Bristol Britannia

what is it?

The Bristol Type 175 Britannia is a retired British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to meet British civilian aviation needs. During development two prototypes were lost and the turboprop engines proved susceptible to inlet icing, which delayed entry into service until remedied. By the time development was complete, "pure" jet airliners from France, the United Kingdom, and the United States were about to enter service, and only 85 Britannias were built before production ended in 1960.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 turboprops · low wing · retractable tricycle gear · 43.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 639 km/htop speed
• seats 139passengers
• size 83.9 tmax take-off weight
• built 85made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 74 years ago, in 1952.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 43.4 m: about 10 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 14 African elephants (~6 t each).

turboprop: A jet-style turbine turning a propeller: efficient on short hops.

spec sheet

first flight

1952-08-16

introduced

1955

retired

1997

status

retired

number built

85

role

turboprop airliner

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Bristol Aeroplane Company

engines

4× Bristol Proteus 765

crew

4

passengers

139

length

37.9 m

wingspan

43.4 m

height

11.4 m

max take-off weight

83.9 t

top speed

639 km/h

cruise speed

574 km/h

range

—

ceiling

7,315 m

wings

low wing

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family