Bristol Brabazon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Brabazon

The Bristol Type 167 Brabazon was a large propeller-driven airliner which was
designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to fly transatlantic routes between
the United Kingdom and the United States. The type was named Brabazon after the
Brabazon Committee and its chairman, Lord Brabazon of Tara, who had developed
the specification for which the airliner had been designed.

While Bristol had studied the prospects of developing very large aircraft as
bomber aircraft prior to and during the Second World War, it was the release of
a report compiled by the Brabazon Committee which had led to the company to
adapting its larger bomber proposal into a prospective large civil airliner to
meet the Type I specification for a very large airliner for the long distance
transatlantic route. Initially designated as the Type 167, the proposed aircraft
was furnished with a huge 25 ft (8 m)-diameter fuselage containing full upper
and lower decks on which passengers would be seated in luxurious conditions; it
was powered by an arrangement of eight Bristol Centaurus radial engines which
drove a total of eight paired contra-rotating propellers set on four
forward-facing nacelles.

Bristol decided to submit the Type 167 proposal to meet Air Ministry
Specification 2/44; following a brief evaluation period, a contract to built a
pair of prototypes was awarded to Bristol. At the time of its construction, the
Brabazon was amongst of the largest aircraft in the world to have ever been
built, being sized roughly between the much later Airbus A300 and Boeing 767
airliners. Despite its vast size, the Brabazon was designed to carry a total of
only 100 passengers, each one being allocated their own spacious area about the
size of the entire interior of a small car. On 4 September 1949, the first
prototype conducted its maiden flight. In addition to participating in a flight
test programme in support to intended production aircraft, the prototype made
high-profile public flying displays at the 1950 Farnborough Airshow, Heathrow
Airport, and the 1951 Paris Air Show.

However, the Brabazon was unable to attract any firm commitments for the type
due a widespread feeling amongst airlines that the airliner was too large and
expensive to be practical and applicable to their existing operations. Being
unable to attract any orders, the aircraft became regarded as a commercial
failure. On 17 July 1953, Duncan Sandys, the Minister of Supply, announced that
the Brabazon had been cancelled due to a lack of military or civil orders for
the type. In the end, only the single prototype was flown; it was broken up in
1953 for scrap, along with the uncompleted turboprop-powered Brabazon I Mk.II.


Role
Airliner

Manufacturer
Bristol Aeroplane Company

First flight
4 September 1949

Retired
1953

Status
Only example scrapped in 1953

Number built
1

Although considered a failure and a white elephant, the record of the Brabazon
is not entirely unfavourable. At least half of the large sums spent on the
project had been expended upon the construction of infrastructure, including £6
million for new large hangars and an extended runway at Filton. These
improvements meant that Bristol was in an excellent position to continue
production of other designs; the assembly hall was soon being used for building
another transatlantic aircraft, the Britannia. In addition, many of the
techniques which had developed during the Brabazon project were applicable to
any aircraft and thus could be reused, not just airliners.

Bristol had also been awarded the contract for the Type III aircraft, for which
they delivered as the Britannia. By making use of the advances made during the
development of the Brabazon, Bristol were able to design the Britannia to
possess the best payload fraction of any aircraft up to that time, and it held
that record for a number of years. Although the Britannia was delayed after
problems with the separate Type IV, the jet-powered de Havilland Comet, it went
on to be a workhorse for many airlines into the 1970s.

Specifications (Mark I)

General characteristics
Crew: 6–12
Capacity: 100 passengers
Length: 177 ft (54.0 m)
Wingspan: 230 ft (70 m)
Height: 50 ft (15 m)
Wing area: 5,317 ft² (494.0 m²)
Airfoil: Root T.P.4 (mod) Tip T.P.5
Empty weight: 145,100 lb (65,820 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 290,000 lb (130,000 kg)
Fuel capacity 13,650 Imp gal (61,971 L)
Powerplant: 8 × Bristol Centaurus radial engines, 2,650 hp (1,860 kW) each
Propellers: paired contra-rotating Rotol, three wooden blades Propeller
diameter: 16 ft (4.9 m)


Performance
Maximum speed: 300 mph (260 kn, 480 km/h) at 25,000 ft
Cruise speed: 250 mph (220 kn, 400 km/h) at 25,000 ft
Range: 5,500 mi (4,800 nmi, 8,900 km) at 250 mph and 25,000 ft
Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,600 m) at full weight
Rate of climb: 750 ft/min (3.8 m/s) at sea level
Max. wing loading: 54 lb/ft² (270 kg/m²)
Minimum power/mass: 0.073 hp/lb (120 W/kg)





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