Short Silver Streak

The Short Silver Streak was the first British all-metal aircraft, designed and built by Short Brothers at Rochester, Kent. It was a single-seat biplane with a semi-monocoque duralumin fuselage and duralumin-covered wings, though the wing skin was not stressed, with a conventional landing gear and a 240 hp Siddeley Puma engine. Flight magazine claimed it was the first instance of stressed skin construction in the world, but it was preceded by a number of Dornier designs, including the Dornier-Zeppelin D.I, which was ordered into production. It was exhibited in July 1920 at Olympia in London, registered G-EARQ and first flown at Grain on 20 August 1920, then modified as a two-seater and delivered to the Air Ministry in February 1921 for flight and static testing.