The Brabazon Committee
The future needs of the British Empire's civilian airliner market following World War II.
In 1942, the British Government established the Brabazon Committee to examine the future requirements of the British Empire's civilian airline industry after World War II. The Committee aimed to assess the potential impact of advancements in aviation technology and predict the air transportation needs of the post-war British Empire (including South Asia, Africa, the Near and Far East) and Commonwealth countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand) for passengers, mail, and cargo.
The British Empire and Commonwealth urgently needed aviation systems, particularly aircraft, to ensure their survival and self-sufficiency in the post-war era, both for military and commercial purposes. Understanding and developing the necessary industrial infrastructure was crucial to maintaining a global air transport service.
Background
PZ865 Hawker Hurricane, one of the standard fighters of the RAF in WW2.
Zoggavia Collection
During World War II, the British Government focused solely on producing combat aircraft, leading to the cancellation of potential airliner projects. As a result, Britain had to purchase Boeing flying boats for a US-UK air service. There was speculation about an agreement with the US regarding aircraft production, but some sources dispute its existence. Instead, the UK did not order new transport aircraft, as all efforts were dedicated to war requirements. Materials for transport aircraft were also scarce.
During the 1942 Moscow Conference, Winston Churchill was struck by the UK's lack of modern airliners and the immediate need to address the issue of transport aircraft. He discussed this with Sir Stafford Cripps and Lord Brabazon, acknowledging that the UK would have little experience, infrastructure, or trained personnel for transport aircraft after the war. Meanwhile, the US had a massive infrastructure for aircraft production, which could be used to create civilian planes based on military transport designs. The UK, as well as the Empire and Commonwealth, would have to purchase these planes to meet their post-war civilian transport aviation needs.
G-AHPZ Consolidated B-24 converted bomber of Scottish Airways used during and after WW2. Zoggavia Collection.
Churchill entrusted Lord Brabazon with the task of forming a committee to thoroughly investigate and make recommendations. Subsequently, the Cabinet approved a Second Committee to conduct a comprehensive and detailed study, listing the specific requirements for the design and development of the necessary aircraft.
On 24 December 1942, a two-part article in flight concluded, "The whole British Empire at present has an operational fleet of transport aircraft, comprising conversions, makeshifts, and cast-offs, totally inadequate to represent the Empire in serving the air routes of the world in the peace to come. Have we to rely upon other nations to do it for us? The British aircraft industry is equal to the task. The Government should decide this vital question at once."
First Committee and Interim Report
The first Committee, led by Lord Brabazon, met ten times between 23 December 1942 and 9 February 1943. It recommended converting four military aircraft for civilian use and designing five new aircraft specifically for civilian purposes.
The four adaptations were:
(i) Avro York (developed from the Avro Lancaster)
(ii) Vickers Warwick
(ii) Vickers Warwick
(iii) Short Hythe (converted from the Short Sunderland III)
(iv) Short Sandringham (an improved conversion of the Short Sunderland V)
Second Committee and Final Report
The Second Committee, led by Lord Brabazon, started meeting on 25 May 1943 to study the future needs of the British civilian airliner market. Members included representatives from state-owned airlines like BOAC and BEA, with Peter Masefield as the Secretary. Over two years, they studied designs and technical considerations, producing 151 papers. The Committee's views changed, leading to variations in the list of Brabazon Types. They initially recommended pursuing "Interim Types," which were conversions and/or developments of wartime aircraft.
The Vickers Viking, the Saunders Roe Princess and the Bristol 170 were in fact not part of the initial Brabazon specifications
These were all produced in some numbers in due course, although the Tudor I and Tudor II never entered service. They were all too late to compete (for example) with the earlier and much more capable Douglas DC-4, which had been in service since 1942 and could carry more passengers further and faster. The final report in December 1945 ignored all these interim types and called for the construction of seven new designs after the war:
The Aircraft
G-AGPW Bristol Brabazon just before touchdown at the SBAC show in Farnborough in Spetember 1950. Zoggavia Collection - Click on image to the enter the type's Gallery.
