Percival Prince

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

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.

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.

  

  A Percival Survey Prince on 31 Jan 1950 at Luton, with a team from the Ordnance Survey

• P.57 Sea Prince C2 – Transport version of Sea Prince T1, four built.
• B.T.1 – (Thai : บ.ต.๑) Thai designation for the P.54. ^[3]

Operators

Civil operators

  Australia

  Brunei

• Brunei Shell Petroleum Company

  Brazil

• Aeronorte

  France

  Kenya

  New Zealand

  Singapore

  Switzerland

  Tanganyika

  South Africa

  United Kingdom

  United States

  Venezuela

Military operators

  Australia

• Royal Australian Air Force – Three Princes were in service with the RAAF from 1952 to 1957. The aircraft were used for communications and support duties at the Weapons Research Establishment, Woomera, South Australia.
  • Air Trials Unit

  Thailand

• Thai Air Force – One Survey Prince aircraft.
• Thai Army – One Survey Prince aircraft.

  United Kingdom

• Fleet Air Arm ^[1]
  • 700 Naval Air Squadron
  • 702 Naval Air Squadron
  • 727 Naval Air Squadron
  • 744 Naval Air Squadron
  • 750 Naval Air Squadron
  • 781 Naval Air Squadron
  • 831 Naval Air Squadron
• Royal Naval Reserve
  • 1830 Squadron RNVR
  • 1840 Squadron RNVR
  • 1841 Squadron RNVR
  • 1844 Squadron RNVR

Surviving aircraft

Thailand

• T1-1/98 – Prince 3A on display at the Royal Thai Air Force Museum in Bangkok. ^[4]

United Kingdom

• P50/46 – Prince 6E on display with the Speke Aerodrome Heritage Group in Liverpool, Merseyside. ^[5]
• WP313 – Sea Prince T.1 in storage at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton, Somerset. ^[6]
• WF128 – Sea Prince T.1 on display at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum in Flixton, Suffolk. ^[7]
• WP309 – Sea Prince T.1 on display at the Solway Aviation Museum in Irthington, Cumbria. ^[8]
• WP308 – Sea Prince T.1 on display at the Gatwick Aviation Museum in Charlwood, Surrey. ^[9]
• WF122 – Sea Prince T.1 under restoration with the Ulster Aviation Society in Lisburn, Antrim. ^[10] It was formerly on display at Aeroventure and operated by 750 Naval Air Squadron. ^[11]
• WP321 – Sea Prince T.1 on display at the South Wales Aviation Museum in St Athan, Glamorgan. ^[12]

United States of America

• N206UP - Prince 2 c/n P50/10, on display in private garden in Antelope Acres, California ^[13]

Specifications (Sea Prince T.1)

Percival Sea Prince T.1

Data from British Naval Aircraft since 1912 ^[14]

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

• Percival Merganser
• Percival Pembroke
• Percival President

Notes

1. "PER50 PRINCE PEMBROKE". Archived from the original on 14 March 2007.
2. Silvester 1987, pp. 112 & 119
3. "Thai Military Aircraft Designations". designation-systems.net. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
4. "Airframe Dossier - Percival Prince 3A, s/n T1-1/98 RTAF, c/n P41". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
5. "Airframe Dossier - Percival Prince 6E, c/n P50-46, c/r G-AMLZ". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
6. "Percival Sea Prince T1 (WP313)". Fleet Air Arm Museum. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
7. "OUR AIRCRAFT". Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
8. "Aircraft". Solway Aviation Museum. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
9. "Percival Sea Prince T.1". Gatwick Aviation Museum. Archived from the original on 11 March 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
10. "Percival P.57 Sea Prince T.1". Ulster Aviation Society. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
11. "Airframe Dossier - Percival Sea Prince T.1, s/n WF122 RN, c/n P57/0018". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
12. "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.
13. |url= https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=54966
14. 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.

External links

• Flight – Proving flights for tropical use