Shorts Belfast
Discussion
Just gonna throw this one in here as I've just finished reading 'Tester Zero-One'.In it 'Bobby' Robinson describes his antics and testing procedures used on the Belfast and the long distance flying involved(the story on that is quite entertaining) and the messages sent by the crew over the Indian ocean.....
After finishing the book and doing some further reading on the aircraft it seems that after modifications to the tail section it seemed to perform rather well and the nickname 'Belslow' didn't seem to be so apt......looking on pprune the general opinion on the aircraft seems to be 'it needed 10% more of everything' but overall was quite a capable aircraft( 2 Puma's 69'ing was possible in one go)
There was even talk of taking the design further with C141 wings and RR Turbofans but never came to fruition.......(political reasons I believe)
So I suppose my point of discussion is....could this aircraft have been a 'world beater' along the lines of the Herc?...as opposed to now having only 2 examples left in the world......one at Cosford and another languishing at an Australian airport.....
After finishing the book and doing some further reading on the aircraft it seems that after modifications to the tail section it seemed to perform rather well and the nickname 'Belslow' didn't seem to be so apt......looking on pprune the general opinion on the aircraft seems to be 'it needed 10% more of everything' but overall was quite a capable aircraft( 2 Puma's 69'ing was possible in one go)
There was even talk of taking the design further with C141 wings and RR Turbofans but never came to fruition.......(political reasons I believe)
So I suppose my point of discussion is....could this aircraft have been a 'world beater' along the lines of the Herc?...as opposed to now having only 2 examples left in the world......one at Cosford and another languishing at an Australian airport.....
RichGault said:
So I suppose my point of discussion is....could this aircraft have been a 'world beater' along the lines of the Herc?...as opposed to now having only 2 examples left in the world......one at Cosford and another languishing at an Australian airport.....
2 examples represents 20% of total production so not a bad survival rate. As I recall the issue with the Belfast was that although it was good for bulky loads, the impressive sounding total payload was only achievable with 500 miles worth of fuel. Very useful for certain things, otherwise Heavylift wouldn't have gone to the trouble of getting them on a civil certificate of airworthiness, but a bit niche.
Although in hindsight the RAF should have kept using them at least until the Falklands war, some people reckon this would have been cheaper than chartering them for the occasion.
Eric Mc said:
I don't think it should be compared with the Hercules - which was designed as more of a tactical airlifter and was therefore quite a bit smaller. The nearest equivalent in period was the Lockheed C-133 Cargomaster.
Douglas? Lockheed would have called it the Cargostar surely 
CanAm said:
Douglas? Lockheed would have called it the Cargostar surely
Yes - got myself confused (easily done these days).It had issues too and was retired prematurely due to fatigue problems.
We used to see Belfasts flying overhead Dublin going too and from the US or Canada back in the 70s. They made a very distinctive droning noise.
In a previous life I worked for a company that built TV OB vans & we had a couple destined for Nairobi. The only way to get them there on time was to fly them out so we used Heavylift who flew two Belfasts out of Stanstead (if I recall correctly).
Some genius in the company read the contract & discovered we were entitled to a passenger in each aircraft so decided it would save a couple of air fares. They bolted an old airline seat to the cargo deck & we flew for two days at a few thousand feet watching the truck bouncing up & down hoping it didn't hit the control lines running under the wing root.
Some genius in the company read the contract & discovered we were entitled to a passenger in each aircraft so decided it would save a couple of air fares. They bolted an old airline seat to the cargo deck & we flew for two days at a few thousand feet watching the truck bouncing up & down hoping it didn't hit the control lines running under the wing root.
I’m pretty sure it was a Belfast that was used on my air experience flight when I was an Erk.
Regretfully I didn’t take any photos but I do remember that the flight deck was huge. Talking to the crew and enjoying the flight put the thought of being aircrew into my mind.
I’m surprised that so few were made. I really must get over to Cosford and check it out.
Regretfully I didn’t take any photos but I do remember that the flight deck was huge. Talking to the crew and enjoying the flight put the thought of being aircrew into my mind.
I’m surprised that so few were made. I really must get over to Cosford and check it out.
Cairns Airport satellite - https://www.google.com/maps/place/16%C2%B053'09.0%...
Streetview - https://www.google.com/maps/@-16.8806744,145.74550...
Streetview - https://www.google.com/maps/@-16.8806744,145.74550...
Baby Shark doo doo doo doo said:
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