Phipp

Towards the end of World War 2 the British government realized that their focus on fighter production during the war years had placed the British aviation industry at a disadvantage when it came to developing peace time aircraft. As a result a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Lord Brabazon to develop a series of specifications for what the post-war civil aviation mix should look like. They initially came up with five distinct aircraft types for different roles, which gradually show more blossomed to nine.

This book takes a systematic approach to examining the various proposals, prototypes, and actual production aircraft that resulted from the initiative.

At times it gets a bit too geeky with plethoras of registration numbers and specs that may have been better served in an appendix. But it also highlights both how out of touch with the social and political changes the policy makers were, and the disconnect between a patriotic view of British engineering prowess, unrealistic timelines, and the operational realties of the airlines destined to fly these aircraft.

Of the nine types of aircraft proposed, one never got off the drawing board, multiple prototypes were scrapped or put into storage, delays were rife, many proved unfit for purpose on delivery, or had been bypassed by newer technology. Only one of the nine could really be considered a commercial success. show less