G-ALZZ Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador of BEA at Hamburg in 1953.
Zoggavia Collection - Click on image to the enter the type's Gallery.
G-AMON Vickers Viscount 701 of BEA at Edinburgh in 1956.
Zoggavia Collection - Click on image to the enter the type's Gallery.
The Type I
was for a very large transatlantic airliner serving high-volume routes like London-New York, seating its passengers in luxury for the 12-hour trip. The type I design was based on Air Ministry Specification 2/44.
The design was awarded directly to the Bristol Aeroplane Company for the Bristol Brabazon, based on submissions they had made during the war for a "100-ton bomber" and judging that they had the capacity. However, Miles Aircraft proposed the Miles X-11, part of the ongoing Miles M.26 development program, but the Ministry did not seriously consider this innovative design. One Brabazon was built and flown in 1949 with Bristol Centaurus radial engines, but a planned Brabazon II with Bristol Proteus turboprop engines was not completed; the project folded in 1951 when, with BOAC having lost interest, issues with the first aircraft showed that a wing re-design was required for the Proteus.
The Type IIA,
originally a short-haul feederliner intended to replace the Douglas DC-3, was for a piston-powered aircraft, according to Air Ministry Specification 25/43, as initially planned.
Type IIB was for an aircraft using the new turboprop engine, based on Air Ministry Specification 8/46. This came about because Vickers favored the move to turboprop power. The Committee was skeptical, but in the end, they decided to divide the specification in two, allowing the turboprop design to go ahead as Type IIB while at the same time ordering a "backup" piston design as the Type IIA. The alternative specification 16/46 was subsequently raised to cover later changes.
The Centaurus-powered Airspeed Ambassador met the Type IIA requirement, and BEA ordered 20 aircraft. The prototype flew in July 1947, and the type entered service with BEA in March 1952. De Havilland, the owner of Airspeed at that time, had no interest in further developing the design. However, a Dart-powered version had been proposed, which would have been available much earlier than the Fokker F-27 and the Handley Page Dart Herald.
The Type IIB requirements were initially met by the Vickers VC.2 Viceroy (later named Viscount) and the Armstrong Whitworth A.W.55 Apollo, failing to compete successfully with the Viscount.
The production Viscount was significantly larger than the Type II proposal as BEA wanted much more capable aircraft, and Rolls-Royce developed the Dart engines to produce much more power than specified. Consequently, the updated Specification 21/49 was issued to represent the production Viscount, ordered by BEA in 1950. Ultimately, 445 Viscounts were built and advanced to Britain's most successful civil airliner.
G-AHNM Avro 688 Tudor Super Trader of Air Charter on final approach to Berlin Tempelhof in 1954. Zoggavia Collection
Type III
Avro began work on the Type 688 Tudor in 1943, following specification 29/43 for a commercial adaptation of the Lancaster IV bomber, which was later renamed Lincoln. The type faced significant technical problems such as longitudinal instability, buffeting, landing bounce, and high stalling speed. These issues, combined with failure to meet delivery deadlines, hindered the Tudor's commercial success. Disputes between the Government, British Overseas Airways Corporation, and British South American Airways further complicated matters.
Despite these challenges, the Tudor performed well during the Berlin Airlift. Freddie Laker recognized their potential as freighters. After successful conversion, several Tudors were used on government contracts to transport equipment to nuclear testing sites in Australia, generating significant revenue for Air Charter. Originally, the Brabazon Committee did not intend for Tudors to be a long-term option for international airlines.
After a brief period of use, their operational lives came to an end by the close of 1959.
