Short stories/tall tales

Davidth88

Did anyone else see that on UTV last night a series about Short Brothers 100 years making aeroplanes.

I quite enjoyed it anyway

diverdriver

Shorts? Didn't they make the 'Irish Concorde'

Mr Benevolent

Isn't that a packing crate?

diverdriver

A shed?

deaddonkey

ah the flying horsebox, EI used to operate them to leeds bradford years and years ago. good times.

Davidth88

Don't mock lads.

They the S330/360 were possibly the ugliest aircraft produced for a long time ( in any numbers ). BUT they did a great job.

The USAF flew ( still flying ?? ) the S360 ( C23 Sherpa ). The spotters at LHR used to cal the 330 the flying breadbin and the 360 the flying shed.

They kept a lot of people off the dole queues during a time when Belfast needed it.

FlutterinBantam

Frikken fuel tanks were up in the roof....

Foggy43

I remember the 'Belfast' the most. Heavylift used them. In and out of Southend and Stansted Airports.

I can remember when there was a natural disaster in Armenia. Earthquake in December 1988. The RAF were to fly aid to the zone but didn't have an aircraft big enough to carry the load. They got 12 JCB's on board a 'Belfast' and flew them to Armenia. RAF had sold the 'Belfast's' to Havylift in the 1970's.

dogmatix

The Belfast's where handsome aircraft but the 330/360 must surely rank highly as a contender for ugliest aircraft of the last 50 years.

Davidth88

S330/360 Ugly .... no

Compare it to the skyvan !

Interesting the same factory is now turning out Learjets !

The Belfast was a fantastic aircraft , the RAF were forced to cut them during the late 70's ( just before the Falklands ) , they then had to ' stretch ' all their Herc's but still had to rely on the US to transport anything really big.

I think it's only since they got the C117's that they have recovered that capability.

Amazing that there is a large aircraft manufacturer on this Island but when I mentioned it to people at my work no one had heard of them !

dogmatix

I like the Skyvan. It has a certain "functional" appeal about it. But the 330/360's are just butt ugly. Maybe its because the Skyvan is a much smaller aircraft so the stumpy boxy fuselage and wing struts etc are not so visually offensive.

Still, beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say. I love the look of the Airtruk (as seen in Mad Max III) despite the fact it must be the most ridulously ugly aircraft ever built.