Creepy tale of the doomed ‘giant of the skies’ – a 72-ton propeller plane that cost £6 million… but never carried passengers

A doomed £6 million production run by a British ‘giant of the air’ left a 72-ton prop plane ultimately nothing more than a white elephant.

During the day world War 2 British aircraft production was of course entirely focused on military needs, but this meant that in the years immediately after the war there was no commercial production at all and nothing in the design phase.

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American companies dominated the market, producing the DC-3, DC-4 and C-69 Constellation.

Britain wanted to ramp up its own production to rival its wartime ally and set up a committee headed by Lord Brabazon of Tara to report on what types of aircraft were needed.

The findings, set out in what became known as the Brabazon Report, called for four different types of aircraft: a very large transatlantic aircraft, a short-haul aircraft, a medium-sized aircraft for covering European routes and a jet-powered aircraft. 500 mph plane.

Having gained experience designing heavy bombers during the 1930s and the war, Bristol Airplane Company set out to address the need for a transatlantic aircraft that would become the Bristol Type 167 Brabazon I.

At the time, it was thought that wealthy passengers would choose air travel over a long sea voyage if the experience were made much more comfortable.

To help this, the company designed its eight engines to be buried in the wings and linked in pairs, driving four sets of counter-rotating propellers, which helped reduce noise in the passenger cabin.

Also reflecting the belief that only those with deep pockets and who expected a certain level of comfort would likely want to fly across the Atlantic was the generous amount of space provided for travelers.

The enormous aircraft was originally designed to carry 96 day passengers, or 52 in sleeping compartments, including a bar, catwalks and a cinema.

The size of the Bristol 167 Brabazon was enormous, with a wingspan of 70 meters, 5 meters longer than a Boeing 747-400, a tailplane of 22 meters and the track width of the undercarriage was 17.5 meters.

To accommodate the aircraft, the runway at Filton had to be strengthened and extended to a length of 2,750 metres.

To add the extra space, the village of Charlton, west of Filton, which was in direct line of the airstrip, was completely destroyed.

AJ ‘Bill’ Pegg piloted the first flight of the sole prototype (G-AGPW) on September 2, 1949 and instead of being fitted with passenger seats, it was filled with test equipment.

Despite its enormous size, the aircraft was easy to fly and maneuver on the ground in all respects.

Just four days after its maiden flight, the aircraft appeared at the SBAC Show in Farnborough before it undergoes its testing program.

Visited it Heathrow for a series of takeoffs and landings before returning to Farnborough in 1950.

The following year it was demonstrated at the Paris Air Show, but despite generating significant interest, expected launch customer BOAC had lost interest in the aircraft type.

BEA had expressed interest in purchasing the flying prototype for commercial use, but it was never given a full airworthiness certificate.

Work did begin on a Bristol Brabazon I Mk II with four twin Proteus engines, but the aircraft was never completed.

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In 1952 expenditure was estimated at around £3.4 million, but there was no sign that the market as predicted in the Brabazon Report would actually materialize.

By 1953 the cost had risen further to £6 million and a further £2 million was required to complete the Mk II prototypes.

Ultimately, the then Ministry of Supply cut its losses and canceled the project.

After only 400 hours of flying, the prototype was scrapped in October 1953.

Although the aircraft itself can be seen as a ‘white elephant’, there was a positive spin-off from the project.

One advantage was the infrastructure created by the work needed to build and support such a large aircraft as the Bristol Britannia.

Filton and its sister facility in Broughton, in Cheshirewould become synonymous with advanced wing technology.

This has continued to this day, especially the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft.

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