shorts 360. After running a conference in Liverpool Mrs hflymk3 joined me there for a few days where she announced that she thought she might be pregnant. She bought a diy kit and at breakfast at the hotel told me that the test was positive.


We were due to fly back to London that morning from the then Speke on a Manx Airline 360. While waiting in the departure lounge the pilot informed us that Heathrow was fog bound and that the plane was not classified to land in those conditions. However we would fly down there in the hope that the fog would clear. So we flew over a carpet of fog with only a few high rises and factory chimneys poking through the murk. Over London still no change, capt tells us that we can circle for 20 minutes before heading for an alternate which was Liverpool. So back up country we go. Although offered a coach back to London, Mrs hf3 and myself took the train on which I had a few G&Ts.


Shuttling up and down the country that day gave me time to contemplate impending fatherhood.


Our first born is now 28.


Happy days.

SHORTS 330/360
 

Yes, they were unpressurized, but they weren't targeting long sectors, so it didn't really matter...
They were roomy, nice large windows, reasonably quiet....How come the "Bandit" (EMB-110) has outlived it?

I believe there are still a number flying in the USA and Caribbean area, but mainly as cargo a/c.

There must be a market for next generation 30 to 40 pax aircraft to replace the few that are still around. Only new DHC-6s so far available.

The Twin Otter (also unpressurised, of course) only seats 19, so it doesn't compete in the 30-40 seat market.

In fact there's no real competitor currently in that size bracket, which is an indication of how manufacturers see the market.

The 360 was the box that the 330 came in.

The only jump seat I ever sat on that was on the left of the captain. Made for a weird perspective!

The Skyvan...known affectionately in its home town as the Flying Henhouse.

:ok:Also the 330 was known as the Shed and the 360 was known as the Super Shed or Vomit Comets

"The Shoebox" at BMA.

Amazingly, Midland's sole 330, former G-BJFK, is still flying freight in The USA!

shorts 360
 

you could always hire one from this company
Private Jet Charter | Hire | Shorts 360 | PrivateFly
at £9000 an hour if you could get 30 people that's 300 each for an hour.
I do not know weather this is still on there books but it would be a nice trip down memory lane. richard

Only had one trip on JFK, from Heathrow to EMA. Very gusty approach, and once we landed it was promptly grounded as the wind was above limits, so had to come back on the F-27.

Lovely aeroplane to fly, though, as was the 360.

Shorts 330/360
 

Here in Oz, Sunstate had Shorts 330/360 but I believe Comalco wanted their staff to be able to fly in a pressurized turbine twin into Gladstone. Along comes a competitor with old Mohawk 298s! No faster, no bigger, but flew about 2,000 ft higher with pressurization!

Flown in the 360 twice. Once from Teesside to Gatwick, think that was Casair and another with Bangkok Airways from Hua Hin to Bankok. Seem to recall looking into the flight deck which looked like a submarine !!.

TWA aircraft taxying out passed a 360 and asked what it was. When told he said "I bet it looks better out of its box".

During delays one morning at Heathrow a 360 in the BNN hold asked "How much longer - it's wall to wall sick in the back".

Shorts 330 & 360
 

Had many a trip in both (plus Twin Otters & Bandeirantes) between HVB & BNE back in the 90s with Sunstate. Very roomy inside but were subject to a few bumps especially if going via MBH. Also known as the Irish Concord.

Since we are going down memory lane :) I logged 330/360 flights with British Midland, Air-UK, Air Europe Express, British Caledonian Commuter (operated by Brymon Airways in BCAL livery), Guernsey Airways, Jersey European Airways, British Air Ferries and, on a more exotic scale, Coral Air - between St Thomas and St Croix. Quite a trip down airline memory lane too :)

Look at FR24 most weekday evenings and you will see a 360 freighter plying it's way (at FL100) between Frankfurt and Coventry.

:ok: One of two operated by Nightexpress.

Jump seated a TriStar LHR - CDG once - seem to recall jump seat was to the left of the Captain and slightly higher - gave a great view through those huge windows.

>Flown in the 360 twice. Once from Teesside to Gatwick, think that was Casair.

Probably Genair or Gill Airways if it was a 360.

I used to use the MME-LGW in Gill days. The routing brought us in sight of the East Coast Main Line at some points, and I was convinced that the newly-introduced electric trains were overtaking us.

