Prototypes.....what airframes are still with us?
 

..of the top of my head.
Mosquito,
Concorde,
Tonka,
747,
What else is still out there?

Hawk I believe, using prototype in the sense of 'first one'.

EAP, now the Typhoon.

Boeing 367-80 also known as 707
The first 727 still survives as does the prototype 737

A research vehicle rather than prototype, but how about the Short SC.1 in the Science Museum, London. It is currently hanging on a wall on the ground floor, not in the Flight gallery on the top floor.

Short SC.1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A320 MSN 1 is still flying.

Gloster E28/39
 

Not quite a prototype, but still an interesting aircraft, still earning it's keep.


BAe 146-300 G-LUXE, converted to a 300 series after build


https://www.ncas.ac.uk/index.php/en/...day-to-the-ara

MD11
 

N601FE was the prototype and is still flying with FedEx.

I believe there were 3 aircraft in the test programmer, N602FE was another, third would have been a pax config?

Anil

N1854. Prototype Fairey Fulmar.(FAAM)
XB-70A 1st prototype Valkyrie( USAFM)

MRCA
 

XS230 prototype JP5 still flying i believe

First P1127 XP831 Science Museum London

The very first Ryan PT-22 flies out of Old Warden, owned by Tracey Curtis-Taylor.

Fairey FD2 BAC221 TSR2
 

FD2 at FAAM
BAC221 at IWM Cosford
TSR2 at IWM Duxford

Avro Vulcan at Cosford?

I seem to recall that the prototype Heron still exists in Australia.

G-LUXE, formerly G-SSSH was the first 146 to fly. Fairly uniquely, she is both the first and the last off the production line, as it went through -100 prototype, -300 prototype, and the only -301, which she still is and very successfully.


EAP was a research aircraft. But the first Typhoon prototype, DA1, is in the German Air Museum in Munich.


I've had the privilege of flying the prototype Easy Raider, Escapade, Savannah(UK), SkyRanger (UK) and X'Air(UK). Of those, the Easy Raider prototype, G-SRII is still listed as having a permit, as is the first UK Savannah G-CBBM which was later the Savannah VG prototype, and the SkyRanger prototype G-CBIV. I don't know about the other two apart from their permits are several years lapsed.

G

G-ASAL Bulldog prototype
 

G-ASAL the prototype for the Bulldog was restored and is, I believe, still flying out of Prestwick.

My first experience with a stick rather than a yoke and after the first few seconds of PIOs on takeoff which almost literally scared the **** out of me, I absolutely loved it :)

The one and only Bullfinch was still flying the last I heard.

There are a couple of TSRs about but neither are the very first one.

The Wright Flyer still exists.

The first 757 and 767 both still exist, although not in their original configurations. The 757 has a funny wing on the top (part of the F-22 project), while the 767 has a massive tumor on top (which housed a cryogenic cooled infrared sensor as part of the "Airborn Optical Adjunct" program).

Hawker Hunter
 

A historically significant airframe.
Hawker Hunter prototype and later record breaking sole Mk.3 WB188 is on display at Tangmere, West Sussex.

Meteor prototype DG202 (first in the batch of prototypes though not actually the first to fly) is in the RAFM Hendon.

The Short 330 prototype is preserved at Long Kesh.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2374/...392563236e.jpgG-BDBS Short 330 prototype by Irish251, on Flickr

G-ASYD, preserved at Brooklands, was the prototype (sort of) for the BAC 1-11 Type 475 and 670 Series.
The Bombardier CRJ 700/900/1000 Series prototype survives in CRJ1000 guise as S/N 19991 (was S/N 10001 originally, then 15991). The other CRJ700 prototype, S/N 10002, is now a Northrop Grumman test vehicle. Dash 8-400 prototype S/N 4001, is still flying as are Learjet 40/45 prototypes, 45-001 & 45-002. Canadair Challenger S/N 1002 is now a gate guardian at DND HQ while S/N 3991 is the ACT vehicle preserved at Rockcliffe, which also houses one of the CL-84 Dynavert aircraft.

Shame the UAS can't get the type designation right: SD3-30, not SD-330.

The DH Mosquito at Salisbury Hall (The only surviving WW2 prototype aircraft?)

LA607 second Hawker F10/41 Tempest 11, first flew 18th September 1943.

Was at Staverton,then Duxford, now with Kermit Weeks?

Ciarain.

Plane Speaker,
I can think of one other WWII prototype - the Gloster E.28/39 in the Science Museum.

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/imag.../10322396.aspx

Wow guys...a nice long list.....
The Vulcan prototype crashed at Syerston in 1958...

WG760 P1
At R.A.F. Cosford

Think the prototype TSR2 XR219 was broken up - the example at Duxford is XR222, a beauty nonetheless . . .

Auster Autocrat G-AGOH..............

The prototype B777, N7771 is still in service with Cathay pacific, now registered B-HNL. She's not going to be in service much longer and is planned to return to Boeing for display.

http://img.planespotters.net/photo/3...Net_394248.jpg

Ist production (and true prototype) Fulmar N1854 flew first 4 Jan 40

What happened to the prototype Chipmunk?
 

The prototype Chipmunk, CF-DIO-X flew at Downsview on 22 May 1946. In November that year, it was shipped to Hatfield for testing and demonstrations. It was re-registered as G-AKEV on 28 August 1947.

There is a very good article on the early Chipmunk history here:

Top of the Class - page 1

However, the article does not mention what happened to the prototype (although there is a "To be continued" footnote on the last page). A search of the CAA database shows that it was struck off the register in 1951. Does anyone know what happened to it?

Incidentally, in the same article, there is a detailed description of the Fairey Primer, which was competing for the same contract as the Chipmunk. I'm glad the Chipmunk won. The Primer is just ugly!

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psk9sg2jzp.jpg

Thanks, I had not heard of the Fairey Primer.

I wish I hadn't. I'm now haunted by the idea that my early flying training could have been in a Primer instead of a Chippie! :(

Off topic somewhat, I just read this:

The Victor prototype crashed in testing in 1954. Both the Victor and Vulcan prototypes both broke up in the air - perhaps not too surprising considering the aerobatics they were put through at the Farnborough airshows when it was though that either one or the other would get the order.

Boeing 720 Prototype broken up at Luton in about 1983 N7201U. :ugh:

EGGW

The Shorts SRA/1 prototype first flew in 1947 and is in great shape.

The first prototype, TG263, has been preserved and is on display at Solent Sky aviation museum in Southampton, UK. Both other aircraft built (TG267 and TG271) were lost in accidents during the four-year flight test programme.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...z/IMG_0302.jpg