In that long and fascinating screed about Saunders-Roe's origins through to the demise of the Princess , the reluctance of BOAC to commit itself, the prevarication of Sir Miles Thomas and the wavering of support from other quarters, the engines insufficient power and their propensity to fail surely all had a lot to do with the disappointing outcome.
That is a sad photo of the forward section in the breakers yard in use as an office for some years. Sad and poignant.
John Sutcliffe flew with the FAA before he came to Australia, (where he joined East-West Airlines, and gave me an F27 endorsement- on VH-TFK by the way) . John told the story that he was flying in his Firefly out of Yeovilton when way up ahead he caught sight of a large shape in the sky. It was G-ALUN. He said how he throttled back to come alongside as close as he dared, wishing he had his camera with him.