BRABAZONS TO BE SCRAPPED

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27098, 22 July 1953, Page 9

BRABAZONS TO BE SCRAPPED

End Of £12,000,000 Air Project

LONDON, July 20. He had come to the conclusion that the Government would not be justified in Incurring any further expenditure on the Brabazon I or Brabazon II aircraft, and he had accordingly directed that they should be dismantled, the Minister of Supply (Mr Duncan Sandys) told the House of Commons today. Brabazon I had carried out nearly 400 hours on trial flying, and he was satisfied that all possible technical information had now been obtained from the experimental aircraft. The total cost of the Brabazon project, made up of the two aircraft, the assembly hau, and the runway, was estimated at £12,000,000. The “Daily Herald” says the dismantling of the aircraft will begin tomorrow. The space where the giant aircraft were housed will be used to build 60-seat Britannia propeller jet planes, which are likely to be in service over the Atlantic by 1956. The Brabazon, now regarded as "ahead of its time,” set so many problems of design with its 230-foot wing span and 177-foot long fuselage that since the prototype model was built and tested by the Bristol Aircraft Company for the British Government smaller airliners have come along to do its job better and more cheaply. The aviation correspondent of the “Daily Mail” said the Britannia, also built by the Bristol Company, could not have been developed so quickly but for the lessons learned from the Brabazon.

The 25 Britannias under construction by the company for British Overseas Airways Corporation will carry almost the same payload as the Brabazon, although they are only twothirds of its size and weight. The original Brabazon and its halffinished sister plane at present languish in one of the Bristol Company's hangars, and, says the correspondent, so ends a £12,000,000 dream of giant luxury airliners with bridal suites, lounges, bars, and cinemas for the transatlantic tirade.

The Bristol Company has issued a statement welcoming the Government's, decision. "The Tinies” says. In this statement the company adds that it has been urging the disposal of the Brabazon in sections because the hangar space is urgently needed for the production of the super-priority Britannia. The value of lessons learned from the Brabazon is emphasised.