Short Belfast - Operational History

Operational History

The original RAF requirement had foreseen a fleet of 30 aircraft, but this number was to be significantly curtailed as a result of the Sterling Crisis of 1965. The United Kingdom government needed to gain support for its loan application to the International Monetary Fund, which the United States provided. However, one of the alleged conditions for this support was that the RAF purchase C-130 Hercules aircraft. With a surplus of airlifting capacity the original order was reduced to 10. The Belfast entered service with No. 53 Squadron RAF on 20 January 1966 when XR367 (the sixth production aircraft) was delivered to RAF Brize Norton. Four months later, that squadron relocated to RAF Fairford to allow for upgrades to the Brize Norton facility; they returned to Brize Norton in 1967.

Following entry to RAF service it became apparent that a major drag problem was preventing the initial five aircraft attaining Short’s desired performance. Suction drag on the tail and rear fuselage was so severe that the RAF personnel gave the aircraft the nicknames "The Dragmaster", "Slug" and "Belslow" . Modifications and testing were carried out, particularly on aircraft SH1818 (which was at the time perfecting the RAF’s requirement for CAT 3 automated landings at RAE Bedford) and a new rear fairing was built improving the fleet’s cruising speed by 40 mph.

The reorganisation of the new RAF Strike Command was to have repercussions on the RAF’s Belfast fleet and ushered in the retirement of a number of aircraft types, including the Bristol Britannia and De Havilland Comet in 1975. By the end of 1976 the Belfast fleet had been retired and flown to RAF Kemble for storage.

TAC HeavyLift purchased five Belfasts for commercial use in 1977 and operated three of them from 1980 after being reworked to receive commercial certification. Ironically, some of them were later chartered during the Falklands war, with some sources suggesting that this cost more than keeping all the aircraft in RAF service until the 1990s. HeavyLift's Belfasts were again contracted to support the RAF during the first Gulf War, transporting vehicles and helicopters too large to be carried by the Hercules fleet.

After being retired from TAC HeavyLift service, several were parked at Southend Airport for a number of years, until one aircraft was refurbished and flown to Australia in 2003. This aircraft is no longer flying; it was often visible parked on the General Aviation side of Cairns International Airport in Queensland, in company with one or two of the company's Boeing 727s. Now registered RP-C8020, it was moved to the general aviation (western) side of the Cairns airport on 19 August 2011, after spending the best part of a year sitting on the Cairns International apron where it had been moved prior to the scrapping of the remaining company Boeing 727 (RP-C8016) at the end of September 2010. The HeavyLift titles were painted over on 28 August 2011, however, the registration RP-C8016 was still visible.

A second, G-BEPS (SH1822), was to have joined her in Australia following refurbishment at Southend Airport but was scrapped in October 2008. The last production Belfast (Enceladus, XR371) is preserved at the RAF Museum Cosford. Recently this aircraft was repainted before being preserved undercover at the National Cold War Exhibition.