Percival Prince

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Prince
Percival Sea Prince T.1 WF118 727 Sqn FAA 09.56.jpg
Royal Navy Sea Prince T.1 of 727 Squadron FAA from RNAS Brawdy operational with radar nose in September 1956
RoleTransport aircraft
Manufacturer Percival Aircraft Limited
First flight13 May 1948
Number built75 of all variants [1]
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.

Contents

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 Percival Prince 3E Standard Croydon 04.54.jpg
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]

Sea Prince T.1 preserved at the Gatwick Aviation Museum in 2008 Percival Sea Prince WP308.jpg
Sea Prince T.1 preserved at the Gatwick Aviation Museum in 2008

Operators

Civil operators

Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Flag of Brunei.svg  Brunei
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
Flag of France.svg  France
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland
Flag of Tanganyika (1923-1961).svg  Tanganyika
Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela

Military operators

Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom

Surviving aircraft

Thailand
United Kingdom
United States of America

Specifications (Sea Prince T.1)

Percival Sea Prince T.1 Percival Sea Prince T1 3-view silhouette.jpg
Percival Sea Prince T.1

Data from British Naval Aircraft since 1912 [13]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "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.

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