{"id":20742,"date":"2026-08-09T17:31:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T15:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/?page_id=20742"},"modified":"2026-08-09T17:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T15:31:11","slug":"short-stirling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/es\/aircraft\/short-stirling\/","title":{"rendered":"Short Stirling \u2014 History, Specs, Photos &#038; Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"mfam\">\n<style>html{overflow-x:hidden}body.page-id-20742{overflow-x:hidden}body.page-id-20742 h1.entry-title.main_title{display:none}body.page-id-20742 #sidebar{display:none}body.page-id-20742 #left-area{width:100%!important;float:none;padding:0}body.page-id-20742 #main-content .container::before{display:none!important;background:none!important}body.page-id-20742 #main-content .container{padding-top:0}#mfam{width:100vw;margin-left:calc(50% - 50vw);overflow:hidden;font-family:'Gilroy 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summary::after{content:'\\2013'}#mfam .faq .a{padding:0 0 22px;font-size:17px;color:#28313c;max-width:860px}#mfam .faq .a p{margin:0 0 14px}#mfam .cta{background:#0d1117;color:#fff;padding:60px 0}#mfam .cta h2{color:#fff;font-size:30px;max-width:820px;margin:0 0 10px}#mfam .cta p{color:#b8c2d1;font-size:17px;max-width:720px;margin:0 0 26px}#mfam .ctacar{display:flex;gap:18px;overflow-x:auto;scroll-behavior:smooth;padding-bottom:10px}#mfam .ctacard{flex:0 0 300px;background:#161c26;border:1px solid #232c39;padding:0}#mfam .ctacard img{width:100%;height:180px;object-fit:cover}#mfam .ctacard .cc{padding:18px 20px}#mfam .ctacard h3{color:#fff;font-size:19px;margin:0 0 6px}#mfam .ctacard p{color:#9fb0c4;font-size:14.5px;margin:0 0 14px}#mfam .ctabtn{display:inline-block;background:#5C91FF;color:#fff;font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:14px;padding:11px 18px}#mfam .ctabtn:hover{background:#3568e0;text-decoration:none;color:#fff}#mfam .relgrid{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(3,1fr);gap:20px}#mfam .relcard{border:1px solid #e2e7ee;background:#fff;color:#0d1117}#mfam .relcard img{width:100%;height:190px;object-fit:cover}#mfam .relcard .rc{padding:18px 20px;display:block}#mfam .relcard .rt{font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:18px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-bottom:6px}#mfam .relcard .rd{font-size:14.5px;color:#5a6472;display:block}#mfam .relgrid>p,#mfam .track>p,#mfam .gtrack>p,#mfam .ctacar>p,#mfam .combat>p,#mfam .cards>p{display:contents}#mfam .srcgrid{display:grid;grid-template-columns:1fr 1fr;gap:12px 34px}#mfam .srcitem{border-bottom:1px solid #eef1f5;padding:11px 0;font-size:15.5px}#mfam .srcitem b{font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-weight:600;color:#0d1117}#mfam .srcitem span{color:#5a6472}#mfam .fnote{font-size:13.5px;color:#8892a0;margin-top:26px}@media(max-width:880px){#mfam .cards,#mfam .combat,#mfam .relgrid,#mfam .twocol{grid-template-columns:1fr}#mfam .hero h1{font-size:40px}#mfam .hero{min-height:66vh}#mfam .sec2h,#mfam .sec>.wrap>h2{font-size:26px}#mfam .claim{font-size:18px}#mfam .gd-body{padding-left:0}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"hero\"><img data-opt-id=1093084650  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1407\/h:1080\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/short-stirling-bombers-taking-off.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"hero-img\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201571%22%20width%3D%222048%22%20height%3D%221571%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%222048%22%20height%3D%221571%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Short Stirling four-engine heavy bombers of RAF Bomber Command\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"hero-shade\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"hero-inner\">\n<div class=\"crumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/\">Aircraft Museum<\/a> &rsaquo; Short Stirling<\/div>\n<h1>Short Stirling<\/h1>\n<p class=\"claim\">The first four-engine heavy bomber to enter RAF service &mdash; a huge, handsome, low-flying aircraft hobbled by a short wing, and remembered as much for towing gliders and dropping agents as for bombing Germany.<\/p>\n<div class=\"stripe\">\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>1940<\/b><span>First RAF four-engine heavy in service<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>~2,371<\/b><span>Built (all marks)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>7&ndash;8<\/b><span>Crew<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>~16,500 ft<\/b><span>Service ceiling <em>(low for a heavy)<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"chips\"><span class=\"chip\"><b>Role<\/b> Heavy bomber<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Era<\/b> WWII, 1940&ndash;1945<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Engines<\/b> 4&times; Bristol Hercules radial<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Origin<\/b> United Kingdom<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Status<\/b> Retired &middot; no complete survivor<\/span><span class=\"chip fly\"><a href=\"#faq\">Can you fly a Stirling today?<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">At a Glance<\/p>\n<h2>Short Stirling: key facts<\/h2>\n<div class=\"combat\" style=\"grid-template-columns:repeat(5,1fr)\">\n<div class=\"cstat\" style=\"background:#fff\"><span style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:13px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;display:block;margin-bottom:6px\">First flight<\/span><span style=\"font-size:15.5px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-top:0\">14 May 1939 (prototype L7600)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\" style=\"background:#fff\"><span style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:13px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;display:block;margin-bottom:6px\">Entered RAF service<\/span><span style=\"font-size:15.5px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-top:0\">August 1940 (No. 7 Squadron)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\" style=\"background:#fff\"><span style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:13px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;display:block;margin-bottom:6px\">First bomber operation<\/span><span style=\"font-size:15.5px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-top:0\">10&ndash;11 February 1941, Rotterdam<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\" style=\"background:#fff\"><span style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:13px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;display:block;margin-bottom:6px\">Origin<\/span><span style=\"font-size:15.5px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-top:0\">United Kingdom &mdash; Short Brothers<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\" style=\"background:#fff\"><span style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:13px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;display:block;margin-bottom:6px\">Design specification<\/span><span style=\"font-size:15.5px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-top:0\">Air Ministry B.12\/36<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\" style=\"background:#fff\"><span style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:13px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;display:block;margin-bottom:6px\">Crew<\/span><span style=\"font-size:15.5px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-top:0\">7&ndash;8<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\" style=\"background:#fff\"><span style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:13px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;display:block;margin-bottom:6px\">Engines<\/span><span style=\"font-size:15.5px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-top:0\">4 &times; Bristol Hercules radial<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\" style=\"background:#fff\"><span style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:13px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;display:block;margin-bottom:6px\">Number built<\/span><span style=\"font-size:15.5px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-top:0\">~2,371 <em>(some sources ~2,383)<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\" style=\"background:#fff\"><span style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:13px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;display:block;margin-bottom:6px\">Primary role<\/span><span style=\"font-size:15.5px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-top:0\">Night heavy bomber &mdash; later tug, mine-layer, transport<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\" style=\"background:#fff\"><span style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:13px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;display:block;margin-bottom:6px\">Status<\/span><span style=\"font-size:15.5px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-top:0\">Retired; no complete airframe survives<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">The Story<\/p>\n<h2>The Short Stirling: Bomber Command&rsquo;s forgotten first heavy<\/h2>\n<div class=\"story\">\n<p>When the Royal Air Force went to war in 1939 its bomber force was built around twin-engine medium types. The aircraft that changed that &mdash; the first four-engine heavy bomber to reach an RAF squadron &mdash; was the Short Stirling. Big, tall and unmistakable, it entered service in August 1940, months ahead of the Handley Page Halifax and more than a year before the Avro Lancaster. For a brief period the Stirling was Bomber Command&#8217;s only heavy, and it carried the four-engine offensive into Germany while the other two were still working up.<\/p>\n<p>The Stirling was designed by Short Brothers of Rochester to Air Ministry Specification B.12\/36, which called for a long-range heavy bomber able to lift a substantial load. Uniquely among the RAF&#8217;s three wartime heavies, it was conceived from the outset as a four-engine aircraft &mdash; the Halifax and the Lancaster both began life as twin-engine designs and were re-engined only when the Rolls-Royce Vulture failed. Short Brothers, a firm famous for its big flying boats, drew on that experience to produce a genuinely large landplane powered by four Bristol Hercules radials.<\/p>\n<p>One decision shaped the whole aircraft and its reputation. The specification limited the wingspan to about 100 feet, and the Stirling emerged with a span of only around 99 feet &mdash; short for so large a bomber. It is <b>often claimed<\/b> that this limit was imposed so the aircraft would fit through the standard RAF hangar door of the day, but that story is <b>disputed<\/b>: aviation historians point out that the 100-foot figure was a general design ceiling in the specification and that the neat hangar-door explanation is more likely a persistent myth than documented fact. Whatever its origin, the short span had very real consequences.<\/p>\n<p>A short wing on a heavy aircraft meant a low service ceiling &mdash; only around 16,500 feet fully loaded, far below the altitudes the Halifax and especially the Lancaster could reach. That kept the Stirling down in the thick of the flak and within easy reach of German night fighters, and its loss rate over Germany was correspondingly high. The wing also drove the design of a deep, divided bomb bay that, awkwardly, could not take the large 4,000 lb and heavier blast bombs the other heavies carried &mdash; a serious limitation once big weapons became central to Bomber Command&#8217;s tactics.<\/p>\n<p>On the ground the Stirling was equally distinctive, standing on an extraordinarily tall, complex undercarriage that lifted its nose high into the air to give the wing enough angle for take-off. The long legs were fragile and the aircraft could swing viciously on take-off and landing; accidents were common. Yet once airborne the Stirling was, by many accounts, a delight to fly &mdash; light on the controls, strong, and surprisingly manoeuvrable for its size. Crews told of Stirlings out-turning the night fighters sent to kill them, and pilots who flew all three British heavies often spoke most warmly of the Short.<\/p>\n<p>The Stirling flew its first bombing operation on the night of 10&ndash;11 February 1941, against oil-storage tanks at Rotterdam, and through 1941 and 1942 it was a front-line part of the bomber offensive, raiding German cities and targets as far away as northern Italy. But its shortcomings against the improving German defences told, and by late 1943 the Stirling had been withdrawn from the main bombing campaign against Germany, its place taken by the more capable Lancaster and Halifax.