Bristol Brabazon: The Ocean Liner of the Skies and Its Ongoing Legacy - (Porter Alan J.)(Pevná vazba)

Open any book on strange or abandoned aircraft projects, and you will probably find the Bristol Brabazon featured. Over the years, this huge piston-engine powered, propeller-driven airliner, designed for the vital trans-Atlantic routes, has been referred to as the ‘white elephant of the skies’, or even ‘one of the world’s worst aircraft’. But, as the author reveals, such sentiments may well be undeserved. With a wingspan and size larger than the jumbo jets we are familiar with today, the Brabazon was designed to fly just sixty or so passengers in supreme luxury from London to New York. During their flight, these lucky individuals could while away the hours at the cocktail bar, enjoy the onboard movie theatre, or have a rest in the fully furnished sleeping compartments. Born during the Second World War, the Brabazon first flew in 1949. Maybe, the author asks, it was just ahead of its time. The twin-deck design, for example, is mirrored today in the Airbus A380 airliner, and several of the world’s airlines have begun to express interest in using large aircraft configured to provide comfort and style for a limited number of passengers who would pay for such as experience. This book is more than just a technical review. Using a combination of existing documentation, archive material and original research, the author sets out to place the whole story of the Brabazon firmly in its cultural social and political context. How and why was
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