Origins In 1942, during the
Second World War, Allied aircraft construction saw the British, of necessity, concentrating on
heavy bombers, leaving the production of transport aircraft to the USA. This would have left Britain with little experience in transport construction at the end of the war. In 1943, a committee under
Lord Brabazon of Tara investigated the future British civilian airliner market. The
Brabazon Committee called for several aircraft to be developed to its specifications for Britain's civilian aviation needs. Bristol won the Type I and Type III contracts, delivering their Type I design, the
Bristol Brabazon in 1949. The requirement for the 1946
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Medium Range Empire (MRE) Requirements coincided with the Type III,
Specification C.2/47, issued in April 1947 by the
Minister of Supply. The specifications called for an airliner capable of carrying 48 passengers and powered with
Bristol Centaurus radial engines or
Napier Nomad turbo-compound Diesel engine. Turboprop options were also considered, but they were so new that Bristol could not guarantee their performance. Although company Proposals "X" for conversions of
Lockheed Constellations to Centaurus 662 powerplants or "Y" for licence production of the Constellation were considered in late 1946, BOAC decided that a new design was preferred. Three prototypes were ordered with the first being Mk 1 (Centaurus 662) and the second and third prototypes called Mk 2 (to be convertible to
Bristol Proteus turboprops, then under development). On reflection, BOAC decided that only the Proteus engine was viable, necessitating a further redesign eliminating the Centaurus option. Senior figures within BOAC such as the Deputy Chairman
Whitney Straight considered the Proteus engine to be "an obsolete contraption". Despite BOAC's desire to have a turboprop engine, the Type 175 project was contingent on the Proteus passing a 150-hour type test. markings at the 1953 Farnborough Air Show During April 1950, the airliner's name,
Britannia, was selected. The name
Britannia 101 was applied to first pair of prototypes, which were powered by the early Proteus 625, the successor to the 600 series engine that had already completed type trials. The first prototype,
registered G-ALBO, with Bristol Chief Test Pilot
A.J. "Bill" Pegg at the controls, first flew on 16 August 1952 at
Filton Aerodrome. During the maiden flight, the over-sensitive flying controls led to wild pitching before Pegg restored control. During the landing approach, smoke filled the cockpit and the main undercarriage bogie temporarily stuck, only fully deploying seconds before landing. In November 1952,
Popular Science reported that by 1954 BOAC would have 25 of these aircraft on routes such as London-to-Tokyo over the
Arctic and
North Pole.
Delays After three
de Havilland Comets crashed without explanation in 1953 and 1954, the Air Ministry demanded that the Britannia undergo lengthy tests. Further delays were attributed to teething problems with the engine resulting in the loss in February 1954 of the second prototype,
G-ALRX, caused by a failed reduction gear that led to an engine fire and the aircraft landing on the mudflats of the Severn Estuary. Finally, time was lost in resolving inlet icing issues (by selecting a different cruising height) that were discovered as the first aircraft were being delivered to BOAC. These were exaggerated by BOAC, devastated future sales and delayed the Britannia's introduction by two years. Britannia Model 102 at
Manchester Airport in 1965 The first prototype
G-ALBO was modified to more closely approximate a production standard, but was retained by the company to undergo engine testing and development. Bristol revised the design into a larger transatlantic airliner for BOAC, resulting in the Series 200 and 300; the Britannia 300LR (Long-Range) was viewed as being "eminently suitable" for BOAC's services between London and Sydney. The purchase price for each Britannia 100-series aircraft was agreed by BOAC in 1955 at £768,000.
Australian airline
Qantas considered the procurement of a Britannia fleet, however its protracted development eroded any competitive advantage against the
Douglas DC-8 and
de Havilland Comet 4. Route-proving trials continued through 1955, although orders were on the books from
El Al and
Canadian Pacific Air Lines alongside the standing order placed by BOAC. The Britannia received a fair amount of attention in both the popular press and the
British House of Commons, especially when it was revealed that BOAC had contemplated fitting
Rolls-Royce Tynes to their fleet of
Douglas DC-7s as an interim measure until the Britannia was cleared for service. Aviation historian Peter Pigott summarised the impact of the delays:
Related developments Britannia Model 314 of
Transglobe Airways at Manchester Airport in June 1966 In 1954, a licence was issued to
Canadair to build the derivative
Canadair CL-28/CP-107 Argus, and the
Canadair CL-44/Canadair CC-106 Yukon. Unlike its Britannia forebear, the Argus was a hybrid, using the Britannia wings, tail surfaces and landing gear matched to a "purpose-built", unpressurised fuselage. It substituted North American materials and standard parts for British parts. The interior of the Argus was well equipped to conduct anti-submarine warfare — navigation, communication and tactical electronic equipment along with weapon loads that included bombs, torpedoes, mines and depth charges. The similar CC-106 Yukon was used by the RCAF in a solely passenger configuration. A final "one-off" development was the
Conroy Skymonster, nicknamed
Guppy, based on a Canadair CL-44D4 N447T. The prominent modification was an enlarged fuselage, like the
Mini Guppy, which was produced by Jack Conroy's previous company, Aero Spacelines. After a long operational career as a freighter, the
Guppy was stored at
Bournemouth Airport in 2003 and was later sold. ==Operational history==