Saunders-Roe Princess

[ragemanchoo82]

So when were the Princesses scrapped?

[Alembic25]

Same as the Brabazon in that it was the wrong product. If there had been a queue of customers waiting to buy with cheque book open and pen in hand then the gearbox problem would have been a footnote. The Comet & Britannia were the right planes but the opportunity was missed.

[kemo36100]

As for the Spruce Goose being bigger. It only flew a mile at fifty feet. I saw the Princess At the Farnborough Airshow,...Magnificent, and it was more than a mile fro the sea....!! The Forth Bridge is also much bigger....if thats relevant.

[jonzflicks]

The Flight Engineer was my ATC Commanding Officer back in 1954. He still tells of the problem they had with over heating in those gearboxes. They had thermometers fitted which constantly gave worrying readings. Apparently it was very disconcerting to see the temperature rising to a dangerous level! They eventually solved the problem: They removed the thermometers!

[MXHondas230]

SPRUCE GOOSE IS BIGGER.