Saunders-Roe Princess
| Saunders-Roe Princess
|
Saunders-Roe Princess G-ALUN (Saunders-Roe publicity picture)
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| Description
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| Role | Long range passenger flying boat
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| Crew |
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| First Flight | 1952
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| Manufacturer | Saunders-Roe
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| Dimensions
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| Length | 148' 0" | 42.1 m
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| Wingspan | 219' 6" | 66.9 m
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| Height | 15' 3" | 17 m
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| Wing area | ft² | m²
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| Weights
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| Empty | lbs | kg
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| Loaded | lbs | kg
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| Maximum takeoff | 345025 lbs | 156500 kg
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| Capacity | 105 passengers
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| Powerplant
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| Engines | 10 × Bristol Proteus turboprop
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| Power | 3200 hp | 2386 kW
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| Performance
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| Maximum speed | 360 mph | 579 km/h
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| Combat range | miles | km
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| Ferry range | miles | km
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| Service ceiling | ft | m
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| Rate of climb | ft/min | m/min
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| Wing loading | lb/ft² | kg/m²
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| Thrust/Weight |
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| Power/Mass | hp/lb | kW/kg
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| Avionics
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| Avionics |
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The Saunders-Roe Princess was a very large flying boat aircraft built in the United Kingdom by Saunders-Roe, based in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
At the time, the Saunders-Roe Princess was one of the largest aircraft in existence; unfortunately, by the 1950s, the concept of a passenger carrying flying boat was dead. Better runways and airports meant that future long-range airliners would be land-based aircraft, without the weight and drag of a boat hull.
The Princess was powered by ten Bristol Proteus turboprop engines, powering six propellers. The four inner propellers were double, contrarotating 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' fuselage contained two passenger decks, with room for 105 passengers in great comfort.
The prototype, G-ALUN, first flew on August 22, 1952. It was the only one to fly. Two others (G-ALUO & G-ALUP) were built, but they never flew. After spending a number of years in mothballs awaiting possible future use, two of them at Calshot Spit, all were broken up in the 1960s.
They were the last fixed-wing commercial aircraft produced by Saunders-Roe. The company built one more fixed-wing design, the Saunders-Roe SR.53 rocket-assisted experimental fighter; aside from that, the company concentrated on helicopters and hovercraft after this point.
