Short Bomber

infobox Aircraft
name = Short Bomber
type = Long-range reconnaissance bomber
manufacturer = Short Brothers



caption =
designer =
first flight = 1915
introduced = 1916
retired = April 1917
status =
primary user = Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS)
more users = Royal Flying Corps (RFC)
produced =
number built = 83
unit cost =
derived from = Short Type 184

The Short Bomber was a British two-seat long-range reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo carrying aircraft designed by Short Brothers as a land-based development of the very successful Short Type 184 (of which more than 900 were built and many exported).

Design and development

The Bomber was a three-bay biplane of wooden structure with fabric covering, originally developed from the Short 184 seaplane's fuselage combined with wings developed from those on the Short Admiralty Type 166 seaplane. The fuselage was of box section with curved upper decking mounted on the lower wing. The tailplane included a split elevator with a single fin and rudder. The undercarriage consisted of a four-wheeled assembly under the nose and a skid under the tail. The crew of two sat in tandem open cockpits behind the wing; initially the observer/gunner sat in the forward cockpit so that he could stand up to operate the machine-gun mounted on the upper wing. This somewhat precarious activity was rendered unnecessary by the invention of the gun-ring mounting; in production aircraft the pilot occupied the forward cockpit with the gunner behind him in the rear cockpit, which was fitted with dual controls.

It was powered by a Rolls-Royce Eagle or a Sunbeam engine mounted in the nose, driving a two-bladed propeller. Armament comprised a rear-facing Lewis Gun as well as provision for one 14 inch Whitehead torpedo or various bombs up to 920 lb.

Initial testing with the prototype by Shorts' test pilot, Ronald Kemp, revealed that it was unable to carry the required bombload of six 112-lb (50.8 kg) bombs, so the wingspan was increased by 12 ft. This provided the required lift but at the same time rendered the aircraft unstable in both pitch and yaw. The fuselage length was increased by 4 ft 5 in (1.35 m), which solved the problem. Large numbers of the Bomber had already been ordered from Shorts and a number of other light engineering companies; the latter produced aircraft to the original drawings but all 'short' Short Bombers were modified to the longer form before acceptance. [Barnes and James, p.124-125.]

Operational history

The Short Bomber was intended for long range missions; the maximum flight duration was approximately six hours. The first Bomber flew in 1915 and more than 80 aircraft were built, 36 by Short Brothers, the rest being manufactured by Mann Egerton (20), Sunbeam (15), Parnall (6) and Phoenix Aircraft Ltd (6). cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Short Bomber
work =
publisher =British Aircraft Directory
date =
url =http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=687
format =
doi =
accessdate = ] It was however underpowered and was taken out of service in April 1917 , when more powerful aircraft (notably the twin-engined Handley Page Type O/100 entered service. One of its last combat operations involved attacking the Zeebrugge Mole on four successive nights in April 1917, in preparation for the enaval raid on St. George's Day (23 April). [Barnes and James, p.128.]

Operators

;UK
*Royal Naval Air Service
*Royal Flying Corps

pecifications

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Short Bomber: British Aircraft Directory
crew=2
capacity=
payload main= 920 lb
payload alt= 417 kg
length main= 45 ft
length alt= 13.72 m
span main= 85 ft
span alt= 25.91 m
height main= 15 ft
height alt= 4.57 m
area main= 870 ft²
area alt= 81 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 5,000 lb
empty weight alt= 2,270 kg
loaded weight main= 6,800 lb
loaded weight alt= 3,080 kg
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=
engine (prop)= Rolls-Royce Eagle
type of prop= liquid-cooled V12 engine
number of props= 1
power main= 250 hp
power alt=187 kW
power original=
max speed main= 67 knots
max speed alt= 77 mph, 124 km/h
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main= 9,500 ft
ceiling alt= 2,900 m
climb rate main= 222 ft/min
climb rate alt= 1.1 m/s
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
guns= 1× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis machine gun
bombs=1× 14 in (355 mm) torpedo or 920 lb (417 kg) bombs

References

* cite book
last = Barnes C.H. & James D.N
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Shorts Aircraft since 1900
publisher =Putnam
date =
location =London (1989)
pages =560
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-85177-819-4

ee also

aircontent
related=
*Short Type 184
similar aircraft=
lists=
*List of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm
*List of aircraft of the RAF
see also=

External links