The Britannia suffered an unusually long gestation, the Ministry of Supply originally issued a contract for three prototypes in 1948, with Bristol Centaurus radial piston engines. However BOAC, who it was envisaged would be the main operator, preferred the Proteus turboprop and following a good deal of wrangling this became the standard powerplant for the type. The first prototype made its maiden flight on 16th August 1952 but a number of issues delayed the aircraft's entry into fare earning service, by which time the major airlines were committed to investing in a new generation of jet powered airliners.
In the end only 85 Britannias were built, although Canadair obtained a license to produce a couple of versions in Canada known as the Argus and Yukon.
The main operaters of the Britannia were BOAC (15, Model 102 and 18, Model 318) and the Royal Air Force who operated twenty C Mk.1s (Model 252) in the troop carrying role and three C Mk.2s (Model 253) combined cargo/troop carrying. Other customers included El Al, Cubana de Aviation, Aeronaves de Mexico and Ghana Airways.
As they were retired from their original operators many were sold on to smaller airlines around the world and a few soldiered on well into the 1990s before being scrapped or acquired by museums. Preserved examples can be seen in the UK at the RAF Museum Cosford (The subject of the header photo), Duxford and Kemble.
This work by Roland Turner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
No comments:
Post a Comment