GIANT BRITISH AIRCRAFT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 74, 7 January 1949, Page 5

GIANT BRITISH AIRCRAFT

DESCRIPTION GIVEN BY ENGINEER (P.A.) AUCKLAND, Jan. 5. Built at a cost of several million pounds, the first of Britain’s giant Brabazon aircraft is expected to take to the air for the first time in April. Weighing about 134 tons fully loaded, the Brabazon will eventually carry 78 passengers on night flights between London and New York. The trials alone are likely to last at least a year. This information by Mr A. M. Chittenden, assistant service manager of the engine division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, Ltd., to-day. He is in Auckland advising officers of Tasman Empire Airways on t{ie Bristol engines with which the new Solent flying-boats for the Tasman service will be fitted. The 7S-passenger version for night travel provided accommodation of the highest luxury standards and the 3000-mile flight across the Atlantic would be completed in about 12 hours, said Mr Chittenden. The first, Brabazon would be equipped with eight recinrocating engines, driving four pairs of' counter-rotating propellers, but these engines would be replaced by Proteus gas turbines in the second machine. It was tentatively proposed to equip the third Brabazon with jet engines. A decision on the method of driving subsequent -types would be made on Ihe basis of the experience gained with the first three. Mr Chittenden said he doubted whether the Brabazon would ever be seen in New Zealand. Apart from the need for special runways, it was unlikely that traffic offering to New Zealand'would make such a flight worth while.