Shipbucket

France - Cirrus SR22
Deleted

EA-18G Growler

Short Stirling Mk.V

Stirling production transfered from bomber to assault transport, and then to a pure transport.



The Mk.V again started from the basic Mk.III, but now all armament was removed, with the tail turret being fared over. The nose section was significantly changed, with a perspex nose cap added. The whole nose section was hinged, to open to allow the loading of cargo using a moving beam with a block and tackle. A large rear cargo door was also added to the starboard side. Inside, up to 40 passengers or 12 stretchers and 14 seated patients could be carried, and so the windowing was increased for the whole of the passenger compartment.
An order was placed for 160 aircraft, and the first was delivered in late 1944. The Mk.V aircraft dispensed with the Bomber Command colour scheme, and all were delivered in the Day Fighter scheme. Once the war had ended the aircraft started to be paint stripped, and the Mk.V's ended their days in bare metal. But the service life of the Mk.V's was not long, and by July 1946 all had been retired.

Cirrus SR22 - Various Users

Short S.37 Civil Stirling

Like every other aircraft manufacturer after WWII, Shorts misjudged the postwar demands for civil aircraft.



With the production line producing the Mk.V military transport version of the Stirling, Shorts attempted to modify the design to become a purely civil airliner. A single Mk.V was modified to civilian standards, with a soundproofed interior configured for 30 passengers and first flew in May 1945 still with its military identification, redesignated now as the S.37 and due to its polished exterior named the "Silver Stirling".
BOAC however chose the Halifax derived Halton for their West African routes, and no other civil orders were forthcoming.

ENAER T-35 Pillán

Lovely additions from everyone.

USA - Air Tractor AT-802

Gorgeous work on the AT-802 @Darth Panda.

Short Stirling in Belgian civil sevice

While the Civil Stirling passed without success, in 1947 a single civil customer surfaced for demobbed Mk.V's.



Twelve Mk.V's were sold to Trans-Air of Belguim, with 10 refurbished to the S.37 standard and 2 sold for spare parts. Four aircraft were configred for 36 passengers, while the other 6 were dedicated freighters. They were used on flights from the UK to China, but in December 1947 one crashed on take-off in China, and the rest of the fleet was subsequently withdrawn from service.

I'm amazed the AT-802 hadn't been drawn before, nice work!