<\/p>\n<p>Withdrawal from bombing was not the end. The Stirling&#8217;s size, strength and docile handling made it ideal for other work, and from 1943&ndash;44 it found a busy second career: towing the Horsa and Hamilcar gliders that carried airborne troops to Normandy on D-Day and to Arnhem during Operation Market Garden; laying sea mines in enemy waters; flying clandestine Special Operations Executive missions to drop agents and arms into occupied Europe; and, as the purpose-built Mk V, serving as an unarmed transport. In these roles the Stirling flew on to the end of the war and a little beyond.<\/p>\n<p>The Stirling force was, like the whole of Bomber Command, a Commonwealth undertaking. No. 7 Squadron pioneered the type; No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron became one of its best-known operators; and Australian, Canadian and other Allied airmen flew it alongside their British comrades. For many of these young men from the far side of the world, the Short &mdash; not the more celebrated Lancaster &mdash; was the aircraft in which they first went into action, and the type is remembered in the aviation histories of several nations even though so little of it survives.<\/p>\n<p>Around 2,371 Stirlings were built before production ended, and after 1945 the type vanished with startling speed &mdash; scrapped almost to the last airframe. Today <b>not one complete Stirling survives anywhere in the world<\/b>. A handful of recovered relics and parts exist in collections, and a dedicated volunteer project is working to build a reproduction, but of the first RAF heavy bomber &mdash; an aircraft once numbered in thousands &mdash; there is no whole example left to stand beside the surviving Lancasters and the restored Halifaxes. It is, in every sense, the forgotten member of Bomber Command&#8217;s heavy trio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pull\">First in, first out: the Stirling opened the RAF&rsquo;s four-engine bomber offensive &mdash; then, grounded by its own short wing, reinvented itself as a glider tug, mine-layer and secret-agent taxi.<span>An overview of a bomber that was always more than its bomb load<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"gd\">\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">01<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling&rsquo;s origins: Specification B.12\/36 and the flying-boat firm that built it<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Specification B.12\/36 asked for something the RAF had never operated: a true four-engine heavy bomber, able to carry a heavy load over long range, to operate from existing airfields, and even to be catapult-launched and to double as a troop carrier. Several firms tendered; Short Brothers and Supermarine were chosen, and the Supermarine design was destroyed in a bombing raid before it flew, leaving the Short S.29 to become the Stirling.<\/p>\n<p>Short Brothers was best known for large flying boats such as the Empire and Sunderland, and it brought that experience in big airframes to the Stirling. To test the layout the company first flew a half-scale wooden prototype, the S.31, before the full-size aircraft. The result was the first of the RAF&rsquo;s three four-engine heavies to fly in near-operational form and, in 1940, the first to enter service &mdash; a genuine pioneer, even if the aircraft that followed it would prove more capable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">02<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling&rsquo;s short wing: the hangar-door myth and the ceiling that doomed it as a bomber<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>No feature of the Stirling is more talked about than its wingspan of roughly 99 feet, unusually short for so large an aircraft. The popular explanation &mdash; that the Air Ministry capped the span at 100 feet so the bomber would fit through standard RAF hangar doors &mdash; is repeated everywhere, but it is <b>disputed<\/b> by historians, who note that the 100-foot figure appears as a general limit in the specification and that the tidy hangar-door story is most likely a later myth rather than documented design history. It should be treated as a widely repeated claim, not established fact.<\/p>\n<p>What is <b>not<\/b> in doubt is the effect. A short wing meant high wing loading and a low ceiling: fully laden, the Stirling struggled to reach much above 16,500 feet, where the Halifax and Lancaster cruised thousands of feet higher. That left the Stirling wallowing in the most dangerous airspace over a target, and its loss rate showed it. The same wing structure dictated a compartmented bomb bay that could not house the big 4,000 lb &ldquo;cookie&rdquo; blast bombs, so the Stirling could carry a large <em>number<\/em> of smaller bombs but not the heaviest single weapons &mdash; a growing handicap as the war went on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" style=\"background:#f6f8fb\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Design &amp; Engineering<\/p>\n<h2>How the Short Stirling was built to fight<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\" style=\"margin-bottom:30px\">A vast, strongly built airframe from a flying-boat maker &mdash; four radial engines, a towering undercarriage, and a wing so short it defined both the aircraft&rsquo;s handling and its fate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"cards\">\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">01<\/div>\n<h3>Four Bristol Hercules radials<\/h3>\n<p>Unlike the Merlin-then-Hercules story of its rivals, the Stirling was built around four Bristol Hercules air-cooled radials from the start. Successive marks fitted more powerful Hercules versions, but the short wing capped the aircraft&rsquo;s altitude no matter how much power was added &mdash; the engines were never the Stirling&rsquo;s real problem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">02<\/div>\n<h3>A short wing and a divided bomb bay<\/h3>\n<p>Held to roughly a 99 ft span, the wing gave high wing loading, a low ceiling and a bomb bay split into cells that could not take bombs larger than 2,000 lb. The Stirling could carry up to about 14,000 lb of smaller weapons over short range, but never the heavy blast bombs that became central to the offensive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">03<\/div>\n<h3>The tallest undercarriage in the RAF<\/h3>\n<p>To give the short wing enough angle of attack for take-off, the Stirling sat on an immensely tall, complex main undercarriage &mdash; the nose towering some 22 ft above the ground. It was fragile and troublesome, prone to collapse, and the aircraft could swing badly on the runway, making the Stirling notoriously demanding to get safely on and off the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure style=\"margin:36px 0 0\"><img data-opt-id=284780979  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1350\/h:1080\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/short-stirling-nose-and-aircrew.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201228%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221228%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221228%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Aircrew beneath the towering nose of a Short Stirling, showing the aircraft's great size\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;border:1px solid #e2e7ee\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13.5px;color:#5a6472;padding-top:9px\">Aircrew dwarfed beneath the nose of a Stirling &mdash; the aircraft stood on an exceptionally tall undercarriage that lifted the nose high off the ground. Photo: Charles E. Brown \/ RAF official &mdash; public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gd\">\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">03<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Beyond bombing: the Short Stirling as glider tug, mine-layer and secret-operations aircraft<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Once the Stirling was withdrawn from raids on Germany, its roomy fuselage, strength and gentle handling made it ideal for a range of secondary duties that kept it busy to the end of the war. Airborne-forces squadrons used it to tow the Airspeed Horsa and the huge General Aircraft Hamilcar gliders, delivering troops and equipment on D-Day and at Arnhem, and to drop paratroops.<\/p>\n<p>Other Stirlings laid sea mines &mdash; the work crews called &ldquo;gardening&rdquo; &mdash; in German, Danish and Norwegian coastal waters, and special-duties aircraft flew low over occupied Europe on Special Operations Executive missions, parachuting agents, weapons and radios to the resistance. The dedicated Mk V, stripped of turrets, served purely as a transport. It is this breadth of second-career work, as much as the early bombing, that defines the Stirling&rsquo;s wartime record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Full Specifications<\/p>\n<h2>Short Stirling Mk III &mdash; specifications<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\" style=\"margin-bottom:26px\">Figures are for the Bristol Hercules-powered B Mk III, the most-produced variant. Values vary between marks and sources; approximate, contested and disputed figures are flagged. The Stirling&rsquo;s performance figures &mdash; especially its ceiling &mdash; differ noticeably between references and should be read as representative rather than exact.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twocol\">\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<caption>General characteristics<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Crew<\/th>\n<td>7&ndash;8 (pilot, second pilot\/flight engineer, navigator, bomb aimer, wireless operator, gunners)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Length<\/th>\n<td>26.59 m (87 ft 3 in)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Wingspan<\/th>\n<td>~30.20 m (99 ft 1 in) &mdash; short for a heavy bomber<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Height<\/th>\n<td>6.93 m (22 ft 9 in) &mdash; very tall on its undercarriage<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Wing area<\/th>\n<td>~135.6 m&sup2; (1,460 sq ft)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Empty weight<\/th>\n<td>~21,270 kg (46,900 lb)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Max takeoff weight<\/th>\n<td>~31,750 kg (70,000 lb)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Powerplant<\/th>\n<td>4 &times; Bristol Hercules XVI 14-cylinder radial, ~1,635 hp each<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>First flight<\/th>\n<td>14 May 1939 (prototype)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<caption>Performance, armament &amp; cost<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Maximum speed<\/th>\n<td>~435 km\/h (270 mph) at altitude <em>(est., varies by source)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Cruise speed<\/th>\n<td>~320 km\/h (200 mph)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Range<\/th>\n<td>~950 km (590 mi) with maximum bomb load; ~3,750 km ferry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Service ceiling<\/th>\n<td>~5,030 m (16,500 ft) <em>(low; some sources ~17,000 ft)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Max bomb load<\/th>\n<td>~6,350 kg (14,000 lb); limited to bombs of 2,000 lb or less<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Defensive armament<\/th>\n<td>8 &times; 0.303 in Browning MG (nose, dorsal &amp; tail turrets)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Number built<\/th>\n<td>~2,371 (all marks) <em>(some sources ~2,383)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Unit cost<\/th>\n<td>Not reliably recorded <em>(wartime figures inconsistent)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Cost per flight hour<\/th>\n<td>Not applicable &mdash; no airworthy Stirling exists <em>(no complete airframe survives)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gd\">\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">04<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling&rsquo;s variants: from B Mk I to the turretless Mk V transport<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p><b>B Mk I:<\/b> the first production bomber, powered by early Bristol Hercules engines; the version that opened the Stirling&rsquo;s operational career in 1941.<\/p>\n<p><b>B Mk III:<\/b> the definitive bomber, with more powerful Hercules XVI engines and a revised dorsal turret; improved performance but still limited by the short wing.