The Belfast C.1 Heavy Lift Turboprop Air-Freighter built in Belfast 1964 | Season 4 – Episode 27
Wings Apr 19, 2024
In 1957 a clear requirement had been identified within Britain’s Royal Air Force for a heavy air freighter and so they turned to world-renowned aircraft builder, Short Brothers of Belfast.
BALLOONS
The story of how the Short Brothers created an aviation centre for manufacturing excellence in Belfast begins in 1897 when the Short brothers Eustace and Oswald began their aviation careers as self-taught balloon pilots.
By 1905, they secured a contract to construct three balloons for the Indian army and established their business operations beneath a railway arch in Battersea, London.
Horace, the third brother, joined Eustace and Oswald in the family business in 1908, and together they formally adopted the company name of Short Brothers.
In 1936, the British Air Ministry established a new aircraft manufacturing facility in Belfast, forming a new entity, Short & Harland Ltd. This company was jointly owned, with Harland and Wolff Shipbuilders and Shorts each party holding a 50% stake.
WORLD WAR 2
Throughout World War II from a manufacturing hub in Belfast working alongside another manufacturing plant in Rochester England, Short Brothers, also known as ‘Shorts’, nationalised by the UK government in 1943, produced large numbers of the Short Sunderland and the RAF’s first four-engine heavy bomber, the Short Stirling.
BRITANNIC THEN BELFAST
After conducting feasibility studies in the mid-1950s on behalf of the RAF (Royal Air Force), Short Brothers, explored the possible integration of four Bristol Orion turboprop engines with a custom-designed heavy-duty airframe for military vehicle and troop transportation.
Although the company chairman, Sir Matthew Slattery, harboured doubts regarding the commercial feasibility of such an aircraft type, a decision was made to persist with the feasibility studies. This determination stemmed from the strong belief within the company that the RAF would likely have a future operational need for such a large aircraft.
The foresightedness of the staff in Short Brothers paid off when the RAF issued an Operational Requirement Notice in 1957, seeking the availability of a heavy-lift air freighter capable of carrying a wide range of military payloads over long ranges.
The RAF design brief was clear that this type of existing or new-design airframe would have to be capable of transporting loads of 30,000 lbs over a distance of 3,600 nautical miles. Such loads as envisaged would be 200 soldiers, artillery pieces, or helicopters and at least one main battle tank.
In pursuit of what would be a lucrative military contract and working to the 1957 Operational Requirement Notice, the Belfast-based design team shifted their focus towards incorporating numerous proven components and systems from the existing Bristol Britannia transport aircraft to reduce development time and minimise costs.
CUTTING EDGE DESIGN
The Short Brothers design team submitted the first design of its proposed heavy-lift transport aircraft in late March 1957, with the working title “Britannic”. Despite aiming for commonality across various airframes, the Britannic had significant design. deviations from the Bristol Britannia aircraft, notably in its landing gear, placement of its wing design and tail unit and engine type. Nevertheless, numerous other components such as avionics and flight systems were shared between both types of aircraft.
Over time, the RAF extensively revised the content of the Operational Requirement Notice of the proposed new aircraft, resulting in decreased commonality with the earlier Britannia aircraft.
DOUBLE-DECK FUSELAGE
The innovative aircraft design integrated a new centre section into the wing along with the adoption of the Rolls-Royce Tyne engine, alongside a substantial increase in entirely new components and a triple redundancy autopilot and flight control system. Additionally, the revamped aircraft boasted a significantly spacious circular cross-section fuselage, measuring an impressive twelve feet across—a pioneering attribute for its era—enabling the transportation of soldiers across two decks.
The Belfast C.1 boasted numerous innovative features devised by Short Brothers designers, representing state-of-the-art technology during the 1950s and 1960s.
Entry to the cargo space inside was facilitated by a ‘beaver tail,’ featuring rear loading doors and an integrated ramp.
In an aviation first, the Belfast C.1 was equipped with a ground-breaking Smiths Aerospace landing system, which included various functions such as auto-throttle, head-up display, and radio altimeter.
BIG BELFAST
At the time the Belfast C.1 was the largest aircraft operated by the British armed forces.
The aircraft boasted a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 220,500 lb (100 tonnes), complemented by an expansive cargo deck spanning 84 feet (26m) in length and a pressurized fuselage with a diameter exceeding 16 feet (4.9m).
The Belfast could carry 150 troops with full equipment or various military vehicles and aircraft, such as –
A single 35 ft long, 55 ton Chieftain tank;
Up to three armoured cars;
Two Westland Wessex helicopters; or
Up to six Westland Wasp or Westland Scout helicopters.
