The Short SA.4 Sperrin; Britain’s Back-Up, Back-up Nuclear Bomber



No, I have no idea how you pronounce “Gyron”.

Like/Share/Subscribe
Buy my book: https://amzn.to/3preYyO

Sources for this video can be found at the relevant article on:
https://militarymatters.online/

If you like this content please consider buying me a coffee or else supporting me at Patreon:
https://ko-fi.com/ednashmilitarymatters
https://www.patreon.com/ednash

source

35 thoughts on “The Short SA.4 Sperrin; Britain’s Back-Up, Back-up Nuclear Bomber”

  1. 👍Thanks for another great video. Fun fact – the Sperrin was named after the Sperrin Mountain range in Northern Irerland (Sliabh Speirín).
    The Wiki entry mentions that one reason for delay was that Shorts built production rigs to make the prototypes because they expected a production order to follow.

    Reply
  2. An example of an advanced technology feature of the Sperrin was its 4000 psi hydraulic system. Most hydraulic systems of the time were designed to be operated at far less pressure, although the more or less standard moving forward would be 3000 psi, which was used in the F-86 Sabre beginning in 1947. Even 3000 psi was a lot in those days. Anyway, I'm not aware of any other airplane that used a 4000 psi system at the time the Sperrin was designed, nor am I sure of the precise reason. Today, some airplanes use 5000 psi systems, give or take. In general, higher pressure allows for smaller components and lighter systems. As to aerodynamics, I actually think the Sperrin was quite a clean looking airplane.

    Reply
  3. Boys, and Girls, the U.K. is the only present nuclear power that does not have the capability to drop free fall nuclear bombs.
    That’s right every other nuclear nation from Pakistan to USA has this capability, today.

    Reply
  4. Short Bros used Belfast Harbour airport, now Belfast City, as their test airfield, as the factory was situated there. It's amazing to think that a quad jet nuclear bomber used to fly from my tiny local airport😁

    Reply
  5. Another ace video, and on a plane I have never heard of either. Those stacked engine pods look very unusual, especially the ones which have different engines top and bottom! Were there any precedents or subsequent designs that use this vertical stack? Cheers Ed!

    Reply
  6. No excuse. We should called summit, men to men and agree none of us believe the world between nuked extinction level even and all should be held in joint bank account to prevent just such an eventuality. Period.

    Anything else sheer madness.

    Reply
  7. That picture SB.4 was so striking familiar I knew I saw it somewhere before and then I rememberered it was in a comic I used to read as a kid.
    I still have it, Dan Cooper's very first album called The Blue Triangle, at least that what it's called translated in English, don't know how popular these were overseas.

    Thanks for bringing back the nostalgia.

    Reply
  8. Shorts should have (& probably did, I expect) removed the nuclear capability and then sell it globally to all those nations wanting a jet bomber, but having no experience of jets at that point in time, that had bought surplus WW2 medium and heavy bombers. Half of South America, South Africa, Australia, Indonesia, Greece, Italy, Spain, India, Pakistan, Eygpy, Syria, etc would have all been candidates to get into the jet age via that sort of thing.

    Reply
  9. I've always found the Sperrin to be a strangely attractive looking 'plane, with hints of Sunderland and Stirling in the lines. I note you showed (very briefly) the Valiant B2 (the Black Bomber), the faster, strengthened version that Vickers offered in preference for production over the B1, but was ignored by the Ministry and eventually broken up. Subject for another Forgotten? Also, would love to see a story about the Gyron engine family…. Great stuff, keep it up!

    Reply
  10. It's a shame they didn't re-purpose it and turn it into a transport aircraft. That nose looks like it would work well with some clamshell doors ! It would have made a useful complementary aircraft to the useful but horribly ugly Beverley, with a cargo load only very slightly smaller (and still much larger than the Dakota) but twice the speed and twice the range for loads that had to arrive a long way away very fast.

    Reply

Leave a Comment