Percival Prince

The Percival Prince is a British light transport of the early postwar period. It was a twin-engine, high-wing, cantilever monoplane of all-metal stressed-skin construction; the undercarriage was of retractable, tricycle type.

Prince
Royal Navy Sea Prince T.1 of 727 Squadron FAA from RNAS Brawdy operational with radar nose in September 1956
Role Transport aircraft
Manufacturer Percival Aircraft Limited
First flight 13 May 1948
Number built 75 of all variants[1]
Developed from Percival Merganser
Developed into Percival Pembroke

Development

The design of the Prince continued from the solitary Merganser. Further development of the type led to the Survey Prince survey aircraft and the Sea Prince. An improved version of the Prince 3 with an increased wingspan and engine and undercarriage modifications was developed for the Royal Air Force as the Percival Pembroke.

Operational history
Percival Prince 3E executive aircraft of Standard Motor Co. at Croydon Airport in April 1954

The Prince was produced in six versions for the civil market. Several examples were operated as executive aircraft including Standard Motors and Shell Oil. Three aircraft were used by the UK Ministry of Civil Aviation as airport facilities checking aircraft.

The Sea Prince operated in two roles: in T.Mk.1 form it served as a navigation and anti-submarine trainer; the C.Mks. 1 and 2 were flown in the transport role. However, these were land planes and not COD (carrier on board delivery) aircraft. Sea Princes operated in both roles from 1954 to 1972 and as a navigation trainer until 1978, when it was replaced by the Handley Page Jetstream

Variants

[1]

  • P.50 Prince 1 – prototype based on Merganser with modified fin and undercarriage and two 520 hp Alvis Leonides 501/4 engine, one built.
  • P.50 Prince 2 – As Prince 1 with sloping windscreen, stronger main spar, five built.
  • P.50 Prince 3 – As Prince 2 with Alvis Leonides 502/4 engine and lengthened nose on some aircraft, 12 built.
  • P.50 Prince 4 – Conversions to Alvis Leonides 503 engines, ten converted.
  • P.50 Prince 5 – original designation of the Percival President.
  • P.50 Prince 6 – Conversions to Alvis Leonides 504 engines.
  • P.54 Survey Prince – Prince 2 with lengthened transparent nose and camera hatches, six built.
Sea Prince T.1 preserved at the Gatwick Aviation Museum in 2008
  • P.50 Sea Prince C1 – Prince 2 for Royal Navy use, three built.[2]
  • P.57 Sea Prince T1 – Prince 3 with long nose housing radar, twin wheeled main undercarriage and lengthened engine nacelles for navigation and anti-submarine training, 41 built.
  • P.57 Sea Prince C2 – Transport version of Sea Prince T1, four built.

Operators

Civil operators
 Australia
 Brunei
  • Brunei Shell Petroleum Company
 Brazil
 France
 Kenya
 New Zealand
 Singapore
  Switzerland
 Tanganyika
 South Africa
 United Kingdom
 United States
 Venezuela

Military operators
 Australia
 Thailand
 United Kingdom

Surviving aircraft
Thailand
United Kingdom
United States of America
  • N206UP - Prince 2 c/n P50/10, on display in private garden in Antelope Acres, California [12]

Specifications (Sea Prince T.1)
Percival Sea Prince T.1
Percival Sea Prince T.1

Data from British Naval Aircraft since 1912[13]

General characteristics

  • Crew: Two pilots
  • Capacity: Three pupils
  • Length: 46 ft 4 in (14.12 m)
  • Wingspan: 56 ft 0 in (17.07 m)
  • Height: 16 ft 1 in (4.90 m)
  • Wing area: 365 sq ft (33.9 m2)
  • Empty weight: 8,850 lb (4,014 kg)
  • Gross weight: 11,850 lb (5,375 kg)
  • Powerplant: 2 × Alvis Leonides 125 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engines, 550 hp (410 kW) each

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 194 kn (223 mph, 359 km/h) at 2,000 ft (610 m)
  • Cruise speed: 159 kn (183 mph, 295 km/h) at 11,000 ft (3,400 m)
  • Range: 400 nmi (460 mi, 740 km)
  • Service ceiling: 22,000 ft (6,700 m)
  • Rate of climb: 1,400 ft/min (7.1 m/s)

See also

Related development

Notes
  1. "PER50 PRINCE PEMBROKE". Archived from the original on 14 March 2007.
  2. Silvester 1987, pp. 112 & 119
  3. "Airframe Dossier - Percival Prince 3A, s/n T1-1/98 RTAF, c/n P41". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  4. "Airframe Dossier - Percival Prince 6E, c/n P50-46, c/r G-AMLZ". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  5. "Percival Sea Prince T1 (WP313)". Fleet Air Arm Museum. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  6. "OUR AIRCRAFT". Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  7. "Aircraft". Solway Aviation Museum. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  8. "Percival Sea Prince T.1". Gatwick Aviation Museum. Archived from the original on 11 March 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  9. "Percival P.57 Sea Prince T.1". Ulster Aviation Society. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  10. "Airframe Dossier - Percival Sea Prince T.1, s/n WF122 RN, c/n P57/0018". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  11. "Airframe Dossier - Percival Sea Prince T.1, s/n WP321 RN, c/n PAC/57/71, c/r G-BRFC". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  12. |url= https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=54966
  13. Thetford 1978, p.251.

Bibliography
  • Grant, Robert S. "Canadian Prince". Air Enthusiast, No. 55, Autumn 1994, p. 13. ISSN 0143-5450
  • Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft 1919–1972: Volume III. London:Putnam, 1988. ISBN 0-85177-818-6.
  • Silvester, John. "Call to Arms: The Percival Sea Prince and Pembroke". Air Enthusiast, No. 55, Autumn 1994, pp. 56–61. ISSN 0143-5450
  • Silvester, John. Percival and Hunting Aircraft. Leicester: Midland Counties Publications 1987. ISBN 0-9513386-0-9.
  • Thetford, Owen, British Naval Aircraft since 1912. London:Putnam, 1978. ISBN 0-370-30021-1.
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