Short Belfast

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The Short Belfast was a heavy lift turboprop freighter built by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force. Only 10 were built and after the end of their military life 5 went into civilian service with the HeavyLift air freight company.

Contents

1 History
2 Service
3 Aircraft
4 Variants
5 Specification

5.1 General characteristics
5.2 Performance

6 Related content

History

It was developed for a RAF 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 flight was on 5 January 1964.

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 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.

Service

Thirty planes had been planned but only 10 were ordered. The Belfast entered service with the 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. One was reported still in use operating from Australia 2003.

Aircraft

All 10 Belfasts were named:

Samson - G-ASKE/ XR362/ G-BEPE - scrapped
Spartacus - XR369/ G-BEPL - scrapped
Theseus - XR368 / G-BEPS - under restoration in 2004
Heracles - XR367/ G-BFYU - scrapped
Goliath - XR363/ G-OHCA - scrapped
Hector - XR365 / G-HLFT/9L-LDQ - operating with Transpacific\HeavyLift (2003)
Enceladus- XR371 - Exhibit at RAF Museum Cosford
Pallas- XR364 - scrapped by RR for engines
Atlas - XR366 - scrapped by RR for engines
Ajax - XR370 - scrapped by RR for engines

Variants

Shorts S.C.5/10 : Company designation.
Belfast C.Mk 1 : Long-range heavy transport aircraft.

Specification

General characteristics

Crew: 4 ( two pilots, a flight engineer, navigator) + air quartermaster
Capacity: max payload 75,000 lb (34,000 kg)
Length: 136 ft in (41.58 m)
Wingspan: 158 ft 10 in (48.1 m)
Height: 47 ft 0 in 14.33( m)
Wing area: 2466 ft² ( 229.1 m²)
weight
* Empty: 130,000 lb (59,020 kg)
* Loaded: lb ( kg)
* Maximum takeoff: 230,000 lb (104,325 kg)
Powerplant: 4x Rolls-Royce Tyne , 5,730 hp each

Performance

Maximum speed: 306 kt (566 km/h) cruising
Range: 4605 nm (8530 km) max fuel, 850 nm (1575 km) max payload
Service ceiling: 30,000 ft
Rate of climb: 1,060 ft/min ( m/min)
Wing loading: lb/ft² ( kg/m²)
Power/weight: hp/lb ( kW/kg)