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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1692.PDF
FLIGHT British Aircraft, I95O — Civil Types — H.P. (Reading) Marathon II HIGHER cruising speed (290 m.p.h.),quicker take-off and climb, and quieter, smoother flight are among thebenefits conferred on the Marathon II— the world's only turboprop feederliner—by the installation of two 1,128 h.p. A.S. Mambas in place of the piston engines. H.P. (Reading) Marathon I BRITISH EUROPEAN AIRWAYShave ordered 16 of these 22-passengermedium-range airliners and keen overseas interest was aroused by the recent 40,000-mile world demonstration tour of the first production aircraft. During the tour over300 take-offs and landings were made successfully under extremely varying con-ditions. Four 345 h.p. D.H. Gipsy Queen 70 engines give the Marathon I a perform-ance which exceeds I.C.A.O. requirements and includes a 500-mile range at cruisingspeeds between 160 and 210 m.p.h. Span, 65ft; gloss weight, 18,0001b; max. wing loading, 361b/sq ft. Hand ley Page Hermes V THE Hermes V is powered by four2,820-h.p. Bristol Theseus turbo- props, which give it the high cruisingspeed of 330 m.p.h. Although otherwise basically similar to the piston-enginedMk. IV, production-type Hermes Vs would have an 8,000-lb increase in all-upweight. Percival Prince APART from minor improvements tomeet operational needs, the major part of the Prince development programmehas now been completed. In its first year of service the aircraft has proved itselfto be a versatile and capable "medium twin "—readily adaptable for a variety ofuses. Basically a feederliner or executive transport, it is also available for freight-carrying, survey, pest control, ambulance and crew-training duties. Production of the P.50 Series I and IImachines (standard civil versions) has now been completed and the Series III air-craft fitted with the more powerful Alvis Leonides 502/4 engines, are currently onthe assembly line. These have an in- creased a.u.w., which permits a disposableload of 2,6421b with full normal tanks (i.e. for a still air range of 902 miles). Span Mft; gross weight, 11,0001b; max. wingloadingSO.llb/sq ft. Prestwick Pioneer ORIGINALLY conceived for militarypurposes, the Prestwick Pioneer Mk. I (Gipsy Queen 32 engine), built by Scot-tish Aviation, was considered to be some- what underpowered. Accordingly, theMk. II version—which has already under- gone initial flight triaU at BoscombeDown, is fitted with an Alvis Leonides engine. It is claimed that with a maximuma.u.w. of 5,4001b the aircraft has a cruising speed of 151 m.p.h. at 9,750ft. Thetake-off on grass is only 80 yd and landing run is 66yd. Handley Page Herrr.at V Saunders-Roe Duchess flying-boat protagonists the an-JL nouncement last May of the Saunders- Roe Duchess project—for a medium-rangejet-propelled flying-boat of very advanced design—was undoubtedly the most en-couraging news of recent years. Powered by six D.H. Ghost (each of 5,0001b staticthrust), and with a gross weight of about 130,0001b, the aircraft is intended to carrypayloads of the order of 21,0001b on medium stage-lengths (1,300-2,000 miles)at cruising speeds of up to 500 m.p.h. It is claimed that direct operating cost (Id amile for 1,300-mile stages) will be lower than that of any other medium-rangeairliner in the world. The aircraft would have a particular application on routessuch as the Australia-New Zealand cross- ing. Saunders-Roe Princess /CONSTRUCTION of Britain's largestVJ aircraft—the three 105-passenger, Saunders-Roe Princess flying-boats—isproceeding according to schedule. At the time (now set at mid-1951) for the eagerly-awaited first flight draws near, prepara- tions are going ahead at the Cowes erec-tion shop to strengthen the slipway on to which the first 140-ton prototype will bemoved some time later this year to have its outer wings and rudder tip fitted.A Sunderland is being used for the pre- testing of the Princess's power-operatedcontrols, and a full-scale replica section has been sent to Bristol for preliminaryengine-running tests of the Proteus tur- boprops, ten of which (eight paired, twosingle) are specified.-. The Princess should cruise at 385 m.p.h. The Princess is claimed by its makersto be capable of maintaining a non-stop service between London and New York(stage length 3,450 miles) despite the poss- ibility of continuous headwinds averagingup to 90 m.p.h. over the whole stage. Span, 219ft Sin; gross weight, 315,0001b.
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