G-ALDI Handley Page HP,81 Hermes IV of BOAC at Nairobi Airport in 1950. Zoggavia Collection
The Hermes, developed during the 1940s alongside the closely related Handley Page Hastings military transport, was a low-wing monoplane powered mainly by four piston engines. Initially, the Hermes was supposed to enter service before the Hastings, but the development was delayed after the prototype crashed during its maiden flight on 2 December 1945. Measures were taken to improve the airliner's stability and expand its capacity, which impressed the BOAC, prompting them to order 25 HP 81 Hermes IV on 4 February 1947. The Ministry of Supply also ordered a pair of turboprop-powered development aircraft for experimental flights.
On 6 August 1950, the Hermes IV finally entered service with BOAC, taking over from Avro York on the West Africa service from London Heathrow to Accra via Tripoli, Kano, and Lagos, with services to Kenya and South Africa commencing before the end of the year. BOAC used the Hermes IV on routes to West and South Africa. They were quickly replaced, however, by the reliable Canadair C-4 Argonaut in 1952, although some re-entered service in July 1954 following the grounding of the de Havilland Comet, being retired again in December.
This was not the end of the Hermes in airline service. Surplus aircraft were sold to independent charter airlines, Airwork purchased four in 1952, and others were operated by Britavia and Skyways, particularly in the trooping role. Many of these aircraft were fitted with Hercules 773 engines, which could be operated on lower octane fuel than the original Hercules 763s, being designated as Hermes IVA. They returned to Hermes IV standards when fuel supplies improved.
Later, the Hermes flew on inclusive tour holiday flights from the UK until the last operational civil Hermes, G-ALDA, flown by Air Links, was retired on 13 December 1964 and was scrapped soon after.
G-ANBH Bristol Britannia 102 of BOAC during a test flight over the Dover coast in 1956. Zoggavia Collection
The time called for a larger four-engined, medium-range aircraft for various multi-hop MRE routes serving the British Empire. This was initially intended to be the Avro 690 Type XXII with six Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, which went through many specification changes and design evolutions to be the Avro 693 with four Rolls-Royce Avon jets. BOAC canceled their order in April 1947, and the project ended in July 1947. A new Specification 2/47 was issued for the MRE, developed as the Bristol Britannia. Unfortunately, this type also suffered delays in development, entering service with BOAC in February 1957 despite being ordered in November 1949.
G-APDG DH. Comet 4, the improved version of Comet 1,2 and 3, of BOAC landing at Heathrow Airport in 1961. Zoggavia Collection
The Type IV
became the world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, the first prototype flying in July 1949. Initially successful, it suffered from well-publicized structural problems and failed to sell in great numbers.
G-AMGW Miles H.P.R.1 Marathon of Derby Airways, the predecessor of British Mifland Airways, at East Midland Airport in 1959. Zoggavia Collection
The Type VA
requirement was developed as the Miles Marathon, first flying in May 1946. Following the collapse of Miles Aircraft, Handley Page built 40 aircraft for BEA, who refused to take delivery. They reduced their order for 30 by stages before canceling entirely in 1952. The remainder were sold to airlines, while the Royal Air Force was made to take 30 as navigation trainers.
The Type VB
The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, called for a British-designed short-haul feeder for airlines. The De Havilland DH. 104 Dove started as a private venture in 1943 and the prototype flew in September 1945. The development team for the Dove was headed by Ronald Bishop,the creator of the de Havilland Mosquito, a wartime fighter-bomber, and the de Havilland Comet.
The Dove was a popular aircraft and is considered to be one of Britain's most successful postwar civil designs, with 544 aircraft manufactured between 1946 and 1967. While standard passenger versions of the Dove would carry between eight and eleven passengers, the cabin was designed to allow operators to convert between higher and lower density seating configurations. Several military variants were operated, such as the Devon by the Royal Air Force and the Sea Devon by the Royal Navy, and the type also saw service with a number of overseas military forces.
