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Saunders-Roe Princess
Hello everybody. Are there any photos of the Saunders-Roe Princess cockpit or flight deck around? Mr Google knows of plenty of external shots of this aircraft, on the water and in flight, but I want to know what the cockpit of an eight engined airliner looks like. Required two flight engineers, I believe? Thanks.
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Ten engines.
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You could start by looking for the history of a gentleman called Dick Stratton ( R.I P.....although he probably isn't :) ) who had " more than a passing involvement" with the aircraft in question.
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Hard to search effectively for photos in the FLIGHT online archive. You can find masses of full page ads for the Princess easily enough, but to do a half decent search you need to go to the nearest archive you can find that holds hard copies of FLIGHT and THE AEROPLANE . Then look through the issues for 1952-3.
Geoffrey Tyson did a magnificent job at Farnborough bringing the mighty flying galleon down low along the runway. Incidentally, somewhere there is a glorious photo of him in the 30s flying a Tiger Moth at low level. The camera catches him a moment before he picks up a handkerchief lying in the short grass . He has a wire on his wingtip to enable this stunt. When demonstrating the SRA1 jet powered flying boat sometimes he would fly at dot feet. Inverted. Que hombre! |
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well done chum . .. .. now that's what you call a wheelhouse
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for that link many thanks . A riveting read . At the end there is
this summing up of the lasting legacy of the Princess and her technological mile stones. Saunders-Roe Tradition & the Spirit of the Princess The Princess story is one of human endeavour in overcoming daunting technical & organisational challenges to create a machine that was capable of fulfilling the commitments undertaken by its constructor, the Saunders-Roe Company. The fact that the Princess was actually flown in the face of the extreme difficulties encountered is a tribute to the perseverance & resolve of all those involved. Originally intended to take the art of flying boat design to new heights under the guidance of the most eminent flying boat practitioners in the country, the harsh reality of the market place won the day. The knowledge & experience gained from the Princess project was of significant benefit to the Saunders-Roe Company and its skilled workforce. This was clearly demonstrated by the Company’s ability to undertake a number of innovative & challenging projects beyond the Princess era. Ownership changes & takeovers meant that the Saunders-Roe Company name faded from view about 30 or more years ago. However, it is fair to say that despite many setbacks and disappointments the spirit of the Princess, as a symbol of human endeavour, & the traditions of the Saunders- Roe Company remain alive at Cowes to the present day under the banner of the GKN Company as GKN Aerospace Services. |
As a kid my old man and I stood at Farnborough and watched the Princess thunder down the runway centreline and bank really steeply beyond the Black Sheds [from our position]. Geoff Tyson had his hands full for a few moments I gather.......
Glorious sound and machine. What a team Saunders Roe had including Geoff Tyson and Dick Stratton [wonderful man] and the whole SR workforce. My old man built Wellingtons, Warwicks and the Windsor at Weybridge/Wisley but never told me anything until just before he died. |
In the fifties the RAF chaplains branch used to run a summer camp for sons of RAF personnel. I went to one of these that was at what used to be RAF Calshot. The Princesses were there by the old slipway, forlornly cacooned until their end.
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I remember seeing one of the Princesses cocooned in East Cowes in the early 60s.
Wonderful anecdotes about Dick Stratton, the Princess flight test engineer, here: http://www.pprune.org/private-flying...-stratton.html I remember him asserting that he held the world record for the greatest number of in flight engine failures at one time, I think it was six, from his days on the Princess. |
Fascinating Presentation, thanks for the link.
I have vague childhood memories of seeing at least one of the cocooned Princesses in the distance, perhaps when sailing out of Southampton on the Queen Elisabeth (1964) and France (1966), or when staying with grandparents in the Solent area. I was fascinated by these huge planes and longed for them to go into service so I could have a flight in one. |
Dick Stratton told me that the Princess was the only aircraft he knew of & flew on that had at least one engine failure on every flight!
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I remember a story that the reason for two Flight Engineers was that the drills for one engine shut down hadn't been completed before it was required to shut another down!:)
Somewhere I have a copy of Tech Air magazine with a photo of the F/E panel. If I can find it I will post it. |
Last year, through my work, I met a man who was an engineer on the Princess. He was of advanced age but spoke with great clarity. I don't recall off hand exactly what his ground role was.
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I can still see in my mind's eye the sight of the Princess flying quite low over our house near Worthing on its way to the Farnborough display in 1953. Age 9 it made a big impression on me as I had never seen a large aircraft before, having only been used to those based at Shoreham.
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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. |
Dick Stratton - still sorely missed
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