Bristol Brabazon

Bristol Aeroplane Company · United Kingdom · first flew 1949 · airliner

An enormous British transatlantic airliner prototype, powered by eight piston engines, that never entered service.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, straight
E — Engines	4 × piston, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	Long slender fuselage on a single huge prototype
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Vast 70 m wingspan rivalling far later wide-bodies
Four nacelles each housing two coupled engines driving contra-rotating props (eight engines in total, note)
Long slender fuselage on a single huge prototype

If it still existed, the giveaways would be a huge straight wing with four nacelles each turning contra-rotating propellers, and a long slim fuselage. It survives only in museum relics and photographs.

Specifications

The Bristol Brabazon has a length of 53.9 m (177 ft).
It has a wingspan of 70.1 m (230 ft).
Its maximum speed is 483 km/h (300 mph).
Typical crew: 6 flight crew.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Born of the wartime Brabazon Committee's vision of a luxury transatlantic liner, the Type 167 first flew on 4 September 1949. Its eight Bristol Centaurus engines were coupled in pairs within four nacelles, driving four sets of contra-rotating propellers, but the design proved too large, slow and costly to interest airlines.

Variants

Only the single Mk I prototype flew; a planned turboprop-powered Mk II was never completed.

Where you'll see it

Never entered airline service. The sole prototype was scrapped in 1953, a famous British 'white elephant'; relics and the story are preserved at Bristol's Aerospace Bristol museum at Filton, where it was built.

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