G-APKW DH.114 Heron 1B with fix front landing of Air England, the following Channel Airways, during a tyre exchange at Southend in 1970. Zoggavia Collection
The de Havilland DH.114 Heron is a small propeller-driven British airliner that made its first flight on 10 May 1950. It was developed from the twin-engine de Havilland Dove, with a longer fuselage and two additional engines. The Heron was designed as a rugged, conventional, low-wing monoplane with a tricycle undercarriage for use on regional and commuter routes. A total of 149 Heron aircraft were built and exported to 30 countries. The Heron also served as the basis for various conversions, including the Riley Turbo Skyliner and the Saunders ST-27 and ST-28.
Initially, de Havilland produced 51 Series 1 aircraft before switching to the Series 2, which featured retractable landing gear to reduce drag and fuel consumption and slightly increase the top speed. The 2A was equivalent to the 1A and was the basic passenger aircraft. Additionally, the 1B and its successor, the 2B, had a higher maximum takeoff weight, the 2C featured fully feathering propellers, and the Heron 2D had an even higher maximum takeoff weight. The Heron 2E was designed as a VIP version.
In service, the Heron was well received by both flight crews and passengers, who appreciated the added safety of the four engines. At a time when smaller airliners were still uncommon in isolated and remote areas, the DH.114 offered reliable and comfortable service, with seating for 17 passengers in individual seats on each side of the aisle.
G-AJJN Vickers 636 Viking 1B waiting for passengers at Rome Ciampino Airport in 1953. Zoggavia Collection
G-AMWA Bristol 170 Superfreighter 32 of Silver City being unloaded in Northern Africa in 1956. Zoggavia Collection
The Ministry of Aircraft Production ordered three prototype Wellington Transport Aircraft from Vickers-Armstrongs Limited to meet Air Ministry Specification 17/44. The Viking was developed as a civilian version of the Wellington bomber and was Britain's first postwar airliner. It played a significant role in the development of British civil aviation, particularly with many independent airlines.
The aircraft was designed by Rex Pierson and built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands. The prototype , G-AGOK, made its first flight from nearby Wisley on 22 June 1946. Many Wellington components were utilized in its construction, easing the transition towards peacetime aircraft production at Weybridge. These components included geodetic wings, engine nacelles, and undercarriages. A total of 163 Vikings were produced, all at Brooklands between 1945-1947.
Royal Air Force, ordered the military versions - the Viking C2 and the modified Valetta C1, of which 262 were produced for the RAF.
The Bristol Type 170 was initially created as a temporary project and private venture to keep the Bristol Aeroplane Company busy while the Bristol Brabazon was still in development. However, in 1944 the British Air Ministry became interested in the project as they saw potential for a sturdy transport aircraft that could operate from rough airstrips. Consequently, they placed an order for two prototypes under the condition that the design would be modified to accommodate the transportation of a British Army 3-ton truck by air. In response to this requirement, the Air Ministry created and issued Specification 22/44 (which was later revised as C.9/45) outlining the design they had in mind.
It was widely used for short flight cargo ferrying; most memorably by Silver City Airways who flew cars and their passengers to the continent from 1948. By 1958, Silver City had completed 125,000 ferry flights and had carried 215,000 vehicles and 750,000 passengers.
Bristol ultimately produced 214 Type 170s, which saw worldwide use. The last Freighter flight took place in 2004.
G-ALUN Saunders Roe Princess flying majestically in front of a large crowd at the FBAC show in Farnborough in September 1953. Zoggavia Collection
The Saunders-Roe SR.45 Princess was not a Brabazon Committee recommendation as a Type I aircraft but was a direct submission from the company, which gained Ministry funding. At the time, BOAC still considered that there was a future for luxury travel by flying boats. Three aircraft were built but BOAC ceased flying boat operations in November 1950 before the first flight in August 1952. No use was found for the three aircraft but they were not scrapped until 1967.
