Bristol Britannia

The Bristol Type 175 Britannia was a in the years 1952 to 1959 built by the British Bristol Aeroplane Company long-haul aircraft for civilian and military use. It was powered by four Bristol Proteus turboprop engines, which were developed in-house.

Due to their very quiet engines Britannia as " The Whispering Giant" ( " The Whispering Giant ") was known, but this was related to the perceived external volume level and less itself to the noise inside the aircraft it 85 copies were built, the remained partial to the 1990s in use.

The name " Britannia " was from 1982 by the British car manufacturer Bristol Cars Ltd.. used for a sporty coupe.

History

The planning of Britannia began in 1943, when a committee of the British Ministry of Transport examined under Lord Brabazon designs for civil aircraft for the period after the Second World War. One of the proposals discussed foresaw a four-engine long-range aircraft with 48 seats for use on the so-called Empire routes between Britain and the British colonies in Africa. The contract for this, incidentally classified as unimportant project received the Bristol -Werke.

As at August 16, 1952, the prototype took off for its maiden flight of Britannia, showed the BOAC - at that time the only British airline that operated long distance - an avid interest in this pattern. Finally, only 10 copies of the so-called 102 series were sold to BOAC. These machines were able to carry 90 passengers.

1956 witnessed a designated as Series 300, enlarged version of Britannia and its first flight was ordered by BOAC, but then canceled in favor of the Series 310. This series 310 was characterized by a higher range, which already allowed for a non-stop flight across the North Atlantic in both directions. Finally, the series originated 252 and 253 as a military transport aircraft for the Royal Air Force. More buyers of different versions were Britannia Airways as the Canadian Pacific Airlines and El Al.

In the meantime, the first jet aircraft such as the British De Havilland Comet, or the pattern Douglas DC -8 and Boeing 707 were published from the USA on the market. The Britannia with its turboprop engine was so virtually overnight to the scrap heap. Production was then terminated.

Canadair acquired in 1954, the license for successor models. It was next to the Maritime Patrol CL -28 Argus, the CL- 44, which was still in use at Heavy Lift up a few years ago.

Incidents

  • On July 22, 1962, the crew of a Bristol Britannia 314 of the Canadian Pacific Airlines reported after taking off from Honolulu Airport engine failure. The machine returned to the airport and struck while attempting an emergency landing beside the runway. The accident claimed 27 lives.
  • On February 29, 1964 fell a Britannia 312 (British Eagle flight 802/6 ) of the British Eagle International Airlines in 2600 m on the eastern side of the mountain of the Glungezer, a 2677 m high mountain near Innsbruck in Tyrol from. All 75 passengers and the entire crew of eight lost their lives. The accident was a mistake by the pilot of the flight altitude during a holding pattern around the airport Innsbruck.
  • On April 20, 1967, a Britannia 313 of the Swiss Globe Air crashed in bad weather near Nicosia ( Cyprus ) from due to insufficient altitude. See air disaster of Nicosia

Technical data ( Britannia 310)

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