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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1648.PDF
FLIGHT, 2() September THE STORY OF THE BRABAZON . the exacting requirements of the direct London-New York flight, a 250,000-lb aircraft was essential; as payload is pro- portionate to gross weight, this raised the passenger capa- city to about seventy west-bound and a hundred east-bound. Although the aircraft envisaged was much larger than originally contemplated, B.O.A.C. accepted the Bristol view that the proposed aircraft was the smallest which could do the job. Bristol Centaurus piston engines were originally selected, but in view of gas-turbine development it was decided in November, 1945 that for operational purposes the Braba- zon should be powered with Proteus turboprops. Had the aircraft been originally designed with Proteus units in view it might have been slightly smaller, but would nevertheless have' been so much larger than existing types that development costs would not have been appreciably reduced. Not until March, 1946, was it decided that the two proto- types should be assembled and test-flown at Filton. In the meantime, the Bristol Company had pursued design work, constructed a mock-up and embarked on preliminary con- struction of the Mk. I prototype. Reference to some of the numerous changes in design, resulting from the exten- sive research and development work put in hand, is made on other pages. Valuable co-operation was afforded by the Royal Aircraft Establishment and much of the research necessitated was of great value to the aircraft industry as a whole. To review progress, conferences of representa- tives of ail interested parties were summoned every three months by the Ministry of Supply. There were also panels which dealt with various technical matters and met each month under the chairmanship of a member of the Bristol Company. During early discussions the Ministry of Supply set a target for the first flight of the Mk. I prototype at April, 1947, but this was later admitted to have been unrealistic. Nevertheless, it was hoped that the first flight would take place in August, 1948. As all the world knows, the Brabazon I first left the ground on Sunday, September 4th, 1949. The target date for the Proteus-powered Mk. II proto- type was autumn, 1949, but the Bristol Company described this as "hopelessly optimistic." At the time of writing the first Mk. II aircraft is about half complete and may fly in In March, 1946, the Ministry of Supply decided to locate at Filton an airfield to mee* the requirements of the Brabazon I, involving the construction of the special run- wav and assembly hall described elsewhere. September, I?
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