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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 1645.PDF
AUGUST 6TH, 1942 IEIR CHARACTERISTICS 1 DIMENSIONS Span Length Height Wing area .. 99ft. tin. 87ft. 3in. 22ft. 9in. .. 1,460 sq.ft. UNDERSLUNG CENTRED ON LEAPING EDGE THOSE with an eye at all sensitive to beauty have been known to exhibit a certain lack of enthusiasm for the appearance of the Short Stirling. The answer, of course, is that the primary duty of a bomber is to be efficient; i.e., to carry the greatest possible load of unpleasantness to the enemy (eight tons of it in this case) in the shortest possible space of time and with the greatest possible degree of reliability—and that nobody can possibly dislike the look of a Stirling more than do the Germans! Spotting experts, on the other hand, sum up the R.A.F.'s champion weight-lifter in the terms: "If you see a large four-engined Whitley with a Wellington tail, it's a Stirling." Structurally, the Stirling bears several important resemblances to its flying-boat forbears ; the mid-positioned wings are almost identical, so far as their two-spar type 1 of design is concerned,, with those of the Empire and Sunderland boats, and so is the cantilever tailplane and the single fin and rudder. Even the 87ft. long, rectangular fuselage shows a form of construction very similar to that of the boat hulls, though the actual shape is obviously very different. All-metal construction is employed throughout, the aluminium skin of the fuselage having joggled and flush- riveted joints. Gouge flaps with a chord equal to 48 per cent, of the main wing chord are fitted. The mid-wing layout of the Stirling necessitated an under carriage of unusual reach, and since its long "legs" and their bracing members had to be accommodated between the wing spars when retracted, a double-jointed arrange ment was unavoidable. This looks more complicated than is really the case, and the fact that the fairing plates are attached at the middle joint (and therefore drop down with the legs from the nacelles) gives a curious appearance reminiscent of the hairsuite legs of a draught horse. But the arrangement functions faultlessly under its enormous load. Another unusual feature is the fitting of twin retract able tail wheels Three power-operated gun turrets (nose, dorsal and tail) are provided and mount eight 0.303m. machine-guns in all, four being in the "stinger" turret. Bristol Hercules 14-cyl. sleeve-valve radial engines of 1,600 h.p. or Wright Cyclone double-row GR2600 radials of the same power are fitted, De Havilland c.s. airscrews being employed in either case. Top speed is approximately 300 m.p.h., and the maximum range more than 2,000 miles.
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