Were you on the Belfast? Any sign of scurvy?

[airsound]

This thread springs, big and beautifully marked, out of the ‘A400M will not make 2009’ thread, which was creeping slowly and steadily, not unlike the magnificent Belfast itself. So, any fond (or otherwise) memories very welcome here

In the A400 thread, Barnstormer1968 said
Belfast's used to seem to be a nicer looking cousin (sort of) of the C133.
which reminded me of a conversation on approach into Chicago O’Hare. It went something like this
“Ascot 4321, Chicago, say aircraft type.”
“Ascot 4321 is a Belfast, Sir”
“What ‘n heck’s a Belfast, Ascot?”
“Oh.... it’s a big turboprop, bit like a Charlie 133, but prettier.”
“Ascot, Chicago, roger”
.......
“G’morning Chicago, United 678”
“United 678, Chicago, continue behind the landing Belfast”
“Behind the landing whaaat?”
microscopic pause while the controller ups his voice by a disbelieving semitone or two, then
“United 678, Chicago........ don’t you know a Belfast when you see one?”

airsound

[galaxy flyer]

Or the tow crew trying to put a Belfast into a C-130 hangar, thinking it was a C-130 and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't fit.

Or that the Belfast is the ONLY aircraft in which all the examples built flew together in ONE formation. Try that in your Phantom!!

GF

There has to be some RAF or HeavyLift guys with Belfast stories........

[Blacksheep]

I have lots of stories, but the Belfast was one of those aircraft I prefer to forget. It was rumoured around Brize Line Servicing Squadron (mostly among the VC10 specialists) that the Belfast was built in two halfs that were joined up mid-production. The front half was built by Catholics and the rear half was built by Protestants and the clever trick was to get both parts working together at the same time.

An example: Two main batteries connected in parallel. A spare provided just in case. The mains are changed once every three months. The spare, not being charged in situ, is changed monthly. To change the spare you have to remove both the mains for access... :ugh:

[woodring]

The gentlemans way to fly, night stop everywhere.
and a few hours kip in one of the 6 bunks en-route.
Four days to Hong Kong, then go u/s and cancel the circuit bashing that had been planned. 5 days back including a visit to the wine festival in Limasoll.
Those certainly where the days.

[Blacksheep]

Four days to Hong Kong, then go u/s Since when did a Belfast make it all the way to Honkers without going u/s along the way? :rolleyes:

364 held the record. Eastabout via Oz arriving back in UK with none of the original engines - six engine changes en-route. (The one in Gan must have been genuine.) I was on that Gan team and it took us four days to adjust full power. The Rolls Royce graphs went down to -30° C but only went up to +25° C so we had to interpolate them and then do the engine adjustments at 2 am when the temperature dropped to about 28° C. :ugh:

Out here in Borneo we recently chartered the last airworthy (?) Belfast to transport an engine. It promptly went u/s en-route from Brisbane and diverted to Denpasar for a week to have one of its own engines replaced. In the meantime we got a good old reliable Antonov in to do the job.

[Agaricus bisporus]

Then they fell into the hand of civvies...

It is alleged (on good authority, I assure you) that a young fellow was being interviewed for a job as FO somewhere in Essex. The interview consisted of just one question..."How many cans of Boddington's fit into a standard flight bag?"

He got the job.

(It wasn't me) My interview consisted of "May I see your logbook?" followed by "Can you start Monday?".

They clearly inspired a special spirit amongst their crews!

[woodring]

They could be reliable ,we spent a month with 2 a/c in Bahrein shuttlling to Aden before the withdrawal and I don't remember any major snags .

[pontifex]

My abiding memory of the Belslow was when on detachment to Masirah watching one backing up to the very edge of the runway before take off directed by the loadmaster from the ramp.

[Beeayeate]

Only worked Belfasts as and when they passed through Gan, and then generally at night for some reason. Thing I remember most about the Belf was that it took in the order of 3,000 pumps on the hyd hand pump to close the ramp door. And the hyd hand pump was not very securely mounted nor thoughtfully positioned.

http://www.canberra.plus.com/pics/ganbelfast.jpg

Taken from my billet window in '72(ish).


