Golden West Airlines  Shorts 330  N330GW    (c/n  SH.3010)

                                    

                                        In 1972 the CAB amended the rules and allowed Third Level Carriers to operate aircraft of  up to
                                        30 seats (or 7,500 lbs of payload).  This opened the door for commuter airlines to secure the kind
                                        of machines they required to meet the growing capacity that their networks were now generating.
                                        Golden West's loads were rapidly exceeding the capacity of the Twin Otter and in looking to
                                        upgrade to a larger type, ordered a fleet of five Shorts 330s. "Why?" you may ask. Good question.
                                        In the words of my good friend, the inimitable Art Scholl  "Well, it seemed liked a good idea at the
                                        time!".  Anyway, the Shorts 330 had been developed by Short Brothers and Harland Ltd of Belfast,
                                        Northern Ireland, from the smaller, even more box-like Skyvan.  Originally designated the Short
                                        SD3-30, the design was marketed as the Shorts 330.  It was never a roaring commercial success
                                        and only about 180 of them were built (and that includes a number of C-23s that the USAF decided
                                        to buy - on our money).  N330GW was delivered in the summer of 1977 and is seen above in this
                                        shot by Frank C. Duarte on short finals into Lindbergh Field, San Diego in December of 1981.
                                        The image below is by Ellis M. Chernoff and shows a 330 taken at LAX also in 1981 in the final
                                        livery adopted by GWA before they ceased operations in 1983.

                                        Shorts 330  N335GW               (c/n    SH.3062)