Short Scion Niagara III UK aircraft apron plane rare 1936 - Original Photo

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Short Scion Niagara III UK aircraft apron plane rare 1936 - Original Photo:
$70.00

An original 8x5" vintage photo from an album of rare antique/vintage aircraft photos that we acquired in London from the estate of famed Concorde/Red Arrows photographer Arthur Gibson (1926-1992).

These are photos Gibson collected throughout his lifetime and stored in two absolutely massive (but partly damaged) albums. We carefully removed the photos and placed the captions he had created on the back of each. Most of the photos where we were able to see the backs have “Crown Copyright” stamps, and appear to have originated from government sources such as the Ministry of Aircraft Production ( MAP) and similar historic British aviation entities. Professionally packaged in a rigid mailer for safe delivery.

Photo Overview

The photograph captures the four-engined Short Scion “Niagara III” (civil registration G-ACUI) freshly rolled out onto the concrete apron at Short Brothers’ Rochester, Kent, airfield in 1936. The compact nine-seat UK aircraft gleams under overcast skies, its quadruple Armstrong Siddeley Genet engines and distinctive glazed cockpit clearly shown while ground tracks curve away toward a hangar in the background. Air Ministry reference number “824 I.B.” is stencil-printed at lower right, confirming an official pre-war production shot.

Only six Scion Seniors were ever built; Niagara III was the third airframe and served as a demonstrator before being impressed into the RAF as a light transport during WW2. Short Brothers pioneered all-metal flying-boats like the Empire class, and the little Scion bridged their civil and military work—making surviving images scarce. Add this rare British prototype to your collection today before another aviation enthusiast taxis it away.

Text Present

Front lower right: “824 I. B.”
Fuselage aft: “G-ACUI” (registration)
Back caption (Arthur Gibson album label):
“SCION.
SHORT.
NIAGARA III.
1936.”

Print analysis: Gelatin silver print on medium-weight fiber paper with Air Ministry file number and period registration; no modern dot pattern. Album provenance and subject date align, indicating a Type 1 original 1936 photo produced within months of exposure.

Condition: Fair to good antique/vintage condition. Some photos have smudges from the album (and can likely be carefully cleaned off). The backs of each photo contain remnants from being glued in an album, and show curling from age. See photos for exact condition of this photo.