Proplinerman: You may well be correct and the book I quoted does not mention costs. There had, however, been a tie-in for several years between Shorts, Bristol and Canadair arising from the Britannia project and I get the impression that design was spread over a fairly long period, with no metal being cut until the RAF order was eventually placed. So the development costs may have been relatively low and well-spread. Where costs certainly appeared, measured in loss of capability, was once the aircraft began flight trials, culminating in the need for the 'fastback' conversion. OCU training stopped for a time and 53 Sqn never had more than 4 or 5 airframes at Brize for some 4 years. A most frustrating period, and I recall one trip not getting away for 3 days due to lack of spares. However, once airborne, it was a delight from a crew viewpoint - flight deck space galore (perhaps 15 in all there for the visual approach to Kai Tak on my Global), comfortable bunks, Minstrels' Gallery, good flight and nav systems. (The Nav station on the C-133 looked primitive, by comparison, I must say.) I think that 53 got all 10 aircraft by about 1972, by which time I was elsewhere, on a somewhat larger fleet.