aviation

S

horts came into being at the turn

of the 20th century, as one of

the pioneers of British aviation.

It developed to become a major

manufacturer of  ying boats and is best

remembered for the Sunderland maritime

patrol aircraft. Post-war, the company

became mainly state-owned with minority

holdings held by Bristol Aircraft and Harland

& Wolf Shipbuilders. In the 1950s, Shorts

engaged in several of its own projects,

but also carried out manufacture under

licence of English Electric Canberras and

of all the 23 Bristol Britannias ordered for

the RAF, as Bristol did not have sufficient

capacity to handle production. As part of this

relationship between the two companies,

Shorts was given design rights to further

developments of the Britannia.

BIRTH OF THE BELFAST

During 1957, the RAF identi ed a need

for a heavy freighter, so Shorts proposed

a high-wing development of the Britannia

called the Britannic. There were two other

contenders for this speci cation: the

Blackburn B.107, powered by four Rolls-

Royce Tynes, and the Handley Page 111

derived from the Victor bomber.

The Britannic appeared to offer the

lowest development cost and least risk,

but when the RAF increased its payload

demand to 30,000lb (13,608kg) and range

to 3,600nm (6,667km), the Britannia wing

was increased in span with a new centre

section adding some 16ft 6in (5m) to its

overall dimensions and the gross weight

rose to 230,000lb (104,326kg). Many parts

and systems were common to the Britannia,

only the huge fuselage was wholly new. For

the latter, Shorts elected to use a circular

cross-section capable of accommodating

a 12ft (3.7m) square load by 86ft (26m)

to facilitate the carriage of exceptional

cargos such as the Blue Streak missile,

which needed to be transported to Australia

for trials at the Woomera test range.

The exceptionally large fuselage could

also carry a Chieftain battle tank, or two

Polaris missiles, or three Westland Wessex

helicopters or 150 fully equipped troops. It

had been intended to power the aircraft with

Bristol Orion engines, but when this was

cancelled Rolls-Royce Tynes with 5,730ehp

were selected.

There were positions on the capacious

 ight deck for two pilots,  ight engineer,

navigator and loadmaster. The aircraft had

SHORTS BELFAST

TAKING THE LOAD

Although it was a gifted design, only a small number of Shorts

Belfast heavy-lifters were built. Stephen Skinner details its

relatively brief military career and its post-service use.

42 Aviation News incorporating Jets November 2018