Bristol 175 Britannia

1952

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Bristol 175 Britannia

The Type 175 Britannia, the world's first large turboprop transport aircraft, began as a piston-engined design to meet BOAC's 1947 specification for the MRE (Medium Range Empire) transport to carry 32-36 passengers and be powered by four Bristol Centaurus 662 sleeve-valve engines. The aircraft's size was soon increased and consideration given to the installation of Bristol Proteus turbines or Napier Nomad compound engines.

After some delay, in June 1948 the Ministry of Supply ordered three Centaurus-powered prototypes but stipulated that the second and third should be capable of conversion to Proteus-engined aircraft. When the first prototype emerged in 1952 it was a much bigger aeroplane with accommodation for more than 80 passengers and powered by Proteus 625 engines. First flight was on 16 August 1952. Development trials were prolonged, partly because of engine icing problems, but on 1 February 1957 BOAC began operating Britannia 102 with 2,906kW Proteus 705 and up to 90 seats on its London-Johannesburg services.

A number of versions were developed from the Series 100 aircraft and on 19 December 1957, BOAC began the first turbine-powered North Atlantic service when it put Britannia 312 on the London-New York route. These were 3.12m longer, had accommodation for up to 139 passengers, were powered by 3,070kW Proteus 755 and had a 13,608kg increase in max weight. On the day that BOAC introduced Britannias on the North Atlantic, El Al flew a Britannia 10,328km non-stop from New York to Tel Aviv.

The Britannia was a superb aeroplane but was too late to establish itself before the introduction of turbojet transports; only 85 were built, including 23 Series 250 aircraft for the RAF.

Canadair developed the Britannia design into the military CL-28 Argus and CL-44 Yukon and the CL-44 series of passenger and cargo aircraft.

3-View 
Bristol 175 BritanniaA three-view drawing (800 x 763)

Specification 
 CREW3-9
 PASSENGERS84-139
 ENGINE4 x turbo-prop Brist. "Proteus 765", 3270kW
 WEIGHTS
  Take-off weight83915 kg185002 lb
  Empty weight42230 kg93102 lb
 DIMENSIONS
  Wingspan43.4 m142 ft 5 in
  Length37.9 m124 ft 4 in
  Height11.4 m37 ft 5 in
  Wing area192.7 m22074.20 sq ft
 PERFORMANCE
  Cruise speed652 km/h405 mph
  Ceiling9700 m31800 ft
  Range w/max.fuel8600 km5344 miles
  Range w/max payload6870 km4269 miles

Comments1-20 21-40 41-60 61-80
Sidney Woodcock, e-mail, 04.12.2006 03:58

I flew on this aircraft to and from London to Singapore in the mid 1960's. A beautiful aircraft but, of course, slow compared with modern jet aircraft. This aircraft was known as "The Whispering Giant" because it was large and very quiet compared to other aircraft.

reply

Clive Bishop, e-mail, 17.02.2007 02:25

While serving in the Royal Navy,I was lucky enough to fly on an RAF Brit from England to Malta.It was quiet and comfortable and on a journey this far,it did not take much longer than a jet.With the lastest views on global warming could this be the way to go to save the planet?

reply

1-20 21-40 41-60 61-80

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