130 - Ton Colossus Takes The Air (1949)

[@billsmith7254]

I was in Kingsbury Primary School on that day. All the children were herded out in the playground. I can still remember seeing it fly overhead.

[@123rocker0071987]

How old were you in 1949?

[@Elshe3em]

HIW OLD R U HOW R U STILL ALIVE

[@shanasapp6212]

I bet that was so cool.

[@Maggot-Milk]

and I remember watching the endeavor space shuttle fly over in elementary. crazy how far we've come

[@MkFlurry]

If a grownup in 1949 let's assume 20 years old in 1949. Commented in 2022. Might be 93 years old in 2022 and 95 now. But wait, my grandparents are younger in their 70s and face difficulty typing on smartphones.

[@memonk11]

This is one of those many aircraft that should have been preserved. It would be a sight to see.

[@leokimvideo]

Thank god someone did count the rivets

[@jeremyfinch2835]

Makes me wonder why they didn't count them for the Titanic? Seems a tragedy.

[@saurabhkainturaofficial633]

@@jeremyfinch2835 R

[@thecornercomplex5848]

@@jeremyfinch2835 3,000,000 million rivets in the titanic.

[@IExist496]

@@thecornercomplex58483 trillion rivets? Lol

[@abuyalatip7590]

🤣🤣

[@sandhopper99]

My father worked on the Brabazon after working on Beaufighters during the war. My grandfather was Site Agent for Laing on the new Filton Brabazon hanger. There was a combined staff trip to Clevedon. My father went and my grandfather took two of his daughters one of whom became my mum. Her sister married another Laing guy and in 1968 he arranged for me to also join Laing as the start to a 54 year career in construction. We had the famous Brabazon picture in our living room for years.

[@drew65sep]

Tip of the cap to your father...the world owes a lot to that particular generation.

[@jwaustinmunguy]

Dad had pictures of the Beau on the same album page as the Mosquitos he was training on at No. 51 OTU. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the course syllabus had some trips in the Beau as they had some of the older radar sets in them. Training was thorough in those days and he spoke of using several different sets on the course.

[@АдольфВиссарионовичПиночет]

Вы замечательный человек,если с такой теплотой поведали нам о своих предках !Спасибо!

[@bernielomaxsmustache7204]

Built a piece of crap

[@alaaino]

Thank you for the so warm story

[@kevinmalone3210]

It looks as if it's taking off in slow motion. Impressive size.

[@stephenbrookes7268]

It kind of was by today's standards.

[@RealPlatoishere]

@@stephenbrookes7268 nah but for that time it was impressive

[@stephenbrookes7268]

@@RealPlatoishere It was a typical horse designed by committee. Out of date before the ink was dry on the drawings.

[@calvinnickel9995]

@ Steven brooks it wasn’t out of date. The Constellation Starliner would make its first flight 7 years later and only be in service for one year before regular jet service started replacing it. The problem was no market. The British Empire was shrinking and no airlines had the cash or passengers to justify it. Airliners like the huge Stratocruiser lost a lot of money because of how expensive they were to purchase and operate.

[@stephenbrookes7268]

@@calvinnickel9995 You have literally described the conditions of being out of date. You couldn't even spell my name correctly when it is written down. What other examples of idiocy would you like to display?

[@Ralph2]

It has a Jules Verne look about it. It's the window placements and the streamlined shiny hull. Beautiful.

[@richardschindler8822]

Built with NOT one computer. A thing of beauty.

[@GreatDataVideos]

Lots of slide rule usage though. Amazing engineering.

[@lovegarbage]

Plenty of slide rules.

[@brandwilbll]

Lots of planes were built without a computer, they sucked. You sound like a luddite. "they don't make cars like they used to, they put all these computers in them." yeah, they're safer, faster, better gas mileage, better handling, better braking; what more do you old timers want? Go fly on a plane back in those days and you were taking your life in your hands. Now it is the safest form of travel. Thank god we put computers in these things to help us fly them.

[@sightseer1027]

what's a slide rule? ​@@lovegarbage

[@JohnJones-cp4wh]

All laid out on Loft Plates.

