Belfast of HeavyLift Cargo Airlines lands at Perth Airport (2004).
History[]
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 cargo fleet.
After being retired from TAC HeavyLift service, several were parked at Southend Airport for a number of years.
Data[]
| Category. | Statistic. |
|---|---|
| First flight on. | January 1964. |
| Retired on. | 1976 (RAF) and some time between 2003 and 2011? (TAC HeavyLift) |
| Major contractor(s). | Short Brothers |
| Dose it use nukes or cruse missiles. | No. |
| Fight ceiling. | 30,000 ft (9,100 m) |
| Top speed. | 352 mph (567 km/h, 306 kn) |
| VTOL. | No. |
| Range. | 1,000 mi (1,610 km, 870 nmi) with maximum payload. |
| Crew. | 5 |
| Nationality(s). | British. |
| Class. | Heavy freighter. |
| Rate of climb. | 1,060 ft/min (5.4 m/s) |
| Payload\Refueling supply capacity. | 150 troops (250 with removable upper floor installed). |
| Passengers. | 78,000 lb (35,380 kg) payload. |
| Links. | https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Short_Belfast, https://aerocorner.com/aircraft/short-belfast/, https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Short_Belfast, https://wikimili.com/en/Short_Belfast, https://www.tangmere-museum.org.uk/aircraft-month/short-belfast and https://hangar.flights/aircraft/short-belfast/. |