The Stirling Project has a great deal of technical information on the Short Stirling. In order to simplify and save confusion however, the aim of this page is to give general data only on the Stirling. Some details vary depending on the mark of Stirling and even between individual aircraft.
Manufacturers: Short Brothers, Rochester, Swindon and Brockworth; Short & Harland, Belfast; Austin Motors, Birmingham
Type: Mid-wing four-engined all-metal stressed skin cantilever monoplane
Overall Dimensions: Wing span 99 ft 1 in; Length 87ft 3 in; Height 22ft 9 in; Wng area 1,460 ft; Tail span 40ft 8in; Fuselage cross section 8ft 8in deep by 6ft 8in wide; Bomb bay length 42ft 7in
Engines: Bristol Hercules 14-cylinder sleeve valve supercharged air cooled radial. Maximum power up to 1,600 B.H.P at 2,900 R.P.M
Propellers: Three-bladed aluminium 13ft 6 inches fully feathering
Undercarriages: All undercarriages retractable with oleo pneumatic shock struts, mail wheel diameter 70.8 in (nearly 6ft); rear undercarriage with fully castering twin tail wheels
Weight: Empty: 46,900lb (over 20 tons) Loaded: 70,000lb (over 30 tons)
Performance: Maximum speed 270 m.p.h at 14,000ft; Service ceiling 17,000ft
Range: 2,010 miles with 3,500lb (2 tons) of bombs or 590 miles with 14,000 lb (8 tons) of bombs
Armament: Three power operated Fraser Nash type gun turrets with Browning 0.303 machine guns. Two guns in FN5 front turret; two in FN7 or FN50 mid-upper gun turret; four guns in FN4 or FN20 rear gun turret
Crew: Numbers and roles varied but normally seven: Pilot, Navigator, Bomb aimer, Wireless operator, flight engineer and two gunners
Fuel capacity: Seven fuel tanks in each wing containing a total of 2,254 gals (10,233 litres) overload tanks when fitted to wing bomb cells 438 gals (1,988 litres)