--- title: "Short Belfast — OnlyPlanes" description: "The Short Belfast was a large British turboprop transport with a pressurized cargo hold, operated by the Royal Air Force." canonical_url: "https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/military-transport-aircraft/short-belfast" locale: en meta: keywords: "aviation, aircraft, airlines, airports, flight" "og:description": "The Short Belfast was a large British turboprop transport with a pressurized cargo hold, operated by the Royal Air Force." "og:image": "https://onlyplanes.ru/images/military-aviation/models/short-belfast.webp" "og:title": "Short Belfast — OnlyPlanes" --- > Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://onlyplanes.ru/llms.txt) Military transport aircraft / Belfast # Short Belfast The Short Belfast was a large British turboprop transport with a pressurized cargo hold, operated by the Royal Air Force. ![Short Belfast aircraft photograph](https://onlyplanes.ru/images/military-aviation/models/short-belfast.webp) Development ## History The Short Belfast was a heavy British turboprop transport developed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force. In the late 1950s Britain wanted an aircraft able to move large equipment and freight over long distances without relying entirely on slow surface routes. The design combined a spacious pressurized hold, four engines and a rear cargo ramp. It first flew in January 1964. By the standards of British airlift at the time, the Belfast was an unusually large and ambitious machine. Its layout followed the needs of bulky freight. A high wing left a clear cargo volume within the fuselage, while the rear ramp allowed loads to enter directly. Turboprop power suited the heavy aircraft's long-range role. Moving equipment required more than knowing its mass. Width and height of the hold, floor loading and center of gravity all mattered. Loading a special item could become an engineering project in its own right. That is why usable internal space was such an important part of the Belfast's value. The RAF acquired only a small fleet. The aircraft performed long-range movements of people and equipment, supporting British commitments overseas. Its capabilities were substantial, but a small fleet also brought disadvantages. A rare type required its own spare parts, training and ground support, while those costs were spread across very few aircraft. Changes in defense policy and the structure of air transport contributed to the comparatively early end of the Belfast's military career during the 1970s. Some Belfasts later found work with civilian cargo operators. The wide hold still attracted customers who needed to move an unusually shaped object and could not find another suitable aircraft. Operating an ageing heavy turboprop remained demanding, however. Any comparison with later transports should account for the different engines, systems and maintenance networks available in another era. The Belfast's story demonstrates that technical capability alone does not guarantee a long military service life. It addressed a genuine heavy-lift requirement and showed the value of a large freight compartment. Yet fleet size, operating cost and changing customer priorities mattered just as much as payload. Today the Short Belfast remains a distinctive example of Britain's approach to strategic air transport in the 1960s. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#website","@type":"WebSite","description":"News, stories and rare images from the world of aviation","inLanguage":"en-GB","name":"OnlyPlanes","url":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en","publisher":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#identity"},"translationOfWork":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#website"}},{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/military-transport-aircraft/short-belfast#webpage","@type":"WebPage","description":"The Short Belfast was a large British turboprop transport with a pressurized cargo hold, operated by the Royal Air Force.","name":"Short Belfast | OnlyPlanes","url":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/military-transport-aircraft/short-belfast","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#website"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/military-transport-aircraft/short-belfast"]}],"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#logo"}},{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#identity","@type":"Organization","name":"OnlyPlanes","url":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en","logo":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#logo"},"sameAs":["https://t.me/legkoenebo"]},{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/military-transport-aircraft/short-belfast#article","@type":"Article","description":"The Short Belfast was a large British turboprop transport with a pressurized cargo hold, operated by the Royal Air Force.","headline":"Short Belfast","inLanguage":"en-GB","thumbnailUrl":"https://onlyplanes.ru/images/military-aviation/models/short-belfast.webp","author":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#identity"},"image":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#/schema/image/1"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/military-transport-aircraft/short-belfast#webpage"},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/military-transport-aircraft/short-belfast#webpage"},"publisher":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#identity"}},{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#logo","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"OnlyPlanes","contentUrl":"https://onlyplanes.ru/search-logo.png","inLanguage":"en-GB","url":"https://onlyplanes.ru/search-logo.png"},{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#/schema/image/1","@type":"ImageObject","contentUrl":"https://onlyplanes.ru/images/military-aviation/models/short-belfast.webp","inLanguage":"en-GB","url":"https://onlyplanes.ru/images/military-aviation/models/short-belfast.webp"}]} ``` ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](https://onlyplanes.ru/sitemap.md) for all pages.