[@olliegueret4348]

Pathe always had unique clear crisp footage of the early twentieth century! Class!!!

[@3funke]

I saw the Brabazon overfly Liverpool around 1950 or thereabouts, my father worked at RAF Hooton Park at the time and told me to look out for it, it flew over around midday quite a sight for a young 9/10 yo lad.

[@Ashoud_Anobetah]

Now that's a cool lie

[@mwales2112]

It doesn't take off, the earth just backs away....

[@cassiocm]

For a second, I thought it was going to stall on take off. So smooth!

[@theborg5981]

Same. At or just soon after

[@nk7155]

Yeah. 160 mph is pretty slow for a plane that size.

[@startingbark0356]

@@nk7155 nah, usually larger aircraft are slower

[@nicholai1008]

@@startingbark0356 Larger aircraft don’t usually fly slower. They often have to fly faster, because they are heavier and they need to generate more lift. The reason this plane is probably able to takeoff and fly so slow is because it has little payload and is particularly light. A 767 can takeoff at 108kts when it weighs 90,000kgs, but it can only takeoff at 170kts at 190,000kgs. That’s the exact same plane and the only thing that changed was the weight.

[@startingbark0356]

@@nicholai1008 no, they bigger they have more drag

[@Fourth4Element]

Wow the engineers did a fantastic job

[@jerrybennett7856]

No computers. Just slide rules and hand drawn blue prints. All those 1.5 million rivets bucked be hand.

[@rsc9520]

@@jerrybennett7856 It's amazing!

[@kimdiez2681]

@@jerrybennett7856 That inpresses me more than this generations cell phones.

[@jerrybennett7856]

@@kimdiez2681 me too.

[@davidr9991]

I lived in Filton Avenue , Bristol at the time of the engine tests . As a 3 year old I was terrified by the noise of the engine tests . One of my earliest memories .

[@joemag6032]

Just curious, which were louder, the engines or the props ?

[@davidmicalizio824]

@@joemag6032 props

[@joemag6032]

@@davidmicalizio824 , thanks for responding.

[@dotdashdotdash]

nobody vandalising statues in Bristol in those days

[@bincamir1]

@@dotdashdotdash out of topic!

[@Saa42808]

I have a great respect for the engineers who designed these aircrafts without a computer.

[@brianletter3545]

They used sliderules - cheaper and quicker.

[@SirReginaldBlomfield1234]

Singular or Plural.. it's Aircraft ! Numpty 🥴

[@SirReginaldBlomfield1234]

Singular or Plural.. it's Aircraft ! Numpty 🥴

[@SirReginaldBlomfield1234]

Singular or Plural.. it's Aircraft ! Numpty 🥴

[@SirReginaldBlomfield1234]

Singular or Plural.. it's Aircraft ! Numpty 🥴

[@Coppermiltac]

The propellor sound is, to use a modern phrase, truly awesome and I would think unmistakable. Great film footage.

[@katoikatio4663]

Ini kerana is

[@funnyrabbitflyer6855]

Right? Counter-rotating props in this video sound distinct from anything ive heard in person.

[@dartmaster501]

Turboprops.

[@dartmaster501]

@@funnyrabbitflyer6855 CONTRA-rotating. Counter-rotating props are separated, like on the Chinook or Osprey.

[@bobsage6312]

I heard that when airborne and the sound terrified me as a very young boy. Totally unmistakable, just as Concorde was later on.

[@beeble2003]

For comparison with modern planes, the Brabazon was as long as a Boeing 767 (180ft), but had a much larger wingspan (230ft vs 150).

[@Bikewithlove]

Notice the great care taken by the pilot in demonstrating the airplane well within its limits and never losing sight of the fact that it’s not all about him. It amazes me how any flight organization can allow the kinds of out-of-control personalities to fly air shows, who ultimately cause terrible catastrophes. The way this pilot flies is how it’s done.

[@craigpennington1251]

Yes, arrogant egos cause a lot of grief.

[@margaretross9150]

"There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots."

[@nigelwilliams9307]

He could have at least done a barrel roll.

