Short Stirling

what is it?

The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the war (the earlier Handley Page V/1500 being a WWI design that served during the 1920s). The Stirling was designed during the late 1930s by Short Brothers to conform with the requirements laid out in Air Ministry Specification B.12/36.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · shoulder wing · retractable tailwheel (taildragger) · 30.2 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 454 km/htop speed
• size 31.8 tmax take-off weight
• built 2,383made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 87 years ago, in 1939.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 30.2 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 5 African elephants (~6 t each).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1939-05-14

introduced

1940

retired

1946

status

retired

number built

2,383

role

heavy bomber, glider tug

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Short Brothers

engines

4× Bristol Hercules XI / Hercules engine

crew

7

length

26.6 m

wingspan

30.2 m

height

6.9 m

max take-off weight

31.8 t

top speed

454 km/h

cruise speed

322 km/h

range

—

ceiling

5,029 m

wings

shoulder wing

landing gear

retractable conventional landing gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.