Description
Short Stirling Bomber Poster A3, sketched in Pencil.
The Short Stirling was the first of the four-engined bombers to fly, the prototype taking to the air in May of 1939. However its undercarriage collapsed on landing and it was not until February, 1941 that the aircraft flew its first operation against the enemy.
The largest of the British built heavy bombers of the war, the Stirling towered to a height of almost twenty-three feet with 6,600 horsepower being provided by its Bristol Hercules radial engines. The Stirling rendered great service and was said to have been second to none as a sturdy and dependable aircraft. When it was introduced during the darkest days of the war it also served as a morale-building symbol of Britain’s growing aerial offensive power.
Tragically, the aircraft was needlessly limited at its conception. The engineers at Short’s were faced with the restriction that the wingspan had to be less than one hundred feet so that it could fit into the standard RAF hangars of the day. This resulted in poor high altitude performance and a low ceiling. At low altitudes however, the Stirling was the fastest of the heavy bombers.
Artworks from the collection of the late Artist Barry Wallond, from St Mawgan in Cornwall. Barry’s artwork included a wide range of WW2 and Post War Royal Air Force aircraft, drawn in Pencil. Barry also created a over 150 computer designed images of aircraft, with details of the individual aircraft portrayed.