Legacy
The Brabazon Committee was essentially a failure. All the significant designs proposed suffered from protracted development periods at a time when airliners were needed quickly to compete with American products; this was primarily due to the time required to develop the new jet prop and pure jet engines but was also due to failures of the Brabazon specifications, the poor decision making of the manufacturers and various UK government Ministries involved, and an amount of prejudice on the part of BOAC and BEA, the primary customers whose input was in the beginning often prioritized over global market demand.
This prejudice by BOAC was seen in decisions such as canceling the Vickers V.1000 airliner, failing to support the Vickers VC10, designed to BOAC's specification, and a continued desire to buy American products. BEA later requested a larger Viscount, which became the Vickers Vanguard, but only sold 43, and then insisted on a smaller Trident than the design proposed by Hawker Siddeley. Consequently, the Trident, like the VC-10, could have sold more. The BAC 1-11 was more successful but lacked investment in development as the Government directed most of the funding to the Concorde. Subsequently, after production of the HS.146 ended in 2002, no complete airliners were designed or made in the UK, and the industry focuses nowadays in building components only.
The Vickers VC-10 Prototype at the SBAC show in Farnborough in 1962. Zoggavia Collection
XV101 Vickers VC10 of the Royal Air force refueling a Panavia Tornado fighter in 1994. Zoggavia Collection
The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range jet airliner. It was designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey in 1962. The VC10 is often compared to the larger Soviet Ilyushin Il-62, as they are the only airliners to use a rear-engined quad layout. The smaller business jet Lockheed JetStar also has this engine arrangement.
The VC10 was designed to operate on long-distance routes from the shorter runways of that time and had excellent hot and high performance for operations from African airports. The VC10 set a record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic by a subsonic jet airliner, with a time of 5 hours and 1 minute held for 41 years until February 2020, when a British Airways Boeing 747 broke it at 4 hours and 56 minutes due to Storm Ciara. Although only 54 VC10s were built, they served airlines such as BOAC later British Airways from the 1960s to 1981.
Starting in 1965, the VC10 was used as strategic air transport for the Royal Air Force, and ex-passenger models and others were used as aerial refueling aircraft. The type was retired from RAF service on 20 September 2013. It has since succeeded in the aerial refueling role by the Airbus Voyager. The final flight of the type was performed by VC10 K.3 ZA147 on 25 September 2013.
G-ARPC Hawker Siddeley HS.121 Trident 1C in BEA colors, the third aircraft of the 1C series, on display at the SBAC show in Farnborough on 8 September 1962. Zoggavia Collection
In 1957, de Havilland proposed its DH.121 trijet design in response to a request from British European Airways (BEA). In March 1959, BEA was worried about overcapacity and asked de Havilland to scale down the DH.121 design. Despite advice from their sales and market research departments, which indicated interest from other airlines in the larger model, de Havilland decided to comply with BEA's demand making significant changes to create the smaller Trident. After an agreement with BEA, the airline ordered the revised aircraft in August 1959, and it was named Trident in September 1960
By that time, de Havilland had been acquired by Hawker Siddeley. The HS.121 Trident's maiden flight took place on 9 January 1962, and it was introduced on 1 April 1964, two months after its main competitor, the Boeing 727. By the end of the program in 1978, 117 Tridents, compared to 1832 Boeing 727s, had been produced. The Trident was withdrawn from service in 1995.
N1549 Bac 1-11 of Braniff International taxiing in 1966. Zoggavia Collection
N1126J Bac 1-11 of Mohawk, approaching Toronto in 1969.
Zoggavia Collection
In July 1956, British European Airways published a paper calling for a "second-generation" jet airliner to operate beside its existing turboprop designs. It led to various designs from all of the major players in the British aerospace industry.
Hunting Aircraft started design studies on a jet-powered replacement for the successful Vickers Viscount, developing the 30-seat Hunting 107. Around the same time, Vickers began to a similar 140-seat development of its VC10 project, the VC11. Many other aviation firms have also produced their designs.