<\/p>\n<p><b>Mk IV:<\/b> a glider-tug and paratroop version with the nose and dorsal turrets removed, used by airborne-forces squadrons for Normandy, Arnhem and SOE work.<\/p>\n<p><b>Mk V:<\/b> an unarmed transport with a lengthened, faired nose and a large freight door, built for carrying troops and cargo; some served briefly after the war and a batch went to Egypt.<\/p>\n<p>Figures for exact production totals of each mark vary between sources; the commonly cited grand total is around 2,371 aircraft.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">05<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling&rsquo;s operating costs: what a wartime heavy actually cost<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Reliable unit-cost figures for the Stirling are hard to pin down. Wartime aircraft costs were quoted inconsistently &mdash; sometimes airframe-only, sometimes with engines and equipment, in shifting 1940s pounds &mdash; and no single authoritative figure is widely accepted, so we mark it <b>not reliably recorded<\/b> rather than repeat a dubious number.<\/p>\n<p>A cost-per-flight-hour figure &mdash; a standard field on these pages &mdash; simply <b>does not apply<\/b> to the Stirling today. Not one airframe is airworthy anywhere in the world; indeed, unlike the Lancaster and Halifax, no <em>complete<\/em> Stirling survives at all. Any &ldquo;per hour&rdquo; figure would be pure invention. The real modern cost of a Stirling is measured instead in the decades of volunteer effort now going into building a single reproduction from drawings and salvaged parts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" style=\"background:#f6f8fb\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Reference Data<\/p>\n<h2>Short Stirling: dimensions, structure and systems<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\" style=\"margin-bottom:22px\">A fuller technical reference for the Stirling, drawn largely from the Hercules-engined B Mk III. Figures vary by mark and source and are approximate; readers comparing marks should treat them as representative rather than exact.<\/p>\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<caption>Detailed technical data<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Wing area<\/th>\n<td>~135.6 m&sup2; (1,460 sq ft)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Wing span<\/th>\n<td>~30.20 m (99 ft 1 in) &mdash; capped near 100 ft in the specification<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Fuselage<\/th>\n<td>Deep, slab-sided structure with a long, compartmented bomb bay<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Undercarriage<\/th>\n<td>Exceptionally tall retractable main gear with a two-stage retraction mechanism<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Powerplant (Mk III)<\/th>\n<td>4 &times; Bristol Hercules XVI 14-cyl sleeve-valve radial, ~1,635 hp each<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Powerplant (Mk I)<\/th>\n<td>4 &times; Bristol Hercules XI, ~1,590 hp each<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Propellers<\/th>\n<td>Three-blade constant-speed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Bomb bay<\/th>\n<td>Divided into cells; maximum bomb 2,000 lb &mdash; could not carry the 4,000 lb blast bomb<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Max bomb load<\/th>\n<td>~6,350 kg (14,000 lb) over short range<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Typical range with load<\/th>\n<td>~950 km (590 mi) heavy; ~3,750 km (2,330 mi) ferry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Service ceiling<\/th>\n<td>~5,030 m (16,500 ft) <em>(low; sources differ)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Defensive guns<\/th>\n<td>8 &times; 0.303 in Browning in nose (2), dorsal (2) and tail (4) turrets<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Powerplant &amp; Heritage<\/p>\n<h2>Engines, and the Stirling&rsquo;s place in history<\/h2>\n<div class=\"gd\">\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">06<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling&rsquo;s engines: four Bristol Hercules radials<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Where the Halifax and Lancaster began with the liquid-cooled Rolls-Royce Merlin, the Stirling was built from the start around the Bristol Hercules &mdash; a big 14-cylinder air-cooled sleeve-valve radial. Four of them gave the Stirling ample power, and successive marks fitted more potent Hercules versions as they became available.<\/p>\n<p>The engines were rarely the aircraft&rsquo;s weak point. The Stirling&rsquo;s ceiling was limited by its short, highly loaded wing, not by a lack of horsepower, and no amount of extra engine power could lift the fully laden bomber to the altitudes its rivals reached. In that sense the Stirling is a reminder that an aircraft is a system: a sound engine cannot rescue an airframe hemmed in by a design constraint set years earlier on the drawing board.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">07<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling in the Short Brothers story: from flying boats to a heavy bomber<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Short Brothers, founded in 1908, was one of the oldest names in British aviation and by the 1930s was famous above all for large flying boats &mdash; the elegant Empire boats of Imperial Airways and the military Sunderland that would hunt U-boats throughout the war. Building a huge four-engine landplane was a natural extension of that expertise in big airframes.<\/p>\n<p>The Stirling was the company&rsquo;s major contribution to the bomber offensive, built at Rochester and Belfast and by a wider production group. Short Brothers went on building flying boats and, after the war, moved into Northern Ireland as Short Brothers &amp; Harland, eventually becoming a maker of airliners, missiles and components that survives today as part of a larger group. The Stirling remains the firm&rsquo;s most significant wartime landplane.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Variants<\/p>\n<h2>Every major Short Stirling mark<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\" style=\"margin-bottom:22px\">From the half-scale wooden prototype to the turretless transport, the Stirling was developed through a handful of major versions spanning bomber, airborne-support and transport duties.<\/p>\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<caption>Short Stirling variants at a glance<\/caption>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"width:16%\">Mark<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:22%\">Engines<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:20%\">Primary role<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:42%\">Notes<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><b>S.31<\/b><\/td>\n<td>2 &times; (half-scale)<\/td>\n<td>Test aircraft<\/td>\n<td>A half-scale wooden flying prototype built to prove the layout before the full-size bomber flew.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Prototype (S.29)<\/b><\/td>\n<td>4 &times; Hercules<\/td>\n<td>Prototype<\/td>\n<td>First flew 14 May 1939; wrecked when the undercarriage collapsed on the landing run.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>B Mk I<\/b><\/td>\n<td>4 &times; Hercules XI<\/td>\n<td>Bomber<\/td>\n<td>The first production bomber; entered service in 1940 and opened the Stirling&rsquo;s operational career.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>B Mk III<\/b><\/td>\n<td>4 &times; Hercules XVI<\/td>\n<td>Bomber<\/td>\n<td>The definitive bomber, with more powerful engines and a revised dorsal turret.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Mk IV<\/b><\/td>\n<td>4 &times; Hercules<\/td>\n<td>Glider tug \/ paratroop<\/td>\n<td>Turrets removed; towed gliders and dropped paratroops and agents from 1944.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Mk V<\/b><\/td>\n<td>4 &times; Hercules<\/td>\n<td>Transport<\/td>\n<td>Unarmed transport with a faired nose and freight door; a batch was later sold to Egypt.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" style=\"background:#f6f8fb\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Notable Operations<\/p>\n<h2>The Short Stirling in action<\/h2>\n<div class=\"cards\" style=\"grid-template-columns:repeat(4,1fr)\">\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">10&ndash;11 Feb 1941<\/div>\n<h3 style=\"font-size:17px;margin:10px 0 8px\">First operation<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:14.5px\">The Stirling&rsquo;s combat debut, a raid on oil storage at Rotterdam by No. 7 Squadron.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">1941&ndash;42<\/div>\n<h3 style=\"font-size:17px;margin:10px 0 8px\">Ruhr &amp; Germany<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:14.5px\">Front-line raids on German cities as Bomber Command&rsquo;s first four-engine heavy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">Nov 1942<\/div>\n<h3 style=\"font-size:17px;margin:10px 0 8px\">Turin &amp; Italy<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:14.5px\">Long-range night raids over the Alps against northern Italian industrial cities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">1942&ndash;43<\/div>\n<h3 style=\"font-size:17px;margin:10px 0 8px\">Mine-laying<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:14.5px\">&ldquo;Gardening&rdquo; sorties sowing sea mines in German, Danish and Norwegian waters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">Late 1943<\/div>\n<h3 style=\"font-size:17px;margin:10px 0 8px\">Withdrawn from Germany<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:14.5px\">Heavy losses and a low ceiling end the Stirling&rsquo;s main bombing role over the Reich.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">6 Jun 1944<\/div>\n<h3 style=\"font-size:17px;margin:10px 0 8px\">D-Day<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:14.5px\">Stirlings tow gliders and drop paratroops onto the flanks of the Normandy landings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">Sep 1944<\/div>\n<h3 style=\"font-size:17px;margin:10px 0 8px\">Arnhem<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:14.5px\">Airborne squadrons haul gliders and fly resupply during Operation Market Garden.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">1943&ndash;45<\/div>\n<h3 style=\"font-size:17px;margin:10px 0 8px\">Secret war<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:14.5px\">Special-duties Stirlings drop SOE agents and supplies across occupied Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">In Context<\/p>\n<h2>The Short Stirling among the Allied heavies<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\" style=\"margin-bottom:22px\">How the Stirling compared with its British stablemates and the American heavy bombers. Figures are typical\/approximate and vary by mark, load and source.<\/p>\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<caption>Allied four-engine heavy bombers compared<\/caption>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"width:30%\">Aircraft<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:22%\">Engines<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:22%\">Max bomb load<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:14%\">Ceiling<\/th>\n<th style=\"width:12%\">Crew<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Short Stirling B III<\/b><\/td>\n<td>4 &times; Bristol Hercules<\/td>\n<td>~14,000 lb (max 2,000 lb bombs)<\/td>\n<td>~16,500 ft<\/td>\n<td>7&ndash;8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Handley Page Halifax B III<\/b><\/td>\n<td>4 &times; Bristol Hercules<\/td>\n<td>~13,000 lb<\/td>\n<td>~24,000 ft<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Avro Lancaster B I<\/b><\/td>\n<td>4 &times; Rolls-Royce Merlin<\/td>\n<td>~14,000 lb (up to 22,000 lb special)<\/td>\n<td>~21,400 ft<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress<\/b><\/td>\n<td>4 &times; Wright Cyclone<\/td>\n<td>~4,500&ndash;8,000 lb typical<\/td>\n<td>~35,000 ft<\/td>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Consolidated B-24 Liberator<\/b><\/td>\n<td>4 &times; Pratt &amp; Whitney<\/td>\n<td>~8,000 lb typical<\/td>\n<td>~28,000 ft<\/td>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p class=\"fnote\">The Stirling entered service first but sat at the bottom of the British heavy trio in altitude and bomb flexibility: its low ceiling and 2,000 lb bomb limit told against it, and it was withdrawn from raids on Germany while the Lancaster and Halifax fought on. Where the Stirling excelled was in the airborne-support, mine-laying and clandestine roles it took up from 1943&ndash;44 &mdash; and in the affection of the crews who found it, for all its faults, a fine aircraft to fly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" style=\"background:#f6f8fb\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Timeline<\/p>\n<h2>The Short Stirling: a wartime service record<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tl\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"yr\">1936<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\">The Air Ministry issues Specification B.12\/36 for a four-engine heavy bomber &mdash; the requirement that produced the Stirling.