91福利社

(To access audio and video on your place and mine you need .)

The SC-1, the first vertical take-off and landing aircraft in the world. Made its maiden flight on 2nd April 1957. Rolls-Royce experimented with a test rig 'The Flying Bedstead', but it was Shorts that developed the concept into a viable aircraft. SC-1 had a maximum speed of 246mph and a range of 150 miles. Only two SC-1s were ever made. The first SC-1 was used until 1971 for VTOL research and is now part of the Science Museum's aircraft collection at Wroughton, England. The second SC-1 can be seen at the Flight Experience exhibit at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra, N. Ireland.

Programme Three

The final stage of our Flight Through Time takes us through the last 60 years of aviation in Northern Ireland, from the end of the Second World War in 1945 to the present day.

With the end of the war, civil aviation began to return to normal. Belfast Harbour Airport was still Ulster's main civil airport and Railway Air Services the main operator. But things were about to change. An Act of Parliament in 1946 meant more regulation of civil air services, and so Railway Air Services became part of the newly established British European Airways, and locally, the civil airport was transferred to Nutts Corner.

Ernie Cromie, Chairman of the Ulster Aviation Society, and Billy McCormick, who joined a firm of Belfast travel agents during the war remember Nutts Corner with affection.

Meanwhile aircraft production continued at Short and Harlands, much of the work at that time involving conversions of wartime aircraft for civilian use, including some Luftwaffe Junkers which were briefly used on the Belfast to London and Glasgow services. Harry Stripe began his career with the company in Rochester during the war, and when all production transferred to Belfast in 1946 he was one of many who moved here, where he eventually became Head of Special Project Design.

In 1949 the company had a Royal Visitor. Much of the work at that time involved converting wartime aircraft for civil use, including some Luftwaffe Junkers which were briefly used on the routes from Belfast to Glasgow and London. But some new flying boats were also being manufactured, including four Solents for a New Zealand company called Tasman Empire Airways Limited. The first of these was given the Maori name Aotearoa II, which means Long White Cloud, and was launched by the Princess Elizabeth during her visit to the factory with her husband that May.

ENGLISH ELECTRIC CANBERRA The first Shorts-built of these made its maiden flight at Belfast on 30th October 1952.

The 1950s were difficult years for the aircraft manufacturers here. The small Miles Aircraft Company which started in Banbridge during the war and later moved to a factory beside the Ards Airport went into liquidation and closed. In order to keep their factories working, Shorts made milk churns, Nobel cars, Metalux carpet sweepers and mangles, and Cabana prefabricated buildings. But these were also pioneering years with many experimental and test aircraft being built. Looking through the pages of his scrapbook, Harry Stripe remembers with great nostalgia some of the many aircraft he worked on at that time.

The 1950s also saw the development of civil air services and growth in passenger numbers, encouraged by new innovative services, and not just from Nutts Corner. Billy McCormick and the Lady Mairi Bury recall two of them.

And with the end of Silver City's flights, so was Ards' role as a destination for regular air services, although the airport remains open as the home of the Ulster Flying Club, 883 Air Squadron Cadets, Helicopter Training and Hire and as a venue for air displays.

The 1960s meant another new civil airport for Belfast - or rather a return to an old one. In October 1963 the Queen Mother opened the new terminal building at Aldergrove Airport which was, and indeed still is, shared with the Royal Air Force. But why move back to Aldergrove? Ernie Cromie explains.

Meanwhile an essential service which had operated from Aldergrove since wartime came to an end. It was the Met flight, which flew five days a week to see what weather we might expect. John Torrans was a Flight Engineer in 202 Squadron of the Royal Air Force and he flew on many of these trips, known as "Bismuths".

The last bismuth was on the 31st of July 1964 with new technology such as satellites making them redundant.

THE SHORT BELFAST A heavy long-range strategic freighter, ten of which were built for the Royal Air Force. It was capable of carrying 85,000lbs of cargo. The aircraft were withdrawn from RAF service in the 1970s: several were sold to civil customers. The only Short Belfast remaining in the UK can be found in the RAF Cosford Aerospace Museum, where it has been displayed since October 1978.

Aldergrove soon saw new aircraft and services, but the biggest aeroplane to land here was the Belfast Freighter, built by Short and Harland and first tested at Aldergrove in 1964. Harry Stripe again.

And the 1960s also saw the introduction of one of Shorts' most famous and successful aeroplanes, the Skyvan.

Note from NI Editor :
The Skyvan aircraft is remembered with fondness by many and you've been sharing your memories of it on Your Place & mine . Click here to read your Skyvan stories.

In total 150 Skyvans, 104 Shorts 330s and 164 Shorts 360s were built for airlines all round the world, and the last 360 was delivered in 1991 bringing to an end this successful line of aircraft.

The first passenger jets on services between Northern Ireland and Great Britain arrived in 1966 and these were followed a couple of years later by the first trans-Atlantic passenger services as Billy McCormick recalls.

Air travel in the 1950s and 60s meant a high standard of service and comfort for the passenger. In 1968 Air Ulster began its operations from Aldergrove and Carolin West was one of the company's stewardesses.

