National Air and Space Museum Archives

Short Brothers Aircraft Photo Album

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.XXXX.0538
Creators:
Short Brothers Ltd.
Dates:
1908-1944
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.3 Cubic feet
1 flat box (11 x 13 x 3 inches)
Repository:
This small album of black and white photographs, A Photographic Record of "Short" Aircraft Designed & Constructed by Short Brothers (Rochester & Bedford) Ltd. in the Period 1908-1944, contains 69 photographs by V. E. Galloway with historical descriptive text by L. Stedman. The introduction which starts the album gives a brief overview of the history of the Short Brothers British aircraft manufacturing company (generally referred to as "Shorts") from its formation in England (UK) in 1908 through 1944; the author describes the contents of the album as follows: "The pages that follow contain a pictorial record of aircraft types produced since 1908... an ancestral line of which the firm of Short Brothers may feel justly proud."

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This small 9 x 11.25 inch photo album, A Photographic Record of "Short" Aircraft Designed & Constructed by Short Brothers (Rochester & Bedford) Ltd. in the Period 1908-1944, contains 69 black and white photographs by V. E. Galloway with historical descriptive text by L. Stedman. The introduction which starts the album gives a brief overview of the history of the Short Brothers aircraft manufacturing company (generally referred to as "Shorts") from its formation in England (UK) in 1908 through 1944. The inside front cover features aerial views of the Short Brothers works near Leysdown-on-Sea (1909) and at Eastchurch (1911). The remainder of the album presents photographs in chronological order of Short Brothers aircraft models from the Short-Wright Flyer (a license-Built Wright Model A) to the Short S.45 Seaford flying boat, most accompanied by captions.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The album appears in its original order, which is roughly chronological. In 1983, almost all of the photographs in this album were reproduced on the second side (Side B) of
National Air and Space Museum Archival Videodisc 1
, a LaserDisc CAV format 12-inch (30 cm) optical disc published by the Smithsonian Institution. Print numbers assigned during videodisc production are used as item-level image numbers (print numbers NASM 00086888 to 00086957, videodisc frame capture numbers VD-1B36888 to VD-1B36957). The two text pages (i and ii) appearing between the inside front cover (NASM 00086888) and page 1 (NASM 00086889) were not reproduced on videodisc, but were later scanned and catalogued as NASM-9A06510 and NASM-9A06511 respectively. Although assigned videodisc numbers, pages 1 through 3 (NASM 00086889 through NASM 00086891) were not reproduced on videodisc due to camera operator error, and were later scanned and catalogued as NASM-9A08529 through NASM-9A08531.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
In November 1908, Hugh Oswald, Albert Eustace, and Horace Leonard Short established Short Brothers Ltd to build Wright aircraft under license in England (UK). In 1919 the name was revised to Short Brothers (Rochester & Bedford) Ltd. In 1936 Short Brothers convinced the British Air Ministry to establish a new factory in Belfast and established Short & Harland Ltd, jointly owned by Short Brothers and Harland & Wolff, to manage the plant. In November 1947 Short Brothers and Short & Harland merged to form Short Brothers & Harland Ltd of Belfast (Northern Ireland, UK). In June 1977 the company readopted the name Short Brothers Ltd. By the 1980s, 100 percent of the company stock was held by the British Government and, in 1984, the company was renamed Short Brothers PLC. In October 1989 the company was purchased by Bombardier Inc of Canada to become the European Group of Bombardier Aerospace, although the company still operates under the Short Brothers name.

Administration

Author
Melissa A. N. Keiser
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, gift, unknown, NASM.XXXX.0538
Processing Information
Arranged, described and encoded by Melissa A. N. Keiser, 2021.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Preferred Citation
Short Brothers Aircraft Photo Album, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0538, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Aircraft industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aeronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aeronautics, Commercial Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Short Brothers Aircraft Family Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Airplanes Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Albums Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Short, Hugh Oswald Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Short, Albert Eustace Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Short, Horace Leonard Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Short Brothers Ltd. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Short Brothers (Rochester & Bedford) Ltd. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Air and Space Museum Archives
14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151
NASMRefDesk@si.edu