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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0523.PDF
345 The attachment of inner wings and tail unit is the last major constructional stage inside the shop. tail-unit assembly. These operations were completed on February 27th, and the accompanying pictures—impres- sively suggestive of ship-building rather than of aircraft construction—show the final stages of erection. Although the great hull is seen only through a lattice of staging, there are already indications of the massive grace implicit in the design and conception of the Princess. Later this year the flying boat will move into the open and its outer wings and rudder-tip will be attached. The first flight is expected to take place in mid-1951. A target- date some six to nine months earlier was originally set, but it was announced last October that development time required for the Proteus turboprops had been extended. Delay, however, will be cut to a minimum The Princess's powered controls are being tested in advance, in a Sunder- land ; dummy Proteus units will be employed for finalizing installation details: and a complete wing-section will go to Bristol's for preliminary engine-running tests. At an all-up weight of 315,000 1b, the Princess will be the largest aircraft ever built in Britain. Its dimensions are: span (floats retracted), 219ft 6in; length, 148ft; height, 55ft gin. The newly attached dihedral tailplane itself spans 77ft. In the large view below may be seen the disposal of the ten Protens tnrboprops; two "coupled " units are mounted centrally in each wing, with a single Proteus in the outboard positions. De Havifiand constant-speed, quick-feathering airscrews, i6£ft in diameter, will absorb the total output of 35,000 h.p. Cruising speed of the Princesses is estimated as 385 m.p.h. at 40,000ft. With 14,500 gallons of fuel in integral wing- tanks, maximum still-air range will be 5,500 miles. Present accommodation arrangements are for 105 passengers. In the port inner wing-section ma/ be seen installation positions for the ten Bristol Proteus turboprops.
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