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"yr\">14 May 1939<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\">The full-size Stirling prototype makes its first flight at Rochester, but is wrecked when its undercarriage collapses on landing.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"yr\">Aug 1940<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\">No. 7 Squadron receives the Stirling; it becomes the first four-engine heavy bomber in RAF service.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"yr\">10&ndash;11 Feb 1941<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\">The Stirling flies its first bombing operation, against oil storage at Rotterdam.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"yr\">1941&ndash;42<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\">Front-line service over Germany and Italy as Bomber Command&rsquo;s first heavy; losses mount as defences improve.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"yr\">1943<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\">The improved B Mk III enters service, but the short-wing ceiling problem cannot be solved.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"yr\">Late 1943<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\">The Stirling is withdrawn from raids on Germany and turns to mine-laying, glider-towing and special duties.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"yr\">6 Jun 1944<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\">Stirlings tow gliders and drop paratroops in support of the D-Day landings.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"yr\">Sep 1944<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\">Airborne Stirlings support Operation Market Garden at Arnhem.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"yr\">1945&ndash;46<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\">War&rsquo;s end; production finishes at about 2,371 aircraft and the fleet is rapidly scrapped.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"yr\">Post-war<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\">A batch of Mk V transports is sold to Egypt; within a few years virtually every Stirling has been broken up.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Stories &amp; Eyewitnesses<\/p>\n<h2>The Short Stirling in eighteen stories<\/h2>\n<div class=\"carou\">\n<div class=\"track\" id=\"strltrack\">\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">The pioneer<\/div>\n<h3>First of the RAF&rsquo;s big four<\/h3>\n<p>The Stirling was the first four-engine heavy bomber to enter RAF service, in 1940 &mdash; ahead of both the Halifax and the Lancaster.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">For a short period it was Bomber Command&rsquo;s only heavy, carrying the four-engine offensive into Germany while the other two types were still working up to operations.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">The myth<\/div>\n<h3>The hangar-door legend<\/h3>\n<p>Almost every account of the Stirling repeats the story that its short wing was dictated by the width of RAF hangar doors.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">Historians treat this as a persistent myth rather than fact: the 100 ft span limit came from the specification, and the tidy hangar-door explanation is disputed. The consequences of the short wing, however, were entirely real.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">The flaw<\/div>\n<h3>A ceiling that killed<\/h3>\n<p>The short wing gave the Stirling a service ceiling of only around 16,500 ft &mdash; thousands of feet below its rivals.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">That kept the bomber down among the flak and the night fighters, and its loss rate over Germany was high enough that it was pulled from the main campaign by late 1943.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">The bomb bay<\/div>\n<h3>No room for the cookie<\/h3>\n<p>The Stirling&rsquo;s divided bomb bay could not house bombs larger than 2,000 lb.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">As Bomber Command turned to the 4,000 lb &ldquo;cookie&rdquo; and heavier blast weapons, the Stirling was left unable to carry the war&rsquo;s most destructive bombs &mdash; a growing handicap that the Lancaster, in particular, did not share.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">The undercarriage<\/div>\n<h3>Standing on stilts<\/h3>\n<p>To give the short wing its take-off angle, the Stirling stood on an extraordinarily tall, complex undercarriage.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">The long legs were fragile and prone to collapse, and the aircraft could swing viciously on take-off and landing. Many Stirlings were lost or damaged in accidents that never involved the enemy at all.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">The handling<\/div>\n<h3>A joy in the air<\/h3>\n<p>For all its ground-handling troubles, pilots loved the way the Stirling flew.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">It was light on the controls and unusually manoeuvrable for so large an aircraft; crews told of Stirlings out-turning the night fighters sent to attack them. Airmen who flew all three British heavies often rated the Short the nicest to handle.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">The debut<\/div>\n<h3>Rotterdam, February 1941<\/h3>\n<p>The Stirling flew its first bombing operation on the night of 10&ndash;11 February 1941.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">Aircraft of No. 7 Squadron attacked oil-storage tanks at Rotterdam, opening the four-engine bomber offensive that would grow into the great campaign of 1943&ndash;45.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">Airborne<\/div>\n<h3>Towing the gliders<\/h3>\n<p>When the Stirling left the bombing campaign it became a first-rate glider tug.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">Stirlings hauled Horsa and Hamilcar gliders to Normandy on D-Day and to Arnhem during Market Garden, and dropped paratroops &mdash; the muscle behind Britain&rsquo;s airborne assaults of 1944.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">Secret war<\/div>\n<h3>Agents into the dark<\/h3>\n<p>Special-duties Stirlings flew low, moonlit missions over occupied Europe.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">They parachuted SOE agents, weapons and radios to resistance networks in France, the Low Countries, Norway and Denmark &mdash; among the most dangerous and least publicised flying of the war.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">Gardening<\/div>\n<h3>Sowing the sea with mines<\/h3>\n<p>Stirlings spent many nights &ldquo;gardening&rdquo; &mdash; laying sea mines in enemy waters.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">Mines dropped in German, Danish and Norwegian coastal channels sank shipping and tied down minesweepers, a quiet but valuable campaign far from the glare of the city raids.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">Commonwealth<\/div>\n<h3>New Zealanders and others<\/h3>\n<p>Like the rest of Bomber Command, the Stirling force drew on the whole Commonwealth.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron flew Stirlings, as did Australian, Canadian and other Allied crews &mdash; for many of them the Short, not the Lancaster, was the aircraft they went to war in.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">MacRobert<\/div>\n<h3>&ldquo;MacRobert&rsquo;s Reply&rdquo;<\/h3>\n<p>One of the most famous Stirlings was N6086, &ldquo;MacRobert&rsquo;s Reply&rdquo;.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">Lady MacRobert paid for the aircraft in memory of her three sons, all killed flying, and it carried the family crest and name into action &mdash; a story that came to stand for private sacrifice in the air war.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">The transport<\/div>\n<h3>The turretless Mk V<\/h3>\n<p>The final Stirling variant, the Mk V, was an unarmed transport with a faired nose and a freight door.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">It carried troops and cargo in the last months of the war and after it; a batch was sold to the Royal Egyptian Air Force, giving the Stirling a brief post-war afterlife abroad.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">Disappearance<\/div>\n<h3>Scrapped almost to the last<\/h3>\n<p>After 1945 the Stirling vanished with astonishing speed.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">Of around 2,371 built, virtually every airframe was broken up within a few years. Unlike the Lancaster and Halifax, not one complete Stirling was preserved &mdash; the type simply disappeared.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">Survival<\/div>\n<h3>No whole aircraft left<\/h3>\n<p>Today there is no complete Short Stirling anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">Only recovered relics &mdash; sections, undercarriage legs, instruments and salvaged parts &mdash; survive in museums and private hands, making the Stirling the great absence among preserved RAF heavies.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">Reconstruction<\/div>\n<h3>Building one from scratch<\/h3>\n<p>A dedicated volunteer project is working to build a reproduction Stirling.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">Using original drawings and salvaged components, enthusiasts hope one day to let visitors stand beside a whole Stirling again &mdash; a long labour to recover an aircraft that history very nearly erased.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">Rochester<\/div>\n<h3>Bombed on the production line<\/h3>\n<p>The Stirling&rsquo;s birthplace was itself in the front line of the air war.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">During the Battle of Britain in 1940, German raiders struck the Short Brothers works at Rochester, destroying finished aircraft on the line and setting back early production of the RAF&rsquo;s first four-engine heavy.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\">\n<div class=\"st\">The half-scale<\/div>\n<h3>A wooden Stirling that flew first<\/h3>\n<p>Before the giant flew, Short Brothers tested a half-scale wooden replica, the S.31.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Read more<\/summary>\n<p style=\"margin-top:10px\">The little aircraft let the company prove the layout and handling in the air and shape the design of the troublesome undercarriage &mdash; an imaginative way to de-risk an enormous and costly bomber.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cbtns\"><button class=\"cbtn\" onclick=\"document.getElementById('strltrack').scrollBy({left:-380,behavior:'smooth'})\" aria-label=\"Previous\">&lsaquo;<\/button><button class=\"cbtn\" onclick=\"document.getElementById('strltrack').scrollBy({left:380,behavior:'smooth'})\" aria-label=\"Next\">&rsaquo;<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">The Stirling in Depth<\/p>\n<h2>The Short Stirling, mission by mission<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\" style=\"margin-bottom:8px\">Deeper dives into the aircraft&rsquo;s campaigns, crews, controversies and disappearance. Together they tell the fuller story of a bomber that was always more than the sum of its bomb load &mdash; expand any topic to read more.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gd\">\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">08<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling over Germany: Bomber Command&rsquo;s first four-engine offensive<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>For roughly two years the Stirling was in the front line of the strategic air offensive against Germany. Through 1941 and 1942 it raided the industrial cities of the Ruhr, the ports of the North Sea coast and targets deeper inside the Reich, part of a growing four-engine force that would eventually pour hundreds of aircraft over a target in a single night.<\/p>\n<p>But the Stirling always fought at a disadvantage. Its low ceiling meant it flew beneath the Halifaxes and Lancasters in the bomber stream, squarely in the zone where flak was heaviest and where night fighters could most easily find it. Loss rates were correspondingly severe, and the aircraft&rsquo;s inability to carry the heaviest blast bombs limited what it could contribute as the campaign&rsquo;s weapons grew larger.