View Full Version : Short Belfast in Melbourne
karrank
7th Oct 2005, 02:07
Well there was one a week or two ago, but its gone now. Does anybody know if it was here for something to do with Ozjet?
Was interesting to see it from the angle it was parked, very reminiscent of the Sunderland.
tinpis
7th Oct 2005, 02:15
Um...I think there is only one.
Listen to those RR Tynes....
cogwheel
7th Oct 2005, 14:34
It is back in Cairns now.
Last flying example, but I understand one is being worked on in the UK
Remember the Shorts man saying once that he recalls seeing 28 people on the flight deck !!
yeah !! great sound
Zigzag
8th Oct 2005, 10:10
karrank,
It was down in Melb for something non-Aviation related - nothing to do with Ozjet at all.
Yarbles
8th Oct 2005, 12:23
It sure gets around. T'was a month or two ago, but in the space of a week or two she was CS-AYPY and back a few times, then the next day at DN before couple of DN-WSSS runs (10+ hours!) and backs up with a few more runs to AYPY the next week. Not bad for an old (and unique) bus.
crash_comics
9th Oct 2005, 00:41
The Belfast, so I have heard, is part of the U.K. Heavylift org.
Now it has also been alleged that they have a (live?) fish hauling contract to Far eastern countries. There are also two 727's in Cairns under the same banner as well. The shorts barely clears the mangroves at the end of 15 on take off.:}
BackdoorBandit
9th Oct 2005, 03:09
You might find that the good old boys running the show, throttle back those ancient engines to give them a balanced field at Cairns and prob most other places. Hence the amount of runway used and the lack of climb out after lift off.
gaunty
9th Oct 2005, 08:01
Is this the one that was based in Essendon as an O/night freighter to Tassie near 15-20 year ago, my son then 6, used to call it the aircraft with "the big head and two tails".
Living in Balwyn at the time, sorta on track Cowes/Plenty on a still summers night the dogs starting barking down to the south was a sure indication that the 40 tonne dog whistle was on the way home. :p
On eyre
9th Oct 2005, 08:20
Gaunty are you sure that was not an Argosy? - twin tail two darts. Ipec I recall.
Sorry - make that four darts
Apparently known in some parts as the "whistling wheel barrow" - maybe thats what the dogs heard.
cogwheel
9th Oct 2005, 08:54
Yes, that was the IPEC Argosy - another name was the "pregnant Viscount".which operated out of EN to TAS for most of the '70's.
When the Belfast came out of RAF service about half the fleet (6 or 7) went into civil service with Heavylift. They came to Oz quite often in the '80's, many times thru Darwin and usually with cargo that was bulk rather than weight. One thing they were good at.
They have slowly being "retired" from service and the one that seems to live at CNS is the last flying example, although I do understand one of the others is being worked on in the UK.
A grand bit of "british engineering"
:D
gaunty
9th Oct 2005, 09:50
Yair that's it the Argosy, (oldtimers ya know) I think the Belfast was some magnitudes bigger now that I come to think of it.
Belfasthttp://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/aircraft_images/main_images/belfast.jpg
Argosyhttp://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/aircraft_images/main_images/argosyc1.jpg
quite different what!:ok
Yup it was those dog whistles disguised as engines that got the dogs barkin.:}
topdrop
9th Oct 2005, 11:20
The Belfast lost a donk shortly after becoming airborne Cairns (quite some time ago now) It climbed slightly better than the 146 that retracted flap instead of the gear.
wigga
11th Oct 2005, 12:06
Ugly yet beautiful aeroplane..
Ive seen it at YPPH a few times, boy she gets around!!
woodring
30th Oct 2005, 18:42
Argosy was also known as the Screaming Tit {photo gives a clue}
I would love to catch up with the Belfast on one of my trips to OZ
anyone know where she is now. I spent many an hour asleep in one of the six bunks. Most people I ever saw on the flight deck was 12 for a landing at Akrotiri {Cyprus}
This is quite interesting, like a virtual aviation museum!
Can anybody tell me what type the a/c is that flies out of Brisbane at around 7.30 am, or had been recently. Looks a lot like the Belfast above.
Its loud, it leaves a trail of unburnt fuel or oil and by the height of 2500' at around 10DME it must be scary for anybody lving near the city.
J:ok:
Buster Hyman
31st Oct 2005, 01:07
Ahhh, the Argosy! I remember it regularly flying overhead into MEB in the Ipec colours...now I'm getting all misty again!http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/spezial/Fool/fly.gif