Unfortunately though, Air Ulster, like its predecessor Emerald Airways, only had a short lifespan, folding in 1970. It had operated regular feeder services from Aldergrove to Prestwick, and to several other mainland destinations as well as charter flights. The airline had also established a route from RAF Ballykelly to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Ballykelly was one of the wartime aerodromes used briefly in the 1960s and early 70s for regular civil flights; the others being St Angelo near Enniskillen and Eglinton near Londonderry. Eglinton was later bought by Derry City Council and given a new lease of life as City of Derry Airport, with around 220 000 passengers a year using it.

At Aldergrove, the 1970s saw an increasing number of package holiday charter flights. The traditional seaside holiday in the British Isles was being replaced by holidays in the sun on the continent and more exotic places. The decade also saw a new inovative service from British Airways on its London service. Billy McCormick again.

Aldergrove continued to develop as Northern Ireland's principal airport. Its passenger facilities and runways were improved, leading to its being renamed Belfast International in 1983. That year also saw the first ever visit of one of the world's most famous aeroplanes, Concorde. One of the lucky winners of a Belfast Telegraph competition for seats on the flight was aviation enthusiast Paul Martin who made sure of his place by making dozens of entries!

Concorde has made a number of other visits to Belfast, even being used as the British Airways shuttle to Heathrow on a few occasions. Its last ever visit to Northern Ireland before being withdrawn from service is scheduled for Tuesday 21st of October 2003.

Note from NI Editor :
You can take a guided tour of Concorde by .
Angela and Brian Willis saw Concorde on its farewell visit to Aldergrove in October 2003 - read Angela's record of the visit .

1983 also saw the arrival of competition for Belfast International as Shorts re-opened Belfast Harbour Airport to regular civil flights. After the Harbour Airport was replaced by Nutts Corner in 1946, it was mainly used by Short and Harland and the Royal Naval Aircraft Maintenance Yard. The Royal Navy moved out in 1973 and the Royal Airforce moved in, but only briefly as RAF Sydenham closed after just five years.

Brian Carlin, now Business Development Manager at the airport began his career there soon after passenger flights resumed. But, as he recalls, the facilities in those days were rather basic, perhaps remniscent of the pioneering days 50 years earlier.

Belfast City Airport

As the numbers of operators and choice of routes from Belfast Harbour grew, other buildings were converted and expanded to provide better passenger facilities. The airport changed its name to Belfast City and in June 2001 a new terminal building opened. Boosted by Britsh Midland Airway's decision to transfer its Heathrow service from Belfast International later that year, and the closure at around the same time of the rival British Airways service, passenger numbers have grown from 80 000 in that first year to 1.8 million today.

But no matter what decade you fly in, things don't always go according to plan. Carolin West and Billy McCormick.

But there have also been the tragedies. On the 5th of January 1953 the worst civil air disaster in Northern Ireland happened at Nutts Corner. Ernie Cromie takes up the story.

But the other big air crash to impact on Northern Ireland happened in England, on an embankment on the side of the M1 at Kegworth. On the 8th of January 1989 a British Midland aeroplane flying from Heathrow to Belfast International crashed while trying to make an emergency landing at the nearby East Midlands Airport after developing engine problems. 47 passengers were killed and 78 injured, many very seriously. Lorretta McStay is one of the survivors.

But despite tragedies like these the aerospace industry, as the aviation industry is now called, continues to make a significant contribution to the Northern Ireland economy. In 1989 Short Brothers was sold by the government to Bombardier Aerospace. It may no longer build complete aircraft, but it does still play a major part in the industry. Michael Ryan, Vice-president and General Manager of Bombardier Aerospace, Belfast, talks to Cherrie McIlwaine.

And in addition to Bombardier there are around 90 other firms here which are involved in the industry. Many are members of the Northern Ireland Aerospace Consortium of which Paul Madden is chairman.

Ejecting from a stricken aircraft

And another firm with local connections is Martin-Baker, founded by Sir James Martin, originally from Crossgar, in partnership with Valentine Baker. The company has its headquarters in Middlesex and is the world leader in ejector seats; over 7000 airmen have been saved by their products. Many of the seats are tested and some of the components are made here in Northern Ireland.

International affairs such as the horrific events in the United States of America on the 11th of September 2001, the Gulf War and the outbreak of Sars have all hit the airline and aerospace industry badly. But despite these problems around 6 million passenger journeys will be made by air to and from Northern Ireland this year, boosted by the growth of the budget airlines.

Two thirds of those flights will be made from Belfast International which remains the Province's main airport. For many of us, flying is now second only to traveling by car, and even if we're not flying we are still dependent on aeroplanes for the delivery of our mail, parcels, newspapers and other many goods, and recently announced government initiatives to encourage new scheduled services to and from the continent mean that air travel is set to grow even further.

Wilbur and Orville Wright could hardly have imagined the change that their invention of 100 years ago would make to our lives. But as Michael McCaughan, Keeper of Transport at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum reflects, new developments in aerospace technology still have their roots in the work of the pioneers 100 years ago.

Flight Through Time - a series of three programmes, was produced by Ian Sinclair with assistance from Jack Woods. The series was broadcast on 91福利社 Radio Ulster in October 2003.

Photographs appear by courtesy of Bombardier Aerospace ( formerly 'Shorts' )

Click here to go to programme 1 Beginnings of flight in NI.

Click here to go to programme 2 The war years 1939 - 1945.

Northern Ireland inventor Rex McCandless was involved in the development of the autogyro (one-man portable helicopter) - find out more.

Useful Web link:

Your responses:

Benjamin Youssef - Feb '07
Hey how much is a short 360???