<\/p>\n<p>By the second half of 1943 the arithmetic was inescapable, and Bomber Command began withdrawing the Stirling from raids on Germany. It had, however, done real and dangerous work in the hardest years, when the four-engine force was still small and every heavy bomber counted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">09<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling&rsquo;s undercarriage: the tallest and most troublesome legs in the RAF<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Stirling&rsquo;s most visually striking feature was the immensely tall undercarriage that held its nose high in the air. The short wing needed a large angle of incidence on the ground to generate enough lift for take-off, and the only way to achieve it was to perch the whole aircraft on very long legs, with the cockpit standing more than twenty feet above the tarmac.<\/p>\n<p>That height came at a price. The undercarriage was mechanically complex, with a two-stage retraction system, and it was structurally fragile. Heavy or mishandled landings could collapse the legs, and the aircraft&rsquo;s tendency to swing on take-off and landing &mdash; a handful for any pilot on a dark, wet runway &mdash; led to a steady toll of accidents entirely separate from enemy action.<\/p>\n<p>For all that, crews learned to manage the Stirling on the ground, and its handling in the air more than made up for the anxiety of getting it down. But the undercarriage remains emblematic of the whole design: an ingenious answer to a problem created by the short wing, and one that brought new problems of its own.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">10<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Flying the Short Stirling: why crews loved an aircraft the planners disliked<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>There is a paradox at the heart of the Stirling&rsquo;s reputation. On paper it was the weakest of the RAF&rsquo;s three heavies, and the planners were glad to see it leave the bombing campaign. Yet the men who actually flew it frequently remembered it with real affection, and pilots who had flown all three types often said the Stirling was the most pleasant to handle of the lot.<\/p>\n<p>The reason was its behaviour in the air. Despite its size the Stirling was light and responsive on the controls and unusually agile, able to be thrown around in the violent &ldquo;corkscrew&rdquo; evasive manoeuvre far more readily than its bulk suggested. Crews told of Stirlings turning inside attacking night fighters, using sheer manoeuvrability to survive where a heavier-handling aircraft might not.<\/p>\n<p>It is a reminder that the qualities that matter to a designer or a statistician are not always the ones that matter to the crew in the dark over Germany. The Stirling&rsquo;s ceiling and bomb load could be measured and found wanting; its handling could only be felt, and those who felt it rarely forgot it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">11<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling on D-Day and at Arnhem: the airborne workhorse<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>When the Allies returned to occupied Europe, the Stirling went with them &mdash; not as a bomber but as a tug and troop-carrier for the airborne forces. Squadrons equipped with the turretless Mk IV towed the large gliders that delivered jeeps, guns and men, and dropped paratroops onto the battlefield.<\/p>\n<p>On the night before D-Day, 6 June 1944, Stirlings were over Normandy towing gliders and dropping paratroops onto the flanks of the invasion. Three months later, during Operation Market Garden, they were back over the Netherlands hauling gliders to the airborne landings around Arnhem and flying dangerous resupply missions through intense ground fire.<\/p>\n<p>This airborne work gave the Stirling a central place in some of the war&rsquo;s most famous operations, long after it had ceased to be a front-line bomber. Few aircraft could claim to have opened the four-engine bombing of Germany and then carried the airborne army into occupied Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">12<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling and the SOE: the secret war by moonlight<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Among the most secret uses of the Stirling was its service with the special-duties squadrons that worked for the Special Operations Executive and the resistance movements of occupied Europe. Flying alone, low and slow on moonlit nights, these aircraft parachuted agents, weapons, radios and supplies to underground networks.<\/p>\n<p>The missions demanded extraordinary navigation &mdash; finding a single field marked by a few torches, deep inside enemy territory, with no radio aids &mdash; and extraordinary nerve, for a special-duties aircraft caught by a night fighter had little chance. The Stirling&rsquo;s roomy fuselage and honest handling made it well suited to the task, and it ranged across France, the Low Countries, Norway and Denmark on this clandestine work.<\/p>\n<p>This quiet, dangerous flying rarely features in the popular image of the heavy bomber, but it was some of the most demanding of the whole war, and the Stirling carried more than its share of it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">13<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Gardening: the Short Stirling and the sea-mining campaign<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>One of Bomber Command&rsquo;s most persistent and least celebrated campaigns was the laying of sea mines in enemy waters &mdash; work the crews codenamed &ldquo;gardening&rdquo;, each stretch of sea a &ldquo;garden&rdquo; and each mine a &ldquo;vegetable&rdquo;. The Stirling, with its capacity and range, was a natural mine-layer.<\/p>\n<p>Flying low over German, Danish and Norwegian coastal channels, Stirlings sowed mines that sank merchant ships and warships, blocked harbours and forced the enemy to divert huge effort into minesweeping. It was precise, dangerous flying, often at low level and at night, and it made a real contribution to the war at sea that is easily overlooked beside the drama of the city raids.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" style=\"background:#f6f8fb\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">More on the Stirling<\/p>\n<h2>The Short Stirling: crews, cost and the vanished fleet<\/h2>\n<div class=\"gd\">\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">14<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling&rsquo;s defensive armament: turrets, the corkscrew and the night-fighter threat<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Stirling defended itself with power-operated turrets mounting rifle-calibre 0.303 in Browning machine guns &mdash; typically two in the nose, two in a dorsal turret and four in the tail. Like all the RAF heavies, it was under-gunned against the cannon-armed German night fighters, and the guns&rsquo; real value lay as much in spotting and warning as in shooting attackers down.<\/p>\n<p>The bomber&rsquo;s standard defence was the &ldquo;corkscrew&rdquo;: on the gunner&rsquo;s call, the pilot flung the aircraft into a violent diving, weaving descent to spoil the fighter&rsquo;s aim. Here the Stirling&rsquo;s much-praised agility was a genuine asset, letting it corkscrew harder than its rivals. Later in the war the Germans fielded upward-firing cannon that let a fighter attack unseen from below, a threat the bombers only slowly came to understand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">15<\/span><span class=\"gt\">MacRobert&rsquo;s Reply: the most famous Short Stirling of all<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Perhaps the best-known individual Stirling was N6086, named &ldquo;MacRobert&rsquo;s Reply&rdquo;. It was paid for by Lady Rachel MacRobert, a Scottish aristocrat who lost all three of her sons to flying &mdash; two killed in the RAF and one in a pre-war accident &mdash; and who donated the money for a bomber as her &ldquo;reply&rdquo; to the enemy.<\/p>\n<p>The aircraft carried the MacRobert family crest and name into action, and the story caught the public imagination as an emblem of private grief turned to defiance. The name has been carried by RAF aircraft ever since, a small thread of continuity linking the Stirling to the modern Royal Air Force and keeping alive one family&rsquo;s extraordinary sacrifice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">16<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Commonwealth crews of the Short Stirling: New Zealand and beyond<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Like the rest of Bomber Command, the Stirling force was a Commonwealth enterprise. No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron flew Stirlings and became one of the type&rsquo;s best-known units, and Australian, Canadian and other Allied airmen served on Stirling squadrons throughout the aircraft&rsquo;s front-line career.<\/p>\n<p>For many of these young men from the far side of the world, the Stirling &mdash; not the more famous Lancaster &mdash; was the aircraft in which they first went to war. The international character of the crews reflected the vast training and manpower effort behind the bombing campaign, and it is part of why the Stirling is remembered in aviation histories across the Commonwealth even though so few relics survive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">17<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The odds of a tour: losses and survival in the Short Stirling<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>For much of the war, completing a tour of operations &mdash; usually thirty sorties &mdash; was a statistical long shot for any Bomber Command crew, and for Stirling crews the odds were worse than most. Its low ceiling put it where the defences were fiercest, and the type&rsquo;s loss rate during its bombing career was among the highest of the heavies.<\/p>\n<p>Behind those figures were seven- and eight-man crews, many of them very young, flying repeatedly into the most dangerous airspace of the war. The Stirling&rsquo;s eventual withdrawal from the German campaign was, in part, a recognition that it was costing lives out of proportion to the damage it could do &mdash; though the airborne, mining and special-duties work it turned to was itself far from safe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">18<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Building the Short Stirling: Rochester, Belfast and the production group<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Stirling was built by Short Brothers at Rochester in Kent and at Belfast in Northern Ireland, together with a wider production group that drew in other firms as the demand for heavy bombers grew. Rochester was bombed during the Battle of Britain, destroying aircraft on the line and disrupting early production &mdash; a reminder that the factories were themselves in the front line.<\/p>\n<p>Assembling so large an aircraft in quantity was a major industrial undertaking, and the roughly 2,371 Stirlings completed represent a substantial share of Britain&rsquo;s wartime heavy-bomber effort. That the type was then scrapped so completely after 1945 makes the scale of that production effort easy to forget today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">19<\/span><span class=\"gt\">From bomber to transport: the Short Stirling Mk V and the type&rsquo;s final service<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The last version of the Stirling abandoned the bomber role entirely. The Mk V was an unarmed transport, its turrets removed and its nose lengthened and faired over, with a large freight door for loading cargo and troops. It served in the final months of the war and briefly afterwards, carrying men and materiel rather than bombs.<\/p>\n<p>A batch of Stirling transports was sold to the Royal Egyptian Air Force after the war, giving the type a short second life abroad, and a Belgian operator flew a few on charter and freight work. But these were brief afterlives. Within a few years of the war&rsquo;s end the Stirling had all but vanished from the world&rsquo;s airfields.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">20<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Why no Short Stirling survives: the great absence among preserved RAF heavies<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The most poignant fact about the Stirling is a negative one: unlike the Lancaster, of which examples still fly, and the Halifax, of which complete airframes survive in museums, not one whole Short Stirling exists anywhere in the world. The type that pioneered the RAF&rsquo;s four-engine bomber force was preserved by nobody.