CONTRACT SIGNED
After the RAF had conducted an extensive selection process across several aircraft manufacturers in January 1959, they announced that the Short Brothers design had met the Operational Requirement Notice.
On December 21st 1960 a contract was signed between Short Brothers and the RAF for ten heavy-lift air freighters, now renamed as the “Belfast C.1”
VARIANTS
A proposed variant was aimed at the transatlantic market, with a capacity of 138 passengers on the top deck and up to 55,000 lb of palletized cargo below. It was expected to handle a payload of 100,000 lb on the London-New York route.
COMMERCIAL AVIATION
In 1964, approaches were made to BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) and British European Airways (BEA) proposing a large-capacity double-deck short-haul passenger version of the Belfast C.1. however, neither airline took an option on the plane.
TEST FLIGHT
The inaugural flight of the prototype Belfast C.1 occurred on January 5th, 1964, departing from Sydenham Airport in Belfast, County Antrim.
With a crew of six on board the prototype flew for fifty-five minutes with chief test pilot Denis Taylor stating afterwards that, “It was the easiest ride I have had for a very long time… The aircraft was an absolute joy to fly. She’s a beauty.”
CERTIFICATION
Two Belfast C.1s were built and fitted with specialised flight-test instrumentation, completing eight hundred and fifty hours of flight trials.
Certification met both RAF and Air Registration Board (ARB) requirements. The first fully automated landing occurred after just one hundred and twenty hours of test flying, much less than initially expected.
RAF SERVICE
The sixth Belfast C.1 production aircraft (XR367) entered service with No. 53 RAF Squadron on January 20th, 1966, when it was delivered to RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, England.
MOTHBALLING
Due to defence cuts and new operational requirements from RAF Strike Command the ten-strong fleet of Belfast C.1s were deemed as not required and at the end of 1976 the fleet was flown to RAF Kemble, Gloucestershire, and placed in long-term storage.
OUT OF RETIREMENT
In early 1977 four of the ten Belfast C.1s were scrapped, while one was preserved. The remaining five aircraft were sold to the civilian Stansted Airport based, HeavyLift Cargo Airlines.
For several years, the Belfasts conducted general and outsized cargo operations across the globe. During the Falklands War in 1982 and the first Gulf War in 1990, some Belfasts were chartered to transport vehicles and helicopters too large for the existing RAF Hercules fleet.
THE END
Following their service with HeavyLift from 1984 to 2003, all but two of the Belfasts were retired and eventually dismantled. One Belfast (G-HLFT) was transported to Australia in 2003 where after operation in the mining sector and various legal and ownership disputes, the aircraft now rests on the apron at Cairns International Airport.
On August 25th 1978 the final production Belfast (XR371 ‘Enceladus’) that had first flown on June 14th 1967 was flown to Rolls Royce’s Engine Division airfield for recovery of its Rolls-Royce Tyne Mk.101 turboprop engines.
There was one last adventure for the Belfast when on October 6th 1978, “XR371 was flown to Aerospace Museum, RAF Cosford, for preservation after its donation by Rolls-Royce. On take-off from Hucknall the flaps dropped and could not be retracted, so the pilots – Bob Reynolds and ‘Rocky’ Oliver had to make the climb-out and ferry flight in a landing configuration and land on the very short Cosford runway, the shortest on which a Belfast had ever landed.”
Now with her engines removed the airframe, in RAF Transport Command colours is on display at RAF Museum Cosford, England.
While the Belfast C.1 undeniably possessed formidable operational capabilities as a heavy-lift air freighter, its fate in the marketplace was influenced by the 1977 defence cuts and new aircraft from the Antonov company in Ukraine and Lockheed Hercules range from America.
Short Brothers of Belfast were acquired by Bombardier in 1989 and then sold to Spirit AeroSystems in 2019. It remains the world’s oldest aircraft manufacturer with a continuous production record.
If you have a story to share, please email Kevin Reid on [email protected]
Sources of Information and Photo Credits:
Aircraft Engineering & Aerospace Technology Vol. 35
API Parliament UK
Brit Airliners
Creative Commons
Emerald Publishing
Ken Fielding
Military History Fandom
Old Jets
Pathé News
Paul Kolbe-Hurley
Plane Centre
RAF Museum – Belfast-C-1-XR371 Individual History
San Diego Air & Space Museum
Simple Flying
Tom O’Brien
