The Bristol Britannia was a handsome four engined turboprop aircraft primarily designed by Bristol Aeroplane Company as a civilian airliner in the early 1950's, it first flew in 1952 and production aircraft entered service in 1957, the design proved to be sound and soon acquired the nickname of the "the whispering giant" due to it's quiet and outstanding performance, the aircraft quickly attracted the attention of the RAF who required a replacement for it's WW2 era four engined transports such as the Avro York and Hanley Page Hastings, consequently the RAF purchased 23 Britannia C.2 and C.1 aircraft. It is interesting to note that the Bristol Britannia was the first turboprop airliner to operate a regular and non-stop transatlantic service in both directions and along with it's outstanding performance resulted in Canadair producing licence built Britannias in both civilian (Canadair CL-44) and Military (Canadair Argus) variants in Canada. A total of 85 Bristol Britannias had been produced when production ended, some of these aircraft and remained in service with some third world countries until the early 1990's. Bristol Britannia Specifications: - Crew: 10 (as a civilian airliner)
- Length: 124 ft 3 in (37.9 m)
- Wingspan: 142 ft 3 in (43.6 m)
- Height: 37 ft 6 in (11.4 m)
- Empty weight: 82,500 lb (37,400 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 185,000 lb (84,000 kg)
- Engines: Four 4,440 hp (3,410 kW) Bristol Proteus 765 turboprops
- Maximum speed: 397 mph (345 knots, 639 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 357 mph (310 knots, 575 km/h)
- Range: 4,270 mi (3,710 nm, 6,870 km)
- Service ceiling 24,000 ft (7,300 m)
- Rate of climb: 2,220 ft/min (11.3 m/s)
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