Saunders-Roe SR.45 (Princess)

Saunders Roe Sr. 45 (Princess) Stories

Sanders-Roe Sr. The 45 Princess is a British airship designed and built by Saunders-Roe at its Cowes factory on the Isle of Wight. It is the largest all-metal airship ever built.

The Princess was designed as a larger and more luxurious successor to pre-war commercial airships such as the Short Empire. It is designed to serve transatlantic routes, carrying up to 100 passengers between Southampton, UK and New York City, USA in spacious and comfortable conditions.

To achieve this, an early decision was made to use newly developed turboprop technology and use the still-in-development Bristol Proteus engine to power the aircraft. The project suffered delays due to difficulties developing the Proteus engine.

On August 22, 1952, the first prototype Princess G-ALUN made its maiden flight. The first prototype completed 47 test flights between 1952 and 1954, including two public appearances at the Farnborough Airshow. The work was carried out under a development contract from the Supply Department for a contract for British Overseas Airways (BOAC) aircraft. While the initial development contract was successfully fulfilled, BOAC ultimately decided to focus on its land-based route, switching to the jet-powered Comet de Havilland.

The era of the great airship was practically over before the plane was completed.

Work on the princess eventually stopped after producing three examples, only one of which flew. By the mid-1950s, large commercial flying ships were increasingly overshadowed by land-based jets. Factors such as improving runways and airfields contribute to the survivability of land-based aircraft, which do not have to compromise to accommodate the added weight and drag of the hull required by seaplanes, or the mitigation measures required to deal with seawater corrosion. Upon completion of the project, three The fuselage was put into storage for resale.

However, after receiving a promising offer for the aircraft, it was discovered that corrosion had occurred during storage. As a result, all three aircraft prototypes were subsequently scrapped.

Specification

BASICS

Years of Service

1952

Origins

UK

Status

Cancel

Development ended.

Crew

6

Production

1

Manufacturer

Saunders-Roe (SARO) - UK

Operators

UK

Roles

Transportation

General transport function for moving supplies/cargo or people (including casualties and VIPs) out of range.

Commercial Aviation

Used in roles serving the commercial aviation market, moving passengers and cargo over long distances.

X-Plane (development, prototype, tech demo)

Aircraft designed for prototyping, technology demonstration, or research/data collection.

Dimensions and Weight

Length

147. 6 feet

(45.00m)

Width/span

219.5 feet

(66.90m)

Height

55.7 feet

(16.99m)

Cured weight

190,038 lbs

(86,200 kg)

MTOW

345,023 lbs

(156,500 kg)

Wgt Difference

+?154,985

(+70,300 kg)

Performance

Installed:

4 x Bristol Coupled-Proteus 610 turboprops, each producing 5,000 hp, and 2 x Bristol Proteus 620 turboprops producing an additional 2,500 hp; all driving four-bladed propeller units.

Maximum speed

379 km/h

(610 km/h | 329 kn)

Maximum

39,370 feet

(12,000 m | 7 km)

Area

5,720 km

(9,205 km | 17,048 nautical miles)

rate of climb

1,900 ft/min

(579 m/min)

Range (MPH) Subsonic: <614mph | Transonic: 614-921 | Supersonic: 921-3836 | Hypersonic: 3836-7673 | Hypersonic: 7673-19180 | Reentry: > 19030

Armor

None.

Changes

SR. 45 "Princess" - the name of the basic series.