Lennart Andersson » 22 Ноябрь 2009 20:37
We are touching on a complicated subject here, becasue Factory No 31 c/ns are quite confusing. To be exact, this is what is written in the register:
C259 c/n 98 date 10.9.33, to H72
Ш810 c/n 31198 date 22.11.33
A398 c/n 198 date 3.4.34
H72 c/n 3198 date 22.8.35
K360 c/n 31198 date 11.6.40
Factory No 31 c/ns were changed in 1930 to a system with two letters (OA, OБ, OB, OГ, etc) and numbers 1 to 99 (or 100): OA-1, OA-2, etc. When Sh-2 production started in 1932 they were apparently numbered from OЖ-32 to at least OЗ-8 in these series (probably the first 100 aircraft approximately). In 1933 the c/n system changed again and then all numbers started with "31" for Factory No 31. Sh-2 c/ns were inte range 31101 to 31302.
As only 270 Sh-2s were built by Factory No 31 there are clearly "too many" c/ns. One theory is that the early OЖ-32 to OЗ-8 numbers were converted into c/ns 31101-31200 in 1933, but this seems less likely. Another possibility is that not all numbers were Sh-2s. Factory No 31 built 2 R-1, 5 ANT-9, 56 A-62KE/MBR-4 and 51 R-6 as well in 1932-33. However, the first three of these types seem to have had two-letter-number c/ns and the R-6s were probably in the 3101-3199 range, although 31112-31115 also exist...
So, a definite conclusion is not possible without further research an analyses.
Given that C259 ("98", probably OЖ-98) was registered in September 1933 and became H72 ("3198") in 1935, Ш810 that was registered in November 1933 must have been another aircraft (31198) that was then (probably) re-registered A398 ("198") and K360 (31198) in 1940.
Lennart