10/31/2008. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "The SC.1 was built as a flying test bed for the Rolls-Royce RB108 vertical lift turbojet. Two aircraft were ordered by the Ministry of Supply.

The first, XG900, made its first conventional flight on April 2, 1957.

Shorts SC.1 (XG905) (Johan Visschedijk Collection)

The second aircraft, XG905, was first conventionally flown on August 6, 1958, making the first free vertical take off on October 25, 1958. XG905 crashed on October 2, 1963, due to a controls malfunction, the pilot was killed. It was rebuilt and the two aircraft continued to fly until 1967."