Short Belfast

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Belfast
The Short Belfast G-BEPS Theseus of HeavyLift Cargo Airlines
Type	heavy airfrieghter
Manufacturer	Short Brothers
Maiden flight	5 January 1964
Retired	from RAF service 1976
Primary users	RAF HeavyLift Cargo Airlines[1]
Number built	10

The Short Belfast is a heavy lift turboprop freighter built by Short Brothers at Belfast. Only 10 were built for the British Royal Air Force with the designation Short Belfast C1. When they were retired by the RAF 5 went into civilian service with the cargo airline HeavyLift Cargo Airlines.^[1] Three aircraft remain in existence, one of which is on display at the RAF Museum Cosford

Contents 1 History 2 Service 3 Aircraft 4 Military operators 5 Civil operators 6 Specifications (Belfast CMk.1) 7 References 8 External links 9 Notes 10 Related content

[edit] History

The Belfast was developed to meet a Royal Air Force requirement for a freighter capable of carrying a wide range of military loads over long ranges. The military loads envisaged included including artillery, more than 200 troops, helicopters, and guided missiles. Shorts design was based on studies they had worked on in late 1950s and the project started as the SC.5/10 in February 1959. From that design, the prototype Belfast first flew on 5 January 1964. The aircraft was flown by Shorts' chief test pilot Denis Taylor, the crew consisted of Peter Lowe (2nd pilot), Malcolm Wild (engineer), Ricky Steel (flt. engineer), Bill Mortimer (radio operator & navigator), Alex Mackenzie and Gil Thomas (flt. observers).^[2]

The Belfast was unusual in being only the second aircraft type to be built equipped with autoland blind landing equipment.

To meet the demands of the specification the Belfast used a high wing carrying four Rolls-Royce Tyne turboprops. The cargo deck 64 ft long in a fuselage over 18 feet in diameter (roomy enough for two single deck buses) was reached through a "beaver tail" rear loading doors and ramp. The main undercarriage was two 8-wheel bogies and a 2-wheel nose. The Belfast was capable of a maximum takeoff weight of over 220,500 lb (100 tonnes) but still less than the contemporaneous 250 tonne all-up Antonov An-22 and the 128 tonne Douglas C-133 Cargomaster. It could carry 150 troops with full equipment, or a Chieftain tank or two Westland Wessex helicopters.

[edit] Service

Thirty planes had been planned but only 10 were ordered. The Belfast entered service with No. 53 Squadron RAF in January 1966. All ten were retired in 1976. TAC Heavylift then purchased 5 of them for commercial use in 1977, and operated three of them from 1980 after they had received work so they could be certificated to civil standards. Ironically, some of them were later charted during the Falklands war, with some sources suggesting that this cost more than keeping all the aircraft in RAF service until the 1990s.^[1] One aircraft is still flying (2007) in Australia for HeavyLift Cargo Airlines; it is often clearly visible parked on the General Aviation side of Cairns International Airport in Queensland, in company with one or two 727s. A Short Belfast remaining in the UK can be found in the RAF Cosford Aerospace Museum, where it has been displayed since October 1978.^[3]

[edit] Aircraft

All 10 Belfasts were named:

• Samson - RAF Serial XR362 (used registration G-ASKE for overseas test flight), sold as G-BEPE then scrapped
• Goliath - RAF Serial XR363, sold as G-OHCA then scrapped
• Pallas - RAF Serial XR364, sold as scrap to Rolls-Royce who recovered the Tyne engines
• Hector - RAF Serial XR365, sold as G-HLFT then as 9L-LDQ operating with HeavyLift Cargo Ailines (see reference) (2005)
• Atlas - RAF Serial XR366, sold to RR for engines
• Heracles - RAF Serial XR367 - sold as G-BFYU then scrapped
• Theseus - RAF Serial XR368, sold as G-BEPS then in storage at Southend Airport - under restoration to fly with HeavyLift Cargo Airlines (see reference)
• Spartacus - RAF Serial XR369, sold as G-BEPL then scrapped
• Ajax - RAF Serial XR370, sold to RR for engines
• Enceladus- RAF Serial XR371, preserved as an exhibit at RAF Museum Cosford

[edit] Military operators

• United Kingdom
  • Royal Air Force.
    • No. 53 Squadron RAF

[edit] Civil operators

• TAC HeavyLift
• HeavyLift Cargo Airlines

[edit] Specifications (Belfast CMk.1)

General characteristics

• Crew: Basic aircrew 4 (2 pilots, engineer & navigator/radio operator) plus reserve crew
• Capacity: 11,750 cu. ft.
• Payload: 80,000 lb (36,288 kg)
• Length: 136 ft 5 in (41.70 m)
• Wingspan: 158 ft 10 in (48.1 m)
• Height: 47 ft (14.33 m)
• Wing area: 2,466 ft² (229.1 m²)
• Empty weight: 130,000 lb (59,020 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 230,000 lb (104,300 kg)
• Powerplant: 4× Rolls-Royce Tyne R.Ty.12, Mk. 101 turboprops, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics 4/7000/fully-feathering airscrews of 16 ft. diam., 5,730 ehp (4,270 kW) each

Performance

• Cruise speed: 358 mph (576 km/h)
• Range: 5,200 miles (with capacity fuel load of 80,720 lb) (8,368 km)
• Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,100 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,060 ft/min ()
• Range with maximum payload: 970 miles (1,560 km)

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://heavyliftcargo.com/
2. ^ Flight International, No. 2862, Vol. 85, 16 January 1964, p. 97.
3. ^ Image at www.HistoryofAirCargo.com

[edit] External links

• Shorts Belfast specifications
• Shorts Belfast capabilities
• Shorts Belfast specs and history at airliners.net
• Shorts Belfast XR371 "Encedalus" at RAF Museum
• Shorts Belfast XR371 "Encedalus" photo gallery at airliners.net
• Shorts Belfast XR371 "Encedalus" photo gallery at Air-Britain Photos
• Second Shorts SC-5 Belfast goes from UK to Australia to reenter service

[edit] Notes

1. ^  Robert Hewson (Ed.) (2001). Commercial Aircraft and Airliners (2nd ed). Aerospace Publishing Ltd and Airlife Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84037-064-5

[edit] Related content

 

 

Designation sequence

- Short SC.1 - Shorts SC.7 Skyvan- Belfast - Shorts 330

Related lists

List of aircraft of the RAF