Flew Shorts regularly from HUY to LHR and AMS and for a short time GLW. I remember waiting to leave GLW one night and delayed because the wind was too strong. It was blowing a hooligan but eventually we left and i looked out of the window and we seemed to be about 10 feet above the runway travelling at walking pace. We then turned around and travelled to Teesside faster than the Pilot had ever done it before, before carrying on to HUY.
If the 1900 flight from LHR to HUY didn't get off before Concorde I seem to recall that we had to wait about 10 minutes until the turbulence subsided.
One time after a bumpy ride from AMS an American chap opened the overhead locker and a bottle of whisky fell out and crowned the chap sitting below. The American picked the bottle up and said "Is this your's Buddy?", dropped it into the lap of the semi conscious feller who had blood running down his face and walked off the plane without a backward glance!!

I don't think the British Caledonian Commuter 330/360 would have been Brymon Airways. They never operated their aircraft in BCAL Commuter colours, though their own colours were blue and yellow/gold and not too disimilar. Also I don't remember Brymon ever owning any Shorts 330/360. They did have a short term lease of a 330 on the BHX-LGW-BHX service to see if it would generate better loads than the Twin Otter. From memory I think that was a Fairflight/Air Ecosse aircraft.

Connectair also built up quite a fleet of 330 and 360 on their way to becoming City Flyer Express

The Genair Sheds were painted in BCal Commuter colours. Not sure from memories of ABZ in the 80s that the Air Ecosse ones were.

With reference to MME, didn't Casair acquire a 330 before the merger with Genair and Eastern that created the enlarged Genair?

Time for a list of UK 330 360 operators?

Thanks for jogging the memory Midland 331. Yes it was Gill Air. Also seem to remember our parking gate at Gatwick was just about the furthest possible distance from the BA Lagos gate meaning a hard dash to make the connection.

Casair bought G-OCAS 330 new from the factory.

surely not:

Brymon leased Shorts 330 G-BKDO from Shorts between June and September 1985. It was indeed on a LGW-BHX route that I flew on it, 3 July 1985. It had BRITISH CALEDONIAN COMMUTER SERVICE titles and (in my opinion) was closer to BCAL's colours than those of Brymon.

I found a photo and am trying to link it on here.

http://www.jetphotos.net/photolink.php?id=7587909

Thanks for posting that photo Hotel Tango.

G-BKDO pictured was leased to Brymon by Fairflight during the summer of 1985 to see whether increasing available seats on the BHX-LGW-BHX route would stimulate additional demand. By then ownership of G-BKDO had passed from Genair, who operated it in full BCAL Commuter Colours, to Fairflight of Biggin Hill who initially flew it in the BCAL Commuter colours for Brymon with Genair painted out. Brymon never owned a 330.

G-BKDO was originally with Eastern Airways (Mk1) and was repainted to BCAL Commuter colours when Genair bought Eastern and Casair.

edit to add.......... I have a photo of G-BKDO taxiing out from stand 97 at LGW, but on 8th Jun 1985, and a comment on the photo that it is operated by Fairflight but leased to Brymon.

Surely the King of Sheds!!

Photos: Short 360-300 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

Spent many an hour in this lovely little ship.

OB

surely not
 

But the bottom line was that it was effectively a Brymon flight when I flew on it, so my original remark still stands. :p;)

I recall seeing a picture of a prototype Shorts 360 with 3 engines!

The same configuration as a Trilander, it was just about the ugliest aeroplane I've ever seen; I'm still not sure that it wasn't a wind-up.

Has anyone else heard of such a thing? I'd love to see the picture again.

So, would any drivers like to say what they liked about them?

I seem to recall that there was some kind of icing "gotcha", and that there was an absence of boots at vital places.

Did the ditching exit leak, and there was a need for bush hats?

Comment from a driver. In good weather a very pleasant little machine. However; in any sort of icing, not nice at all. I got airborne from Leeds/Bradford one dark night, en-route to Belfast. Having got to about FL50, and no chance of any higher, decided to divert to Manchester. The de-ice that was fitted was working fine, but ice was building up rapidly on the struts and undercarriage sponsons (and probably on the flat-plate underside, which was becoming more flat-plate as the speed decayed). The FO was more experienced on type than I was, so I left him flying it. The ILS glideslope was about all the beast could manage, and in the final stages I had effectively take-off power on. Having had a nice little worry about when our decaying airspeed was going to meet our increasing stall speed, I came out with a case of alopecia nervosa. Yep, a few weeks later big chunks of my hair came out. All grown back now; just a receding hairline these days.

Yes, in good weather, which I think it was designed for, very pleasant.