FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0248.PDF
250 FLIGHT, 22 February 1957 By modern standards the Ensign cockpit was almost functional in its simplicity. These were the controls and instrument of the prototype, G-ADSR "Ensign." In the panel centre is the autopilot control. ENSIGN CLASS ... First away on a redistribution flight was G-ADSW Eddystone,under the command of Captain S. G. Blackaller, on January 1, 1946. The route planned was from Almaza - El Adam - CastelBenito - El Mas - Istres - Paris - Hum. During landing prepara- tions while circling Castel Benito airfield, Tripolitania, the sameday, it was noticed that the starboard undercarriage leg refused to lock down, and all efforts to make it do so failed. CaptainBlackaller was obliged to make a belly-landing which, although successful, was marred by a metalled taxying track encounteredjust before the aircraft stopped, causing further damage. Later, with her undercarriage locked down and Captain T. M.Walters at the controls, Eddystone was flown back to Almaza for repairs on April 2, 1946, calling at Benina and El Adem on theway. Because work on the other Ensigns was all-important, Eddy- stone had to wait and nearly missed being repaired at all, throughlack of skilled labour; but the last B.O.A.C. staff to leave Almaza volunteered to stay behind and attend to her. Under the commandof Captain O. Pritchard, they left Cairo on June 3, flying to Hum via Marseilles on the last passenger service operated by an Ensign. Empyrean left Almaza on January 4, operating service30M.860X, followed by Echo on the 29th, service 30M.894X, and Elsinore left on February 6, service 30M.907X. The others,G-ADSV, 'DSS and 'FZU, arrived at Hurn Airport during February, March and May respectively. As the Ensigns reachedHurn, B.O.A.C. serviced them for their last flight home to Hamble, ENSIGN LEADING DATA A.W.27 Mk 1 Span, 123 ft; height, 23 fc over propellers; length, 114 ft; wing area, 2,450 sq ft. Power Units: Four 790 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Tiger 1X air-cooled radial engines; (1939) four 850 h.p. Tiger 1Xc. Performance: Max. speed, 205 m.p.h. at 7,000 ft; cruising, 170 m.p.h. at 7,000 ft; stalling, 60 m.p.h.; landing, 64 m.p.h. Weights: Empty, 32,920 Ib; loaded, 49,000 Ib. Disposable load, 9,580 Ib incl. crew. Wing loading, 20 Ib/sq ft. Power loading, 13.9 Ib/h.p. Range: 800 miles in still air at 62 per cent max. power. Rate of climb: 600 ft mm at sea level. Service ceiling: 18,000 ft fully loaded. Tankage: Fuel, 650 Imp. gal. Oil, 40 Imp. gal. A.W.I7 Mk 1 Power units: Four 950 h.p. Wright Cyclone GR-1820-G.102A air-cooled radial engines. Performance: Max. speed, 210 m.p.h. at 6,700 ft; cruising, 180 m.p.h. at 5,000 ft. Weights: Empty, 36,586 Ib; loaded, 55,500 Ib; max., 66,000 Ib. Disposable load, 12,000 Ib incl. crew. Wing loading, 22.6 lb/sq ft. Power loading, 11.9 Ib/h.p. at take-off. Range: 1,370 miles at 173 m.p.h. at 5,000 ft. Rate of climb; 900 ft/min at sea level. Service ceiling: 24,000 ft fully loaded. Tankage: Fuel, 1,064 Imp. gal. where they were struck off charge on May 23 and taken over byAir Service Training at Hamble. It was hoped that a customer could be found, and A.S.T. evenreceived a contract from the M.o.S. to strip Empyrean down in order to assess the cost of conversion. The seven Ensigns wereput up for sale at Hamble between October 14 and 18, 1946. Portsmouth Aviation and a Mr. Gisbourne of Holmwood Motorsare known to have been interested in haying the aircraft con- verted, but lost interest when confronted with the estimated costof £162,000 for stripping all seven Ensigns to a shell only. Plans were also drawn up for 34- and 42-seater versions, but it wasfinally decided that the whole project would be too costly and their fate was sealed. They were flown from Hurn to Hamble, brokenup and removed as follows: — Regn. G-ADSY G-ADTB G-ADST G-ADSV G-ADSS G-AFZU G-ADSW Arrived