:ok:

[Krakatoa]

The last one is still gainfully employed doing charters around the region. It can be seen parked in the GA area close to the road into Cairns.

[Mark M'Words]

Don't remember Boddingtons being a favourite..... 'twas always a slab of green(heiniken) a slab of red(mckewans export) and bottles of scotch.

Always remember my first night stop, all of the crew in the Captains room for drinks when the top of the whisky bottle was unscrewed very ceremoniously by the loadie and then chucked out of the window.......because we wouldn't be needing it again!!

Heavylift a strangly ran flying club but it was fun....sometimes:}

[twentygrand]

I was the co-pilot on both double crew runs to Changi and back in mid '68. We made the return journey in 3 days via Akrotiri, Muharraq, and Gan. The first time we swopped places 90 mins before landing but the simpler option of leg & leg about worked better. The crews felt OK at the end but the medics in their "sound proof" capsule down the back were knackered.:

The Belfast really need a fifth engine and it was pretty marginal in the heat - everyone came out at Changi to watch the takeoff and to see if we would clear the palm trees at the end.

It was also spirally unstable - you needed out-turn aileron in an established turn, and of course it wouldn't stall properly.

[galaxy flyer]

It seems the Belfast rivals the C-5 in reliability (?) Twice I spent more than a week in Honolulu getting fixed. One major gear problem and once replacing a elevator actuator. C-5, great airplane to really see the world.

Anyway, I did see the Belf in Cairns recently. Love to have flown on it.

GF

[Al R]

Interesting thread, thank you.

Heavy Lift is restoring a second Belfast with a view to it joining their other one. The work is being done at Sarfend Airport.

http://heavyliftcargo.com/belfastcap.htm

This might be one for the old lags. Is there any truth in the rumour that our original order of Belfast was slashed because we devalued Sterling and when we had to go to the American World Bank or IMF for help, we were politely asked if we had ever considered buying more of their smaller but more flexible Hercules'..?

[Gainesy]

Twice I spent more than a week in Honolulu getting fixed.

Good Drills.:ok::)

[tornadoken]

AI R: (Belfast:IMF): No.
1959 procurement, driven by perceived need to lift Blue Streak. No more than 10 needed. Retained after demise of IRBM as make-work for Short's and value for Bristol (wings) in merger into BAC. RAF's 1964 wish for C-130H was to dump Argosy, ordered in 1959 when RAF had wanted C-130E. Need for IMF Loan was 1965.

[galaxy flyer]

Number of posts on engine problems-was the Tyne just too far ahead of its time or was their a particular issue? Was used rather well on the Dassault Atlantique, I believe. Second, compared to the Belfast, is the A400M bigger or smaller? Last, did the Belfast have boosted controls or tabs? And what was it like to manhandle.

I know it will bring tactical capability. We had all kinds of airdrop facilities in C-5 but never used except for ICBMs and training. Yes, ICBMs!

GF

[Samuel]

Didn't the Belfast have a Britannia wing?
Was the Tyne used on anything else other than the Belfast/Vanguard?; [the Lockheed Electra was a much better aircraft by the way, and in Orion form is still around!]

[Al R]

tornadoken said; No. 1959 procurement, driven by perceived need to lift Blue Streak. No more than 10 needed. Retained after demise of IRBM as make-work for Short's and value for Bristol (wings) in merger into BAC. RAF's 1964 wish for C-130H was to dump Argosy, ordered in 1959 when RAF had wanted C-130E. Need for IMF Loan was 1965.

Cheers.

[RETDPI]

From memory ( no documents to hand) I seem to recall that the original intention to order 10 Belfasts was considered a nonsense at Shorts who would only proceed on a minimum of 30 or so. This was duly agreed . Once the production line was committed then the order was then once more cut back to 10.
Originally called the Britannic ( Brit wing ) then Belfast once the aircraft had grown with the 20ft centre-section implant.
Hispano licence built Tynes went into Transall and Atlantique amongst others.
Only flew in one once ( "Hercules") coming home from Gernany post 1969 King Rock ( Beags!) - slept through the landing. Flight deck like the bridge of the Queen Mary.

