SHORTS

Short Brothers is an aerospace company headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1908 in London, Short was the first company to produce aeroplanes on a large scale. The company is well-known for its flying boat designs manufactured until the 1950s. During World War II, Shorts was nationalized and later denationalized, relocating its main base from Rochester to Belfast in 1948. Throughout the 1960s, the company focused on producing turboprop airliners, aerospace primary components, and missiles for the British Armed Forces. Bombardier acquired Shorts in 1989, making it the largest manufacturing concern in Northern Ireland. In November 2020, Bombardier sold its Belfast operations to Spirit AeroSystems. The company produces aircraft components, engine nacelles, and aircraft flight control systems for its parent company Bombardier Aerospace, as well as Boeing, Rolls-Royce Deutschland, General Electric, and Pratt & Whitney. The company was founded by Eustace Short and Oswald Short in 1897, initially manufacturing balloons. They won their first contract with the British Indian Army in 1905, and in 1906, Charles Rolls commissioned them to build him a large balloon to compete in the Gordon Bennett Cup balloon race.