Hamble 7-1-46 19-2-46 19-2-46 25-2-46 20-3-46 10-5-46 5-6-46 Broken-up and Removed 26-3-47 20-3-47 28-3-47 23-3-47 13-4-47 16-4-47 21-4-47 Total Time Flown hr min 3,478 28 3,534 23 3,495 27 3,720 01 2,686 26 2,406 43 3,595 44 Miles Flown 501,675 507,083 492,770 528,360 382,707 N.A. 502,047 In addition, it is interesting to note that G-ADSR, up to thetime of C. of A. expiry on September 17, 1944, had flown only 286,240 miles in 2099 hr 04 min; while G-ADSU covered 406,061miles before her C. of A. expired on February 24, 1945. All seven remnants of the great Ensign Class were removed bythe Ministry in "Queen Marys" and taken to No. 1 M.P.R.D. at Cowley, Oxfordshire, where they were finally, in official parlance,reduced to produce. Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank those who havehelped in making this history possible, including Mr. Turner-Hughes; Mr. Sidwell and staff of Air Service Training; Sir W. G. ArmstrongWhitworth Aircraft, Ltd.; Mr. E. S. Greenwood; B.O.A.C.; Mr. H. P. Macklin, editor of B.O.A.C. Review, M.T.C.A.; Air-Britain; and Capt.J. L. Gregory and other B.O.A.C. captains and crew-members. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Feb. Feb. Feb. Mar. Mar.Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Apr. 23. Northern Heights Model Flying Club: Dinner and Dance. 26. R.Ae.S.: Section Lecture: "Recent Advances in the Design of Aircraft Tyres and Brakes," by H. W. Trevaskis, A.F.R.Ae.S. 27. Kronfeld Club: "Ballooning," by W. H. Scanlon. 2. British Interplanetary Society: "Design and Application of Solid Propel Ion t Rocket Motors," by E. T. B. Smith, B.Sc, A.F.R.Ae.S., G.I.Mech.E. 5. Aviation Forum: "Air Traffic Control," by S. G. Fitch. 5. R.Ae.S.: Graduates and Students Section: A.G.M. and Film Show. 7. R.Ae.S.: Tenth Louis Bleriot Lecture: "New Methods in Aircraft Production," by M. Badre, production director of Ouest Aviation. Helicopter Association: "All Weather Operation of Heli- copters—Engineering and Piloting Aspects," by P. A. Hearne, D.C.Ae., and J. W. Reid, D.F.C. 12. R.Ae.S.: Section Lecture: "High Temperature Materials for Engines," by E. R. Gadd. 19. R.Ae.S.: Graduates and Students Section: "Gas Turbines for Helicopters," by A. W. Morley. R.Ae.S.: Section Lecture: "Application of Automatic Digital Computers to Aeronautical Problems," by Dr. S. H. Hollingdale. British Inrerplanatory Society: "History of Rocket 8. 26. 6. Development in the Walterwerke," by H. Walder. May 24-June 2. Paris Aero Show, Le Bourget. Sept. 2-8. S.B.A.C. Show, Farnborough. R.Ae.S. Branch Fixtures (to Mar. 14) Feb. I1-, Brough, Annual Dinner and Dance; Birmingham, President's Night. Feb. 18, Henlow, "New Methods of Approach to Airworthiness," by W. Tye. Feb. 19, Belfast, Lecture on "Welding," by K. A. Peel. Feb. 20, Bristol, "Viscount," by B. E. Stephenson; Brough, "Prospects and Problems in the Use of Nuclear Energy " by Prof. G. F. J. Garlick; London Airport, "Independents or State Airlines," by M. H. Curtis; Manchester "Flying Experiences," by Capt. O. P. Jones; Southampton, Branch Prize Papers; Weybridge, "Investigation of Aircraft Accidents," by E. L. Ripley. Feb. 21, Isle of Wight, "Training of Aeronautical Engineers," by Prof. A. R. Collar; Merthyr Tydfil, "Some Lubrication Problems," by D. O. MacDougall. Feb. 25, Glasgow, Members Night. Feb. 27, Christ church, Lecture Competition; Preston, "Investigation of Aircraft Accidents," by E. L. Ripley; Reading, "Boundary Layer Control and its Engineering Aspects," by Dr. G. V. Lachmann and J. B. Edwards. Mar. S, Boscombe Down, Film and/or Medal Lecture Evening. Mar. 6, Lulon. "Advantages and Disadvantages of Swept Wings," by D. Kuchemann. Mar. 13, Weybridge, "Problems of Jet Transport Opera- tion," by J. T. Dyment; Bristol, Fourth Barnwell Memorial Lecture. Mar. 14, London Airport, "Problems of Jet Transport Operation," by J. T. Dyment.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