<\/p>\n<p>The reasons are partly timing and partly reputation. The Stirling left front-line service before the war ended and was seen as obsolete; when the great wave of post-war scrapping came, there was little sentiment to save an aircraft already regarded as a failure, and the airframes were melted down in their thousands. By the time aircraft preservation became a serious movement, it was too late.<\/p>\n<p>What survives is fragments &mdash; a nose section here, undercarriage legs and instruments there, parts recovered from crash sites &mdash; and the determined work of a reconstruction project trying to build a complete example from drawings and salvage. Until that succeeds, the Stirling remains the ghost of Bomber Command&rsquo;s heavy trio: everywhere in the history books, nowhere in the flesh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Equipment &amp; Operations<\/p>\n<h2>The Short Stirling: load, life and the vanishing fleet<\/h2>\n<div class=\"gd\">\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">21<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling&rsquo;s bomb bay: many small bombs, but never the big one<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Stirling could carry an impressive weight of bombs &mdash; up to about 14,000 lb over a short range &mdash; but the way that load was carried became one of the aircraft&rsquo;s defining limitations. The wing structure dictated a bomb bay divided into narrow cells running down the fuselage and into the wing roots, ideal for a large number of smaller bombs but physically unable to house a single large one.<\/p>\n<p>As Bomber Command&rsquo;s tactics evolved toward the 4,000 lb &ldquo;cookie&rdquo; blast bomb and heavier weapons designed to flatten and burn whole districts, the Stirling was left behind. It could rain down clusters of smaller bombs and incendiaries, but it could not deliver the war-winning heavy weapons that the Lancaster, with its long unobstructed bomb bay, carried with ease. In a campaign increasingly built around big bombs, that was a decisive disadvantage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">22<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Life on a Short Stirling squadron: the airfield and the ground crew<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Every sortie flown by a Stirling&rsquo;s seven- or eight-man crew rested on the work of far more people on the ground. Fitters, riggers, armourers, electricians and instrument specialists worked in all weathers to keep the big bombers serviceable, bombing-up, refuelling and repairing battle damage between operations &mdash; and the Stirling, with its complex undercarriage and four large radials, demanded plenty of attention.<\/p>\n<p>The airfields themselves, scattered across eastern England, were small towns of Nissen huts, dispersals and runways carved out of farmland. Life there swung between long stretches of waiting and the concentrated tension of an operational night: the briefing, the ritual of dressing and drawing kit, the take-off at dusk on those towering wheels, and the anxious wait for the ragged return at dawn, when the gaps in the dispersals told their own story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">23<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling and the electronic war: navigation, radar and countermeasures<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Hitting a blacked-out target at night was one of the hardest problems of the air war, and the Stirling flew through the whole evolution of the electronic aids designed to solve it. Early raids often missed by miles; the answer was a growing suite of navigation aids &mdash; Gee, and later ground-mapping radar &mdash; and the creation of the Pathfinder Force to find and mark the aiming point.<\/p>\n<p>As the German night-fighter defences grew more sophisticated, so did the bombers&rsquo; countermeasures, from &ldquo;Window&rdquo; foil strips that swamped enemy radar to electronic jamming. The Stirling&rsquo;s roomy fuselage made it a reasonable platform for the bulky equipment this invisible battle required, and even after it left the main bombing force some Stirlings continued in support and special roles that drew on that electronic war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">24<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The half-scale Short Stirling: the S.31 and the making of a giant<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Before the full-size Stirling flew, Short Brothers built something unusual: a half-scale flying replica. The little S.31, powered by four small engines and built largely of wood, let the company test the layout, handling and aerodynamics of the design in the air before committing to the enormous full-size aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>The half-scale programme revealed handling issues &mdash; including a tendency to swing and problems that fed into the design of the undercarriage and controls &mdash; and gave Short Brothers confidence in the basic configuration. It was an imaginative approach to de-risking a large and expensive aircraft, and a reminder that the Stirling, for all the criticism its short wing later attracted, was the product of careful and pioneering engineering.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">25<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Short Stirling versus Avro Lancaster: the comparison the Stirling always loses<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>As with the Halifax, no account of the Stirling escapes the shadow of the Lancaster &mdash; and here the comparison is unkind. The Lancaster could carry a far heavier and more flexible bomb load, including the biggest blast bombs, thousands of feet higher, and it did so with lower losses. By almost every measure that mattered to Bomber Command, the Lancaster was the superior bomber, and the Stirling was withdrawn from the German campaign while the Avro design went on to define it.<\/p>\n<p>But the comparison is not the whole story. The Stirling came first, when there was no Lancaster to fly, and it did the pioneering work of the four-engine force. Its handling was widely thought superior, and in its second career as a tug, mine-layer and special-duties aircraft it did valuable work the Lancaster was rarely asked to do. The honest verdict is that the Stirling was the weakest of the three British heavies as a bomber &mdash; and still an aircraft that earned its place in the history of the air war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">26<\/span><span class=\"gt\">After the last raid: the Short Stirling&rsquo;s rapid disappearance<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>When the war ended, the Stirling had already been out of front-line bombing for well over a year and was widely regarded as obsolete. There was no enthusiasm to preserve it. The bomber and airborne-support airframes were flown to storage and scrapyards and broken up with extraordinary speed, their aluminium fed back into a peacetime economy hungry for metal.<\/p>\n<p>A handful of Mk V transports lingered in service and were sold abroad &mdash; a batch to Egypt, a few to a Belgian charter operator &mdash; but these too were soon gone. Within a few years of 1945 the Short Stirling, an aircraft once built in its thousands, had all but vanished from the world. That total disappearance, more than any single failing, is what makes the type so poignant today, and why the slow work of recovering relics and building a reproduction matters so much.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"num\">27<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Short Stirling&rsquo;s place in the story of Bomber Command<\/span><span class=\"pm\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>It is tempting, knowing how the Stirling&rsquo;s career ended, to write it off as a failure. But that judgement flattens a more interesting story. When the Stirling entered service in 1940 the RAF had never operated a four-engine heavy bomber; the doctrine, the tactics, the ground organisation and the crews all had to be built from nothing, and the Stirling was the aircraft on which much of that learning was done. The four-engine force that devastated Germany in 1944&ndash;45 stood on foundations the Stirling helped to lay.<\/p>\n<p>Its later work matters too. Withdrawn from a bombing role it could no longer perform, the Stirling did not simply retire &mdash; it took up glider-towing, mine-laying and clandestine flying that were themselves central to the Allied victory, from the airborne landings of 1944 to the secret supply of the resistance. Judged over its whole career, rather than by the ceiling figure alone, the Stirling was a hard-working and consequential aircraft, and its near-total erasure from the physical record is a loss to the memory of the air war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" style=\"background:#f6f8fb\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Photo Gallery<\/p>\n<h2>The Short Stirling in photographs<\/h2>\n<div class=\"gtrack\">\n<figure><img data-opt-id=1755190804  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:768\/h:609\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/short-stirling-n6101-in-flight.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20768%20609%22%20width%3D%22768%22%20height%3D%22609%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22768%22%20height%3D%22609%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Short Stirling in flight\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption>Short Stirling N6101 in flight. Photo: Charles E. Brown \/ RAF &mdash; public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img data-opt-id=982499839  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1024\/h:407\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/short-stirling-75-nz-squadron.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201024%20407%22%20width%3D%221024%22%20height%3D%22407%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221024%22%20height%3D%22407%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Short Stirling of 75 (NZ) Squadron\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption>A 75 (New Zealand) Squadron Stirling en route to a target. Photo: British Government \/ RAF &mdash; public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img data-opt-id=1082092637  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1024\/h:684\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/short-stirling-bombing-up-218-squadron.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201024%20684%22%20width%3D%221024%22%20height%3D%22684%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221024%22%20height%3D%22684%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Bombing up a 218 Squadron Short Stirling\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption>Ground crew bombing up a Stirling of No. 218 Squadron. Photo: Ministry of Information Photo Division &mdash; IWM (D 8977), public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img data-opt-id=531685874  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/short-stirling-ready-for-berlin-raid.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Short Stirlings ready for a raid on Berlin\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption>Stirlings at Wratting Common, Cambridgeshire, ready for a raid on Berlin, 31 May 1943. Photo: RAF official photographer &mdash; IWM (TR 1284), public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img data-opt-id=749719001  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1024\/h:759\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/short-stirling-s29-bomber-command.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201024%20759%22%20width%3D%221024%22%20height%3D%22759%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221024%22%20height%3D%22759%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Short S.29 Stirling of RAF Bomber Command\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption>A Short S.29 Stirling of RAF Bomber Command. Photo: RAF official photographer &mdash; IWM (CH 3138), public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img data-opt-id=1006786063  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:747\/h:1080\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/short-stirling-navigator-chart-table.