[galaxy flyer]

Thanks, Mike. I take it you flew the beast. At the time I meet the HeavyLift crew, the Belfast was the next smaller cargo cross section to the C-5. They loved it when challenged for a domestic (US) permit by Flying Tiger (they offered 747), the Heavy Lift agent would hand the load plan to the Tiger rep and say, "see if it'll fit", where on the agent dropped the challenge and DOT gave the permit to HeavyLift.

GF

[airsound]

galaxy flyer - thanks for your posts. Nice to get stuff from the big guys..... Remember being on a Belfast Westbound, nightstopping Dover AFB, with another nightstopping Eastbound, and the USAF Despatcher being somewhat gobsmacked when we told him he had 20% of the global fleet on his field.

As far as the cross-section of the freight bay was concerned - your C-5 was of course bigger. but, as I mentioned in another thread, we did have 12x12ft, which I think was taller than yours, and we could carry a Sea King without taking the rotor head off. At the time, I don’t think any other (western) aircraft could do that.

my final memory of 53 Sqn was the sqn flying everyone who wanted to go to the laying up of the sqn standard in Edinburgh cathedral. Can’t remember who drew the short straw to be the operating crew - but the rest of us got monumentally pissed, and, as far as I can remember, there was a distinct lack of roadsigns in Edinburgh the day after.

Happy days. Although the fact that the sqn was being disbanded in the first place was distinctly unhappy-making.....

I also went on the very last RAF Belfast task - 3598, Brize - Gütersloh and back, 12 Sep 1976.

airsound

[Hockham Admiral]

TwentyGrand,
I flew the "Queen of the Skies" for a while and wonder what you mean by "it wouldn't stall properly" ? Sorry to be so late replying to this thread.
HA

[Fareastdriver]

This is off the thread a bit as it concerns a USAF C5 Galaxy earlier this year in the Solomon Islands and you are not going to believe it.
On one of the islands near Guadalcanal somebody found a cache of mustard bombs and the Pentagon sent out a team to dispose of them. All fourteen of them, in a GALAXY????.
The arrival was no problem but when it parked in the international terminal the civil traffic couldn’t get past it so it was taxiied forward to the edge of the ramp. The bomb disposal people did their stuff and then the problems started.
It couldn’t turn on the ramp so it sat there, the largest man-made construction in the Solomon Islands. They could not reverse taxy because it needed special authority from Washington and they wouldn’t give it so it was stuck.
I left about five days later and the last thing I heard was that they were going to fly out a Globemaster with a towing tractor to push it to the end of the runway.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee224/fareastdriver/DSCF0019-1.jpg

[Solid Rust Twotter]

During Clinton's African walkabout, the support crews used a couple of C5As. One was parked on the old tarred runway at Entebbe and when the time came to move it, it was found the aircraft had broken through the hard surface and was well and truly stuck with the wheels half buried. Had to bring in a crew of engineers from the US to get her out.

[Bledlow]

Samuel
"Was the Tyne used on anything else other than the Belfast/Vanguard?; [the Lockheed Electra was a much better aircraft by the way, and in Orion form is still around!]"
The Tyne is still flying in Atlantics, Transalls, & G.222s, & was used in the CL-44. There's also a marine version, used in Type 22 frigates & Type 42 destroyers.

[salad-dodger]

is this a record for dormant thread resurrection?

7 years, 3 months and 13 days between posts!

S-D

[Stanwell]

Wondered about that myself.
Anyway, last time I looked, the Belfast at Cairns was still parked there - not going anywhere but being looked after (sort of).

[chopd95]

You came home in a Belfast?
sheer luxury - we made it in a Hastings
Well I seem to think so - all totally knackered in any event ( people and planes!)

Phil Bright
95 C