Generally viewed as the British equivalent of Howard Hughes's "Spruce Goose", this was developed as a big propeller driven aircraft with 4 big propellers, and had its first flight in 1949. Its wingspan was 76 metres (249 ft) and length was 54 metres (177 ft). However, it was designed to carry only 100 passengers, each having room about the size of the entire interior of a small car.
The prototype was completed and flown in 1949, only to prove a commercial failure when airlines felt the airliner was too large and expensive to be useful. In the end, only the single prototype was flown; it was broken up in 1953 for scrap, along with the uncompleted turboprop-powered Brabazon I Mark II.
No comments:
Post a Comment