In 1960 Hunting, under British government pressure, merged with Vickers-Armstrongs, Bristol, and English Electric to form the British Aircraft Company (BAC). The newly formed BAC decided that the Hunting project had merit but that there would be little market for a 30-seat jet airliner. The design was reworked into the BAC 107, a 59-seat airliner powered by two 31 kN (7000 pounds-force) Bristol Siddeley BS75 turbofan engines. BAC also continued developing the larger, 140-seat VC11 development of the Vickers VC10, which it had inherited. Other competing internal projects, such as the Bristol Type 200, were quickly abandoned following the absorption of Hunting into BAC.
Market research showed that the 59-seat BAC 107 was still too small, and the design was again reworked in 1961, with passenger capacity growing to 80 seats and the BS75s being discarded in favor of Rolls-Royce Spey. The revised design was redesignated the BAC 111 (later becoming known as the One-Eleven), with BAC abandoning the VC11 project to concentrate on the more promising One-Eleven. Unlike other contemporary British airliners such as the Hawker Siddeley Trident, the One-Eleven was not designed to specifically meet the needs of the state-owned British European Airways or British Overseas Airways Corporation, but on the needs of airlines around the world, and BAC expected that they could receive orders for as many as 400 aircraft.
The public launch of the One-Eleven on 9 May 1961, marked a significant milestone in its history, as British United Airways (BUA) placed the first order for ten One-Eleven 200s. This was followed by a six-aircraft order from Braniff International Airways in the United States on 20 October. Mohawk Airlines, seeking to enter the jet era, concluded an agreement for four One-Elevens on 24 July 1962. Other orders followed from Kuwait Airways for three and Central African Airways for two. Braniff subsequently doubled their order to 12, while Aer Lingus ordered four. Western Airlines ordered ten aircraft but later canceled. Bonanza Air Lines also ordered three One-Elevens in 1962. However, the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) stopped the order, an action claimed by some at the time to be protectionism. The CAB also stopped Frontier Airlines and Ozark Air Lines from ordering One-Elevens, allowing Ozark to order the similar Douglas DC-9 and Frontier to order the Boeing 727-100s. The CAB had also unsuccessfully tried to block Mohawk's orders.
In May 1963, BAC announced the One-Eleven 300 and 400. The new versions used the Mk. 511 version of the Spey with increased power, allowing more fuel upload and extended range. The difference between the 300 and 400 lay in their equipment and avionics, with the 400 intended for sale in the USA and thus equipped with US instruments. On 17 July 1963, American Airlines ordered 15 aircraft, bringing the order total to 60, plus options for 15 more. American Airlines eventually bought a total of 30 of the 400-series, making the airline the largest ever customer of One-Elevens. The BAC 1-11, a classic British-built jet airliner, has been a significant success with 235 aircraft built in the UK and 9 completed in Romania.
Some highlights and statistics about the aircraft include the following:
- The aircraft has been registered in over 50 different countries worldwide and used by over 200 operators.
- The BAC 1-11 made a mark in the American market with US operators flying more than 70 aircraft in the 1960s, using 200 different registrations in the USA over time.
- British Airways was the largest operator of the 1-11, with 44 different aircraft operated between 1974 and 1993.
- 50 1-11s were used as executive jets, appealing to many, including the Americans and Saudis. From 1965 to 2008, hundreds of corporate users registered and operated these 50 airframes, demonstrating the aircraft's adaptability to various roles.
- Almost half of the 1-11 fleet was found in Africa, with 80 airframes registered in Nigeria alone!
This website aims to identify and catalog all aircraft designs from the United Kingdom. The site includes design projects that never left the drawing board, one-off prototypes, and production types. While the data is as comprehensive as possible, the list can never be definitive. While it's possible that all types that resulted in a physical aircraft are accounted for, evidence of many unbuilt projects may have been lost over time due to accidental or deliberate material destruction.