The Brabazon
| My friend in Northern Italy,
Tony Escott, e-mailed me with his account of an earlier prodigy of Filton;
the Brabazon. He tells all below... |
| "Well after a
bit of head scratching and a bit of research I have found the date when I
saw the Brabazon take off from
Filton. It was in August 1952. The test flight was terminated quickly
because the undercarriage would not lock and smoke came from the floor of
the cockpit. I watched it land after the test, which I might add was
very short. It had a huge wingspan because the British Government required
it to land in 2000 ft of runway. |
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A later test in December 1953 ended up with
engine failure and fire in the engines. The test pilot made an
attempt to return to Filton airport, and also to Fairford which is in
Gloucestershire and which has a runway of similar length, but he
thought it safer to land on the mud of the river Severn, the tide being
out.
The plane, I believe, had
prospective buyers aboard. Fortunately the belly flop was
successful and no-one was hurt. However the aircraft was totally
destroyed by the incoming tide. It is not recorded how many people
signed up to buy the plane !!"
Below, you can read another detailed account of
that particular flight. |
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| "In spite of all this, of
course, it was a flying test bed for so many new methods and engineering
practices which led to the planes of today. It was a tremendous,
pioneering and innovative success so typical of the inventive minds of the
British people." |
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Hi Mike,
Further to our correspondence of about a
year ago I have today come across an interesting website
https://www.britishpathe.com/ which
offers newsreels going back many years. Putting "Brabazon" into the
search engine found two reports, one about the impending completion and
the other about the maiden flight. I also found a report on the "Avonmouth
Oil Fire" but this one had no sound track.
I was able to download for free a preview
low definition copy of the reports for viewing on the Windows media
software. Higher definition copies cost £25 each I think. They do
require one to register but that is free too.
Regards
|
Steve. |
|
I found your web site via Google when I was
looking for some information on the big fire at Avonmouth Docks in 1950/1
to compare it with the recent one at Buncefield.
I still haven't found a proper report on that
fire but your notes on the Brabazon interested me. I lived in Avonmouth at
the time of it's first flight and also at the time of the Britannia
landing on the mudflats.
The Brabazon was the world's largest aircraft
at the time and my understanding is that the aircraft itself was a success
but that engine technology was not sufficiently advanced to provide enough
power with the fuel economy necessary to fly it commercially. I think
there were eight Bristol Hercules engines on board with the airscrews
paired into the four nascelles shown on your photograph. Much of the
technology tested in the airframe design proved very successful in the
Bristol Brittania despite the crash landing on the mudflats. The
Whispering Giant, as it was sometimes known as, was very popular with
airline customers and I have vivid memories of being in one flying into
Edinburgh Airport many years later during a gale.
Thanks for an interesting web site.
|
Steve Whiteley. |
Sir,
I
read with interest the account of the mud flats and found it at odds with
my recollections. I was one of those who watched that first flight from
Filton, Gloucestershire, at the age of 4. I contacted a friend who has
immersed himself in aero history for many years and he has come up with
the following.
The
Brabazon only had a couple of minor problems; elevator over control on the
first flight, and a flapless landing caused by low hydraulic oil.
Otherwise, according to Walter Gibb the test pilot, it was a pantechnicion
but pleasant. It was grounded because they needed to concentrate on the
Britannia, which first flew the next month. The bit about the Severn mud was
G-ALRX the second prototype Britannia. It had an engine reduction gearbox
explode which set fire to the magnesium gearcase. This took out most of
the electric's, at one time all four engines stopped. They got two going
again on one side only. They were over Brecon at the time; the fire
couldn't be put out, the spar was getting very hot, and the runway at
Filton was covered in ice. Bill Pegg thought that they would swerve off
the runway at Filton with little braking efficiency and only one sided
braking from props. Couldn't wait long enough to go anywhere else, so did
the sensible thing and landed it into wind on the mud at Littleton Wharf.
Cured most of the problems, fire out, wing in one piece, evidence
preserved, crew alive. Despite best efforts the tide came in and partially
submerged it. So it was floated to Avonmouth Docks and dismantled. The
Nose was used as a cockpit trainer outside the service school at Filton
until the late seventies. Then it went to Lyneham and then to Kemble's
Bristol Aero Collection, where it still is.
I
hope that puts the record straight on the ‘Brab’.
John Morris
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