Saunders-Roe Princess

In 1945, Saunders-Roe was asked by the British Ministry of Supply to bid for a long range civil flying boat for British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), who planned to use them on transatlantic passenger services. Saunders-Roe's bid was successful, and it received an order for three aircraft in May 1946.

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' pressurized fuselage contained two passenger decks, with room for 105 passengers in great comfort.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Saunders-Roe
• Princess
• flying
• boat
• airliner
• British
• Overseas
• Airways
• Corporation
• BOAC

[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.