The Shorts 330 is a 30-seat twin turbo prop short/medium range
commuter airliner and freighter developed from the Shorts Skyvan.
Design and production was by Short Brothers of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The firm was later taken over by Bombardier.
The Shorts Sherpa is a military transport very similar to the S330
in appearance except for it's rear loading ramp.
The S330 is officially a STOL (short take off and landing) airliner but because of it's size and weight it can't be regarded as a bush plane. It was intended to serve small provincial airports and it does that job well but it's not suitable for short, semi-prepared, bush air strips.
FLYING TIPS
The model will initialize with the engines running, in FSX you must immediately set the parking brake.
Reduce the prop thrust to low idle by pulling down the fuel levers with your mouse or using keyboard Ctrl-Shift-F2.
Set the autofeather switch to ON.
TAXIING
Taxi with fuel levers in low idle position. For take-off and normal flight set the fuel levers to high.
This aircraft has a high centre of gravity and a narrow undercarriage so do not taxi at more than 10-15 kts.
TAKE-OFF
For take-off at high weight ( full fuel and passengers) use 15 º of flap and also set some nose up trim.
80% power is enough for take-off on all but very short runways.
Raise wheels and flap at or before 150 kts. Re-trim as necessary.
TRIMMING
Correct trim is important. The S330 model can be trimmed for straight and level flight without the use of the autopilot.
Some joy stick and yoke trim buttons make large adjustments to the elevator trim, for fine trim adjustments use the 7 and 1 buttons on the numerical keypad. (without the num lock on)
My Saitek AV8R trim button is 3 times more sensitive than the keypad buttons.
After re-trimming allow 10-20 seconds at least for the trimming to take effect and for the aircraft to settle down.
Rudders and ailerons can be trimmed by clicking on the +/- symbols on the trim gauge. This will usually only be necessary when flying on one engine.
Except when on autopilot the trim must be adjusted throughout the flight.
Factors which alter the trim are :
Adding or reducing engine power
Altering propeller pitch
Raising or lowering flaps
Raising or lowering undercarriage
Changes in balance due to usage of fuel
Changes in wind velocity, air temperature and air density.
Lowering flaps for landing significantly increases the lift of the wing and the nose will go up. You must be ready for this, lower the nose with forward pressure on stick/yoke then trim the nose down. The more flap you lower the more trimming is needed.
CRUISE
Best cruise altitude is between 8000 ft and 10,000 ft. This aircraft is not pressurized, you can't fly above 10,000 ft and expect to bring back all the passengers alive. On ferry flights, with the crew on oxygen, you can cruise at 15,000 ft.
In cruise flight reduce the prop RPM to 80% - pull down the prop levers with mouse or keyboard Ctrl-F2. Return the prop RPM to 100% for landing.
At 85% power with the prop RPM set at 80% she will cruise at about 190 kts indicated air speed. Your GPS ground speed may show higher or lower than this depending on the current wind speed and direction. Air temperature and air density will also affect your groundspeed reading.
You know when you are best economical cruise when the fuel flow needles point straight up.
FEATHERING THE PROPELLERS
The props will feather automatically on engine shut down after landing.
To feather a prop in flight :
1. Close the throttle.
2. Pull down the pitch lever to it's full extent.
3. Pull down the fuel condition lever to it's full extent.
LANDING
When entering the airport approach pattern reduce airspeed to 150 kts, lower the wheels and one notch of flap. Re-trim.
Fly your approach at 100-120 kts with 15 º (2 notches) of flap. For short runways lower full flaps on final approach but maintain at least 90 kts until you are at the runway threshold. Lowering full flap (35º)causes a large trim change, be ready to hold the nose down and then re-trim.
With 15º of flap (two notches) aim to touch down at 80 kts
With 35º of flap (three notches) aim to touch down at 70 kts.
Use reverse thrust after landing if required.
SHUT DOWN
Set the parking brake.
Set autofeather switch to off.
Pull down the fuel levers to the cut-off position using mouse or Ctrl-Shift-F2, the engines will stop.
Turn off all lights.
Turn off pitot heat.
Turn off avionics switch
Turn off generators ( alternators)
Turn off the battery. Emergency battery warning light will remain illuminated.
Open cargo/passenger doors as necessary.
START UP
Manual Start Up :
Check fuel quantity
Check parking brake ON.
Turn on battery.
Move fuel levers to Low Idle position.
Operate left starter switch until the engine starts.
Turn on left generator
Operate right starter switch.
Turn on right generator.
Turn on Avionics switch.
Turn on pitot heat.
Turn on Autofeather switch
Turn on beacons. Strobes and landing lights are not normally turned on until you are at the runway ready for take-off. At night/dusk/dawn turn on Nav lights.
Note: If you want to contact ATC before starting the engines the battery switch and the avionics switch must be on.
Useful things to know.
Shift-E opens passenger door and places the airstair.
Shift-E-2 opens the two baggage compartments.
In VC view CTRL-Enter moves your eyepoint back. To see the passenger or cargo cabin press and hold. In the cabin you can use your hat switch to look around.
CTRL-Backspace moves your eyepoint forward.
Shift-W toggles the yoke on/off in VC panel (Ctrl-W in FSX)
To Raise your seat higher press SHIFT-ENTER (in FSX this only works in VC view)
The spinning props look better in flight if you dab Ctrl-F2 a few times
There are lots of other eypoint commands in FS9 and FSX, a few more are listed in the README_FIRST document.
