Bristol Britannia 1/96 Eastern Express 96001

The Bristol Type 175 Britannia was a British medium-to-long-rangeairliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across theBritish Empire. During development and acceptance testing, theturboprop engines proved susceptible to inlet icing and two prototypes were lost while solutions were found.

By the time development was completed, "pure" jet airliners from France, United Kingdom and the United States were about to enter service, and consequently, only 85 Britannias were built before production ended in 1960. Nevertheless, the Britannia is considered one of the landmarks in turboprop-powered airliner design and was popular with passengers. It became known by the title of "The Whispering Giant" for its quiet exterior noise and smooth flying, although the passenger interior remained less tranquil.Canadair purchased a licence to build the Britannia in Canada, adding another 72 variants. These were the stretched Canadair CL-44/Canadair CC-106 Yukon, and the greatly modified Canadair CP-107 Argus patrol aircraft.Bristol won the Type I and Type III contracts, delivering their Type I design, theBristol Brabazon in 1949.The requirement for the 1946 British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Medium Range Empire (MRE) Requirements coincided with the Type III, Specification C.2/47, issued in April 1947 by the Minister of Supply.The specifications called for an airliner capable of carrying 48 passengers and powered with Bristol Centaurus radial engines or Napier Nomad compound engines.In October 1947, with work already underway, Bristol had settled on a Centaurus-powered design, with an all-up weight of 103,000 lb (47,000 kg) and a payload of 13,300 lb (6,000 kg). The anticipated Karachi-Cairo run necessitated a 48-seat limit with a requirement for sufficient fuel for the lengthy stage. On 5 July 1949, the Ministry of Supply ordered five prototypes to this specification with the understanding that BOAC would contract for an additional 25 production examples.Following an long period of uneventful development flying trials and the fitting of a modified Proteus 765 series that greatly reduced breakdowns, a full Certificate of Airworthiness was awarded at the end of 1955.The Model 102 began scheduled service on 1 February 1957 with a BOAC flight from London to Johannesburg, flights to Sydney following in March and to Tokyo in July. By August 1957, the first 15 Model 102 aircraft had been delivered to BOAC.The Model 102 was eventually made available to other BOAC associates, including Cathay Pacific, Central Africa, East African, Nigeria and Malayan airlines.