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201063%201536%22%20width%3D%221063%22%20height%3D%221536%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221063%22%20height%3D%221536%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Navigator at the chart table of a Short Stirling\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption>The navigator at his chart table aboard a Stirling, 1941. Photo: Cecil Beaton &mdash; IWM (D 4738), public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"fnote\">All images sourced from Wikimedia Commons. Public-domain wartime photographs, credited individually above.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">On Film<\/p>\n<h2>The story of the Short Stirling<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\" style=\"margin-bottom:24px\">A detailed history of the Stirling &mdash; its origins, its short-wing handicap and its varied wartime career &mdash; from a well-regarded military-aviation channel.<\/p>\n<div class=\"vidwrap\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/srZ6ejLjI7Q\" title=\"The Short Stirling; First of the British Big Boys\" loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p class=\"vcap\">&ldquo;The Short Stirling; First of the British Big Boys&rdquo; &mdash; Ed Nash&rsquo;s Military Matters, an established military-aviation history channel (approx. 166,000 views at time of writing).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" style=\"background:#f6f8fb\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Operations Map<\/p>\n<h2>Where the Short Stirling served<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\" style=\"margin-bottom:26px\">An overview of the Stirling&rsquo;s world: its home in RAF service, the theatres it fought and worked over, the post-war operators that briefly flew it, and where its few relics and a reconstruction project stand today. The Stirling was overwhelmingly a Royal Air Force aircraft, flown by British and Commonwealth crews across the European theatre. Tap or hover a country for detail.<\/p>\n<style>#strl-map-widget .strl-toggle:hover{border-color:#999!important}#strl-map-widget .strl-toggle:not(.active){color:#999!important;border-color:#E0E0E0!important}#strl-map-widget .strl-toggle:not(.active) .strl-check{opacity:0!important}#strl-map-widget .country{fill:#E8ECF1;stroke:#C8D0DA;stroke-width:.4;transition:fill .3s,stroke .3s}#strl-map-widget .country:hover{stroke-width:1;stroke:#999}#strl-map-widget .country.cat-migflug{fill:#5C91FF;stroke:#3A6FD8;stroke-width:.7}#strl-map-widget .country.cat-combat{fill:url(#camo-pattern);stroke:#4A6741;stroke-width:.7}#strl-map-widget .country.cat-current{fill:#555;stroke:#333;stroke-width:.7}#strl-map-widget .country.cat-former{fill:#C0C0C0;stroke:#999;stroke-width:.5}#strl-tooltip .tt-name{font-size:15px;font-weight:700;display:block;margin-bottom:4px}#strl-tooltip .tt-cat{font-size:11px;font-weight:400;color:#aaa;display:block;margin-bottom:6px;letter-spacing:.3px}#strl-tooltip .tt-fleet{font-size:12px;font-weight:600;color:#ccc;display:block;margin-bottom:4px}#strl-tooltip .tt-desc{font-size:12px;color:#ccc;line-height:1.5;display:block}@media(max-width:600px){#strl-map-widget .strl-toggle{padding:6px 10px!important;font-size:12px!important;gap:5px!important}#strl-map-widget .strl-toggle div{width:12px!important;height:12px!important}#strl-controls{gap:6px!important}#strl-count{font-size:13px!important}#strl-tooltip{max-width:calc(100vw - 32px)!important;font-size:12px!important;padding:8px 12px!important}}<\/style>\n<div id=\"strl-map-widget\" style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold','Gilroy regular',Helvetica,Arial,Lucida,sans-serif;max-width:1080px;width:100%;margin:0 auto\">\n<div id=\"strl-map-container\" style=\"width:100%;position:relative\"><svg id=\"strl-map-svg\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block\"><\/svg><\/p>\n<div id=\"strl-tooltip\" style=\"position:fixed;background:#1a1a2e;color:#fff;padding:10px 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\"><\/div>\n<p><script>(function(){var el=document.getElementById(\"strl-data\");var js=decodeURIComponent(escape(atob(el.getAttribute(\"data-js\"))));var sc=document.createElement(\"scr\"+\"ipt\");sc.text=js;document.body.appendChild(sc);})();<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Combat Record<\/p>\n<h2>The Short Stirling by the numbers<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\" style=\"margin-bottom:26px\">Commonly cited figures for the Stirling&rsquo;s bomber career, before it was withdrawn from raids on Germany in late 1943. Totals vary between sources and are approximate; the Stirling&rsquo;s heaviest work came in the difficult early years of the four-engine offensive.<\/p>\n<div class=\"combat\">\n<div class=\"cstat\"><b>~18,440<\/b><span>Bomber Command sorties flown <em>(est.)<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\"><b>~27,000<\/b><span>Tons of bombs dropped <em>(est.)<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\"><b>~640+<\/b><span>Stirlings lost on operations <em>(est.)<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\"><b>~2,371<\/b><span>Built across all marks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" style=\"background:#f6f8fb\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Where to See One<\/p>\n<h2>Short Stirling relics and the reconstruction project<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\" style=\"margin-bottom:24px\">No complete Short Stirling survives anywhere in the world &mdash; the type was scrapped almost to the last airframe after 1945. What remains is recovered relics and an ongoing effort to build a whole aircraft from scratch. These are the places connected with the Stirling today.<\/p>\n<div class=\"cards\">\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">01<\/div>\n<h3>The Stirling reconstruction project<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:14.5px;color:#5C91FF;margin:0 0 8px\"><b>United Kingdom<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Volunteer enthusiasts are working to build a reproduction Short Stirling from original drawings and salvaged components &mdash; the only realistic prospect of a complete aircraft existing again. Progress is slow and depends on research, fundraising and recovered parts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">02<\/div>\n<h3>Museum relics and sections<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:14.5px;color:#5C91FF;margin:0 0 8px\"><b>Various UK collections<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Several museums and private collections hold Stirling fragments &mdash; nose sections, undercarriage legs, instruments, turrets and parts recovered from crash sites. No single museum holds a whole airframe; the pieces are scattered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"n\">03<\/div>\n<h3>Memorials and squadron sites<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:14.5px;color:#5C91FF;margin:0 0 8px\"><b>England &amp; the Commonwealth<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Former Stirling stations and squadron associations &mdash; including memorials to units such as No. 7 and No. 75 (NZ) Squadrons &mdash; keep the type&rsquo;s memory alive where no aircraft can.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"fnote\">Because the Stirling survives only as relics, locations and holdings change as parts are recovered, restored or moved. Please check individual museums&rsquo; and the reconstruction project&rsquo;s own websites for the current state and location of Stirling material.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Legacy<\/p>\n<h2>Remembering the Short Stirling<\/h2>\n<div class=\"story\">\n<p>For decades the Short Stirling has been the forgotten member of Bomber Command&rsquo;s heavy trio. It entered service first, opened the four-engine offensive and flew some of its most dangerous early operations, yet it is remembered &mdash; when it is remembered at all &mdash; chiefly for its faults: the short wing, the low ceiling, the limited bomb bay, the towering undercarriage. The Lancaster took the glory and the Halifax the versatility; the Stirling took the blame.<\/p>\n<p>That reputation is not wholly unfair, but it is incomplete. The Stirling did real work in the hardest years, when every heavy bomber counted, and it went on to a busy and valuable second career towing gliders, laying mines and flying the secret war after it left the bombing campaign. The crews who flew it, for all its shortcomings, often loved it &mdash; and their affection is part of the record too.<\/p>\n<p>The cruelest part of the Stirling&rsquo;s story is its disappearance. Scrapped so completely that not one whole example survives, it is the great absence among preserved RAF heavies &mdash; a pioneer erased. The relics in museums and the slow, determined work of the reconstruction project are attempts to repair that erasure, so that one day visitors might stand beside a complete Short Stirling again and see, in the flesh, the first four-engine heavy bomber the Royal Air Force ever flew.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" style=\"background:#f6f8fb\" id=\"faq\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Questions &amp; Answers<\/p>\n<h2>Short Stirling: your questions answered<\/h2>\n<div class=\"faq\">\n<details class=\"qa\" open>\n<summary>Can I fly in a Short Stirling?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"a\">\n<p>No. There is no airworthy Short Stirling anywhere in the world &mdash; and, unlike the Lancaster and Halifax, not one <b>complete<\/b> Stirling survives at all. Of roughly 2,371 built, the type was scrapped almost to the last airframe after 1945. What remains today is recovered relics &mdash; nose sections, undercarriage legs, instruments and salvaged parts in museums and private collections &mdash; and a volunteer project working to build a reproduction from original drawings. You cannot fly in one, or even stand beside a whole one.<\/p>\n<p>If it is the experience of flying in a genuine piece of military aviation history you are after, that is still very much possible. MiGFlug arranges flights in real, airworthy ex-military jets &mdash; see <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">migflug.com\/flights-prices<\/a> for what you can actually fly today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>Do any Short Stirlings survive today?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"a\">\n<p>No complete Short Stirling survives anywhere in the world &mdash; it is the only one of the RAF&rsquo;s three four-engine heavies of which no whole example is preserved. A number of relics do exist: recovered nose sections, undercarriage components, turrets, instruments and parts salvaged from crash sites, held in museums and private collections. A dedicated reconstruction project is attempting to build a complete reproduction from drawings and salvage, but as yet there is no entire airframe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>Was the Short Stirling&rsquo;s short wingspan really caused by hangar doors?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"a\">\n<p>This is the most repeated story about the Stirling, and it is <b>disputed<\/b>. The claim is that the Air Ministry limited the wingspan to about 100 feet so the bomber would fit through standard RAF hangar doors. Historians point out that the 100-foot figure appears as a general limit in Specification B.12\/36 and that the neat hangar-door explanation is most likely a persistent myth rather than documented fact. What is not in doubt is the effect: the short wing gave the Stirling a low ceiling and a compartmented bomb bay, both of which hampered it as a bomber.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>Why was the Short Stirling withdrawn from bombing Germany?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"a\">\n<p>Its short wing gave it a service ceiling of only around 16,500 feet &mdash; far below the Halifax and Lancaster &mdash; which kept it down in the heaviest flak and within easy reach of night fighters, producing high loss rates. The same wing dictated a divided bomb bay that could not carry bombs larger than 2,000 lb, so the Stirling could not lift the heavy blast bombs that became central to Bomber Command&rsquo;s tactics. By late 1943 it had been withdrawn from raids on Germany and switched to glider-towing, mine-laying, special-duties and transport work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>What was the Short Stirling used for after it stopped bombing?