The Short SA.4 Sperrin was a British jet bomber design of the early 1950s, built by Short Brothers and Harland of Belfast. It first flew in 1951. From the onset, the design had been viewed as a fall-back option in case the more advanced strategic bomber aircraft, then in development to equip the Royal Air Force's nuclear-armed V bomber force, experienced delays; the Sperrin was not put into production because these swept-wing designs, such as the Vickers Valiant, were by then available.
Short Sperrin
Short Sperrin in flight, 1956
Short Sperrin VX158 landing at Farnborough SBAC Show September 1955. Note the Gyron engine installed in the lower port nacelle
Orthogonal views (silhouette)
Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particularly notable for its flying boat designs manufactured into the 1950s.
left-to-right: Oswald (1883-1969), Horace (1872-1917), and Eustace Short (1875-1932) at Mussell Manor 1909.
Mussell Manor, the Royal Aero Club clubhouse
Commander C. R. Samson making the first take-off from a moving ship, May 1912
Short Brothers Statue at the site of their aero club (Musswell Manor, Isle of Sheppey)