Saunders-Roe Princess
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| SR.45 Princess | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Saunders-Roe Princess G-ALUN | |
| Type | flying boat airliner |
| Manufacturer | Saunders-Roe |
| Maiden flight | 22 August 1952 |
| Number built | 3 |
The Saunders-Roe Princess was a very large British flying boat aircraft built by Saunders-Roe, based in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
At the time, the Saunders-Roe Princess was one of the largest aircraft in existence; unfortunately, by the 1950s, the concept of a passenger carrying flying boat was obsolete. Better runways and airports meant that future long-range airliners would be land-based aircraft, without the weight and drag of a boat hull nor the corrosion problem due to saltwater.
The Princess was powered by ten Bristol Proteus turboprop engines, powering six propellers. The four inner propellers were double, contra-rotating propellers driven by a twin version of the Proteus, the Bristol Coupled Proteus; each engine drove one of the propellers. The two outer propellers were single and powered by single engines.
The rounded, bulbous, 'double-bubble' fuselage contained two passenger decks, with room for 105 passengers in great comfort.
The prototype, G-ALUN, first flew on 22 August 1952 and was flown by test pilot Geoffrey Tyson. It was the only one to fly - making 46 test flights in total, about 100 hours flying time. Two others (G-ALUO and G-ALUP) were built, but they never flew. After spending a number of years in mothballs awaiting possible future use, two of them at Calshot Spit, all were broken up in 1967.
They were the last fixed-wing commercial aircraft produced by Saunders-Roe. The company built one more fixed-wing design, the Saunders-Roe SR.53 mixed powered (rocket and turbojet) fighter design; aside from that, the company concentrated on helicopters and hovercraft after this point.
[edit] Specifications
General characteristics
- Length: 148 ft (42.1 m)
- Wingspan: 219 ft 6 in (66.9 m)
- Height: 55 ft 9 in (17 m)
- Wing area: 5,019 sq ft ()
- Empty weight: 190,000 lb ()
- Max takeoff weight: 345,025 lb (156,500 kg)
- Powerplant: 10× Bristol Proteus turboprop, 3,200 hp (2,386 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 360 mph (579 km/h)
- Range: 5,720 miles ()
- Service ceiling: 39,000 ft ()
- Rate of climb: 1,900 ft/min at sea level ()
[edit] See also
A27 - A29 - A33 - A36 "Lerwick" - A37 - SR.A/1 - SR45 - SR.53 - SR.177
[edit] External links
Timeline of aviation
Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines
Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft
Notable military accidents and incidents · Notable airline accidents and incidents · Famous aviation-related deaths
Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft