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"a\">\n<p>A great deal. From 1943&ndash;44 the Stirling became a glider tug, hauling Horsa and Hamilcar gliders and dropping paratroops for the airborne landings at Normandy on D-Day and at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden. It laid sea mines in enemy waters (&ldquo;gardening&rdquo;), flew clandestine Special Operations Executive missions dropping agents and supplies into occupied Europe, and, as the turretless Mk V, served as an unarmed transport. In these roles it flew on to the end of the war and briefly beyond.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"qa\">\n<summary>How many Short Stirlings were built, and was it the first RAF four-engine heavy?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"a\">\n<p>About 2,371 Stirlings were built (some sources cite around 2,383), by Short Brothers at Rochester and Belfast with a wider production group, before production ended in 1945&ndash;46. And yes &mdash; the Stirling was the first four-engine heavy bomber to enter RAF service, in 1940, ahead of both the Handley Page Halifax and the Avro Lancaster. Uniquely among the three, it was designed as a four-engine aircraft from the start rather than being converted from a twin-engine design.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\", \"@type\": \"FAQPage\", \"mainEntity\": [{\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Can I fly in a Short Stirling?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"No. There is no airworthy Short Stirling anywhere in the world \\u2014 and, unlike the Lancaster and Halifax, not one complete Stirling survives at all. Of roughly 2,371 built, the type was scrapped almost to the last airframe after 1945. What remains today is recovered relics \\u2014 nose sections, undercarriage legs, instruments and salvaged parts in museums and private collections \\u2014 and a volunteer project working to build a reproduction from original drawings. You cannot fly in one, or even stand beside a whole one. If it is the experience of flying in a genuine piece of military aviation history you are after, that is still very much possible. MiGFlug arranges flights in real, airworthy ex-military jets \\u2014 see migflug.com\/flights-prices for what you can actually fly today.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Do any Short Stirlings survive today?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"No complete Short Stirling survives anywhere in the world \\u2014 it is the only one of the RAF\\u2019s three four-engine heavies of which no whole example is preserved. A number of relics do exist: recovered nose sections, undercarriage components, turrets, instruments and parts salvaged from crash sites, held in museums and private collections. A dedicated reconstruction project is attempting to build a complete reproduction from drawings and salvage, but as yet there is no entire airframe.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Was the Short Stirling\\u2019s short wingspan really caused by hangar doors?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"This is the most repeated story about the Stirling, and it is disputed. The claim is that the Air Ministry limited the wingspan to about 100 feet so the bomber would fit through standard RAF hangar doors. Historians point out that the 100-foot figure appears as a general limit in Specification B.12\/36 and that the neat hangar-door explanation is most likely a persistent myth rather than documented fact. 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By late 1943 it had been withdrawn from raids on Germany and switched to glider-towing, mine-laying, special-duties and transport work.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"What was the Short Stirling used for after it stopped bombing?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"A great deal. From 1943&ndash;44 the Stirling became a glider tug, hauling Horsa and Hamilcar gliders and dropping paratroops for the airborne landings at Normandy on D-Day and at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden. It laid sea mines in enemy waters (\\\"gardening\\\"), flew clandestine Special Operations Executive missions dropping agents and supplies into occupied Europe, and, as the turretless Mk V, served as an unarmed transport. In these roles it flew on to the end of the war and briefly beyond.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"How many Short Stirlings were built, and was it the first RAF four-engine heavy?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"About 2,371 Stirlings were built (some sources cite around 2,383), by Short Brothers at Rochester and Belfast with a wider production group, before production ended in 1945&ndash;46. And yes \\u2014 the Stirling was the first four-engine heavy bomber to enter RAF service, in 1940, ahead of both the Handley Page Halifax and the Avro Lancaster. Uniquely among the three, it was designed as a four-engine aircraft from the start rather than being converted from a twin-engine design.\"}}]}<\/script><div class=\"cta\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<h2>You can&rsquo;t fly the Short Stirling. These, you can.<\/h2>\n<p>No Stirling will ever fly again &mdash; not one complete airframe even survives. But you can still strap into a genuine, airworthy ex-military jet and feel what it is to fly a real piece of military aviation. MiGFlug makes it real.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ctacar\">\n<div class=\"ctacard\">\n<div style=\"height:6px;background:#5C91FF\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"cc\">\n<h3>Fighter Jet Flights<\/h3>\n<p>Take the controls of a real ex-military jet with an experienced fighter pilot.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"ctabtn\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">See flights &amp; prices<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctacard\">\n<div style=\"height:6px;background:#5C91FF\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"cc\">\n<h3>L-39 Albatros<\/h3>\n<p>The classic jet trainer &mdash; aerobatics and low-level fun, in several countries.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"ctabtn\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">See flights &amp; prices<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctacard\">\n<div style=\"height:6px;background:#5C91FF\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"cc\">\n<h3>MiG-29 Fulcrum<\/h3>\n<p>Ride a genuine air-superiority fighter toward the edge of space.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"ctabtn\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">See flights &amp; prices<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctacard\">\n<div style=\"height:6px;background:#5C91FF\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"cc\">\n<h3>Supersonic experiences<\/h3>\n<p>Break the sound barrier in a real military jet.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"ctabtn\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">See flights &amp; prices<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Related Aircraft<\/p>\n<h2>More from the Aircraft Museum<\/h2>\n<div class=\"relgrid\"><a class=\"relcard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/avro-lancaster\/\"><img data-opt-id=97050500  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:768\/h:370\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/avro-lancaster-pa474-bbmf-in-flight.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20768%20370%22%20width%3D%22768%22%20height%3D%22370%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22768%22%20height%3D%22370%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Avro Lancaster\"><span class=\"rc\"><span class=\"rt\">Avro Lancaster<\/span><span class=\"rd\">The RAF&rsquo;s iconic four-engine heavy &mdash; the bomber that outclassed the Stirling.<\/span><\/span><\/a><a class=\"relcard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/handley-page-halifax\/\"><img data-opt-id=180679160  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/handley-page-halifax-mk-iii-in-flight.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Handley Page Halifax\"><span class=\"rc\"><span class=\"rt\">Handley Page Halifax<\/span><span class=\"rd\">The versatile radial-engined heavy that shared &mdash; and outlasted &mdash; the Stirling&rsquo;s work.<\/span><\/span><\/a><a class=\"relcard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/wellington\/\"><img data-opt-id=2125150866  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:768\/h:570\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/vickers-wellington-mk-i-in-flight.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20768%20570%22%20width%3D%22768%22%20height%3D%22570%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22768%22%20height%3D%22570%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Vickers Wellington\"><span class=\"rc\"><span class=\"rt\">Vickers Wellington<\/span><span class=\"rd\">The geodetic-built twin that carried Bomber Command before the four-engine heavies arrived.<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" style=\"background:#f6f8fb\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kicker\">Sources &amp; Further Reading<\/p>\n<h2>Where this page&rsquo;s facts come from<\/h2>\n<div class=\"srcgrid\">\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>Royal Air Force Museum<\/b> <span>&mdash; Reference on the Short Stirling and the RAF&rsquo;s four-engine heavy bombers of the Second World War.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>Imperial War Museums (IWM)<\/b> <span>&mdash; Wartime Stirling photographs, films and Bomber Command collections.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum<\/b> <span>&mdash; Reference on Allied heavy bombers of the Second World War.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>C. H. Barnes, &ldquo;Shorts Aircraft since 1900&rdquo;<\/b> <span>&mdash; Standard manufacturer history covering the Stirling&rsquo;s design and variants.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>Middlebrook &amp; Everitt, &ldquo;The Bomber Command War Diaries&rdquo;<\/b> <span>&mdash; Operational record of Stirling squadrons and losses night by night.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>Bristol engine references &amp; Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust<\/b> <span>&mdash; Background on the Bristol Hercules radial that powered the Stirling.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>RAF Bomber Command Association &amp; squadron histories<\/b> <span>&mdash; Accounts of Nos. 7, 75 (NZ), 149, 218 and other Stirling squadrons.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>The Stirling reconstruction \/ preservation projects<\/b> <span>&mdash; Ongoing efforts to recover relics and build a complete reproduction Stirling.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>Royal Aeronautical Society &amp; Flight archives<\/b> <span>&mdash; Contemporary technical descriptions of the Stirling and its powerplant.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>Aircrew Remembered &amp; Bomber Command veterans&rsquo; associations<\/b> <span>&mdash; First-hand accounts and squadron histories of Stirling operations.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>National museums of New Zealand, Australia &amp; Canada<\/b> <span>&mdash; Reference on Commonwealth aircrew who flew the Stirling.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><b>MiGFlug Afterburner<\/b> <span>&mdash; MiGFlug&rsquo;s own magazine on warbirds, jets and flight experiences.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"fnote\">Figures for speed, range, weights, ceiling, sorties and losses are drawn from the museum and reference sources above; where sources differ, values are given as approximate and marked as estimates, and disputed claims (such as the hangar-door origin of the wingspan) are flagged as such. Images are from Wikimedia Commons and credited individually in the gallery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aircraft Museum &rsaquo; Short Stirling Short Stirling The first four-engine heavy bomber to enter RAF service &mdash; a huge, handsome, low-flying aircraft hobbled by a short wing, and remembered as much for towing gliders and dropping agents as for bombing Germany. 1940First RAF four-engine heavy in service ~2,371Built (all marks) 7&ndash;8Crew ~16,500 ftService ceiling (low [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20743,"parent":15960,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20742","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Short Stirling \u2014 History, Specs, Photos &amp; Stories | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Short Stirling was the RAF&#039;s first four-engine heavy bomber of WWII. 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