[@Beezlie727]

It wasn't an air show. It was a maiden flight. Notice the announcer was even uncertain that it was going to take off rather than simply taxi again.

[@Bikewithlove]

@@Beezlie727 - Same rule applies: don’t crash the plane.

[@johnmorris7815]

Some of the comments on here absolutely begged belief? The Brabazon had eight engines, one for each of its four contra rotating props, it was not in any way stalling as it flew, 160kts is pretty much flat out for an aircraft of that time, it’s failure was due to the fact that in 1949 jets had been flying for 6 years, this aircraft was abandoned for that reason and although it took a few more years before jet passenger aircraft flew, the Bristol company’s next attempt was the Britannia, a turbo prop aircraft that was ahead of its time for about 10 days before everything without jets were obsolete. That was the pace of progress at that time, 1949 piston engine aircraft that could nearly make London New York, 1969 Concorde M2.00 at 65,000’

[@kukmica6422]

Thanks for sharing!

[@JohnJones-cp4wh]

Flew in a Britannia in 1964.

[@slome815]

Well, people are always fast to say it was obsolete on launch, but the Lockheed super constellation only first flew one year later, and that was a succesfull aircraft that flew comercially until the 70's, and in military service until the 80's. As for turboprops, they are still not obsolete for smaller range commercial planes, just look at the Dash 8 or ATR42/72.

[@harryschaefer5887]

It reminds me of a "Constellation", a plane I was always excited to see overhead when I was a kid.

[@letoubib21]

Good, old Connie didn't even weigh the half of that Brabazon colossus ...

[@jrt818]

@@letoubib21 But it was profitable.

[@letoubib21]

@@jrt818 I like the Connie, too. She was a very good plane *. . .*

[@jfh9209]

The Constellation and the Brabazon both had a tapering fuselage, beautiful but more expensive to build.

[@alexandermiller5034]

The short feild performance is incredible for such a large bird, truly magnificent

[@davidedmundson8402]

Not hard to do with no passengers and a light fuel load.

[@noelanderson703]

Love the sound of those contra-props

[@TARUNKUMAR-mz4jy]

No NJ

[@simon_k4551]

That nose gear took a pounding.

[@chrisparkes]

You can see some of the same aesthetics in the Comet. What a lovely design.

[@Sashazur]

I think this is a more attractive design than the comet- the comet’s square vertical stabilizer didn’t match the rest of its curvy aesthetic.

[@JohnJones-cp4wh]

Comet flew 4 months before the Brabazon.

[@guskuratlejr9228]

Much respect for building her with hardly the technology that everyone is used to these days!

[@sailormanoyster1849]

Concorde soon followed on

[@kimdiez2681]

Technology has ruined this world already and will control your soul one day if you dont put your trust in Christ Jesus.

[@RuiPlaneSpotter]

Thanks for the video!

[@ghostofdre]

It was obsolete before it even flew, this was the dawn of the jet age.

[@keegan773]

The village of Charleton was demolished to extend the runway for the Brabazon. In the jet age the aircraft was already obsolete and never came into service.

[@slome815]

Well, the lockheed super constellation would fly the next year, and that was a very succesfull airlines.

[@spider23000]

The DC-7, Super Constellation, and Bristol Britannia all had their first flights years after the Brabazon had hers, but were relatively successful. There was a lot more that played into it (e.g. the fact that the Brabazon was horribly poor on fuel economy compared to its rivals)

[@thankgodlee6070]

Watching from Nigeria 2024 and still watching

[@Руслан-ю4ш7ч]

Из Британской колонии?

[@TheAzzubaidi]

😂😂​@@Руслан-ю4ш7ч

[@BENZENE6K]

​@@Руслан-ю4ш7ч cave man?

[@steven2212]

Stunning and amazing aircraft. Great history here.

[@lisakingscott7729]

I love the shape of airliners from that era, very similar to the Constellation. Note how Bristol engineers used round windows, but De Havilland screwed up the otherwise much more advanced Comet by using square ones!!! The Comet's first flight was 2 months before the brabazon, but once the windows were fixed, lasted many decades.

[@madmeh2929]

Saw a doc on this about 20 years ago. The plane landed so softly the pilots actually had a light on the panel that told them when the wheels touched down. I believe it flew for a few years. Since it was so comparably slow (and took so long to cross the ocean) the interior still followed the concept of a “cruise ship of the skies”, and couldn’t economically compete with faster competing aircraft. Too bad it wasn’t preserved in a museum, as was the Spruce Goose. Sadly out of date before or just after it took off.

[@nigelwilliams9307]

What symptoms?

[@billhosko7723]

JFC... another passive/aggressive KAREN...

[@beeble2003]

"The plane landed so softly the pilots actually had a light on the panel that told them when the wheels touched down." That doesn't make sense. Any plane lands as hard or as softly as the pilot puts it onto the ground. Many planes have a weight-on-wheels sensor which, for example, prevents deployment of reverse thrust while in flight. Probably the maker of the documentary misunderstood this.

[@straightpipediesel]

@@beeble2003 No, wing aspect ratio and wing loading are major factors in how smoothly an aircraft lands. Basically when an aircraft has a lot of excess lift available, lift tends to bleed off slower, and the pilot has better trajectory control of the aircraft during the landing maneuver and therefore can land softly.

[@tryarunm]

I was wondering just that, how practical she would have been for regular commercial air travel. But as a luxury liner she must have been super comfortable. I wonder many for built, which airlines flew her and for how long.

[@missiontent111]

My grandmother was in the Red cross at the time the Brabazon was due to appear at a local air show. She and a considerable number of other medical personal were held on standby at a nearby location in readiness for what was considered a possible disaster situation in the event of the aircraft failing in flight. I believe we have her notes on the deployment in her Red Cross log book.

[@manoelwanderleyguimaraes9747]

Wheres is your grandmother in the moment dear ??

[@missiontent111]

@@manoelwanderleyguimaraes9747 Sorry to report that she is no longer with us......but I clearly remember her talking about the Brabazon.

[@manoelwanderleyguimaraes9747]

@@missiontent111 Okay mate.

[@SMGJohn]

@@manoelwanderleyguimaraes9747 You sound offended LOL

[@themechbuilder6171]

@@SMGJohn i can't hear him

[@richardwest6358]

Living in Bath at the time I was lucky enought to see this big beast on many occasions

[@bertkilborne6464]

It makes me sad that so many of these great planes became obsolete just as they test flew the prototype.

[@austindarrenor]

The British had at one time ruled the seas but suffered so many setbacks in aviation. Like this Barbazon, only one was built because nobody wanted it. The Comet, Concorde, VC-10 and Trident were commercial failures because of the competition from Boeing and Douglas (besides the Concorde, Boeing was smart and bailed from its SST pgm). Not a single country in Western Europe aside from the UK bought the British made jets but instead went with the American.

[@peterpiper482]

The Spruce Goose also!

[@scottdowney4318]

@@austindarrenor You know there must have been good reasons for that. fuel use, size, costs, the same things that people make decisions about today, perhaps politics, government and private.

[@scottdowney4318]

@@peterpiper482 Imagine the spikiness of that guy, likely a big turn off.

[@austindarrenor]

@@scottdowney4318 True enough. And the 707 was just an incredibly well made airplane put thru every test under the sun. Also I believe that the demands put on Vickers and Hawker Siddely by BOAC and BEA made their jets unattractive to foreign airlines. And the fast American built Convair Coronado suffered its terrible demise for its fuel consumption just to get there ten minutes earlier.

[@niharranjan2196]

Inventions at its best. Engineers did great at that time. All need to appreciate that.

[@johne7100]

I saw it flying over the Craigantlet hills near Belfast. I would have been 4 at the time. From our house across the valley from Stormont it was just a line in the sky as it turned towards us, but I could see the nacelles on its wings. That's all the memory I have, just that dark line with the lumps on it, but anything I see or read of it is still thrilling. Long ago now.

[@haroldhumerickhouse8731]

I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this aircraft, and I thought I knew them all. What a Goliath and the sounds of the engines! Amazing.

[@USS-SNAKE-ISLAND]

Same here.

[@georgebarnes8163]

there was no mention of the aircrafts unusual engine setup, 8 engines for 4 props, another forgotten giant is the Short Belfast turboprop of which only 10 were made for the RAF.

[@peteryoungs4201]

I have to wonder how many aircraft we may never hear of.

[@S500-]

Its A Psycholigical fact , if a Person Think He Know All Infact They Know Nothing , Im Criticise Anyone , i Read This.

[@Fastvoice]

@@georgebarnes8163 No, it had 8 props. 4 clockwise, 4 counter-clockwise - each with its own engine. You can see them at the beginning of the video.

[@HomeAtLast501]

Beautiful bird, beautiful take-off, beautiful landing.

[@Jordanj72608]

And one beautiful sound!

[@Gervie007]

Squadron Leader Jim Murray RNZAF flew the Brabazon once on Aug 25 1951 with W Gibb, R Ellison amd J Howman. Filton -Belfast return 4.50hrs. Jim was at Filton test flying the new Bristol Freighters for the RNZAF and had the amazing opportunity to fly the largest aircraft in the world. Jim was a 43 op Bomber Command veteran taking part in the Tirpitz raids in Norway in 1942, the 1000 bomber raids and many ops to Tobruk and Al Alamein flying Halifaxes for 10 Sqn.

[@mariovuksanovic5077]

It was empty yet it lumbered into the sky, could it have been underpowered?

[@yerfillinois8254]

To have such technology in 1949, was genius.

[@jensahlers]

Stimmt.

[@sirmalus5153]

A bit old fashioned though by that time and a dead end.

[@johnmunro4952]

She was obsolete before she even flew. Technology was moving at an incredible pace in those days.

[@billhosko7723]

@@sirmalus5153 Thanks KAREN...

[@billhosko7723]

@@johnmunro4952 Thanks KAREN...

[@overbank56]

A "sleek beast"! Love the sound of those engines

[@spaceenemiesnovel]

Great footage. Nice view of the past.

[@Avi727]

The tail section reminds me of the fictional doomed “Reindeer” airliner in the Jimmy Stewart classic film “No Highway In The Sky.”

[@jwaustinmunguy]

Sound is reminiscent of the B-36 which had six contrarotating props.

[@tomsamuelson8512]

B-36 had NO contra rotating props....

[@jonathanjohnson1339]

B-36 had six conventional props and it was functionally obsolete when it entered service -- so underpowered that they had to add jet pods to get its bulk off the ground. You may be thinking of the fact that the props were mounted behind the wings (pushing), instead of in front of the wing. One result of this was that the engines tended to overheat easily. OTOH, the Soviets sure did like complex contra-rotating props on their big bombers (also on their helos).

[@suprianto6897]

First amazing airplane🤩

[@capunkmelky]

Teknologi yang canggih pada masa itu. Suara teriakan anak-anak penuh kegembiraan ketika menyaksikan atraksi pesawat terbang.

[@wildanaffitrah8894]

Suara mesinnya itu loh yg bikin merinding

[@SMGJohn]

This plane had maximum take off weight of 131 tons, whereas Boeing 747 had 300 tons when she made her maiden flight in 1969. Bristol Brabazon was very much a plane of the early 40s, and came too late to do anything, the age of jet was coming, to put things into perspective, Soviet Tupolev Tu-95 from 1952 had almost 200 ton capable take off weight, and was a turbo prop design as well, Bristol Brabazon never stood a chance.

[@JS-fe8sx]

The B36 went into service a year before this video had a loaded weight of over 200 tons, but was superseded by the B52. Lightly loaded, it could fly high enough that MiGs could not reach them during the Korean War.

[@NicolaW72]

Indeed.

[@encinobalboa]

Brabazon was obsolete before she was built. Lockheed Constellation was already in airline service for fours years. Surely, the committee could see this??

[@laverdajota8089]

School kids sitting on a roof enjoying the event, can you imagine the headlines today . Near tragedy , as children put the lives at risk at air display , parents arrested for neglect.

[@butwhatwouldiknow]

Especially since it looks like there are no tiles or iron on the roof - just the timbers.

[@giancarlopellizzari1751]

Magnificent! Thanks for the video. 😊

[@carsten9168]

The Brabazon was using a 4-engine, 3-blade 'contra-rotating propeller' which though noisy, enhanced air intake, produced more power but with fuel efficiency. The US and British aircraft engineers never mastered the problems with the rotary shaft systems. The Russians however overcame that with 4-blades and produced the legendary Tupolev TU-95 'Bear', a huge, long range, swept-back wings, turboprop strategic bomber aircraft in 1952. It is still being used (after many upgrades) by the Russian Air Force even after 70 years !

[@gingernutpreacher]

Eight engine's look it up if you don't believe me

[@rayjames6096]

The US never tried to produce a counter rotating prop engine for airline use so there was no reason to master the engine.

[@cnfuzz]

The Russians had captured German engineers for the contraprop engines dev ,without them the tu95 would not have flown

[@johneyton5452]

The tu95 geared hunbs are so noisy they can be detected by submarines.

[@frankd7905]

Clearly there were 8 engines as could be seen by the start up of a set of engines and the 8 air intakes per wing. Don't really have to look things up just have to observe. Sad that the aircraft was not saved. Lots of man hours painstakingly spent in producing it. Sad when it was destroyed. Much the same as the Avro Arrow in Canada. Easier to tear something apart than to put it together.

[@brucestafford1813]

This was a beautiful piece of art.

[@robertmatch6550]

Interesting looking plane I knew nothing about. Thank you.

[@garryferrington811]

What a nice job reprinting this ancient 35mm film. Generally with a piece of footage this old, you get a one-light 16mm print with glaring bromide streaks, never mind dirt, splices, and scratches. Even the sound, albeit of course limited, is clear.

[@narabdela]

Nonsense.

[@fattymcfatso1083]

@@narabdela yeah - ancient? - c'mon man

[@skychief7716]

Today is the first time I’ve ever heard of the Brabazon. The only thing I know about it is what I listened to in this video. Nevertheless I have three comments about the Barbazon: 1. It should have been built with jet engines and not reciprocating engines. 2. I’m guessing here, but with its power to weight ratio I’ll bet it was extremely under powered. 3. It was a very sleek and beautiful aircraft. For that the designers should take a big bow.

[@saveyourbacon6164]

To be successful, the Brabazon needed to be able to pack in passengers, not like the cattle class of today, but sufficient to achieve satisfactory costs per seat mile, and to have the range to enable it to operate on long-distance sectors, and performance to enable it to achieve satisfactory turnarounds. It is doubtful if the jet engines of the time could have helped, as they had a voracious appetite for fuel.

[@NicolaW72]

Yes, it was totally underpowered and that was a major reason for its failure. So the Lockheed Super Constellation became the "Queen of the Skies" of the 1950ies.

[@olsmokey]

@@NicolaW72 Then the Comet came along to be "Queen of the Skies" until it kept falling out of those very same skies. Oh well...

[@NicolaW72]

@@olsmokey The Comet was therefore never the "Queen of the Skies".

[@KartikKumar-gv1ss]

My grandson is flying this. Proud of him.

[@afterburner2869]

That fuselage is very reminiscent of the Lockheed Constellation’s fuselage.

[@lesgriffiths8523]

An extraordinary achievement for Britain's aviation industry just 4 years after WW2......simply astonishing. Les Griffiths

[@drew65sep]

I'd forgotten about this one...badass aircraft. Although this audio sounds like a V-1 "Buzz Bomb."

[@wesinman2312]

Great video, what a huge plane!

[@Whiterose-eb1no]

Watching this video wow what a feeling 🥰

[@gixiscrazy9527]

This random video made my Day ❤

[@scottowens1535]

A excellent job of handling something that was in full stall. As stated it should have been doing 250 , at 160 it's amazing how in the video you can see him correcting with the stall condition he could feel... Applause!!

[@scottl.1568]

How does it fly when it looks like it's going 20 miles an hour??

[@davidsheppard1362]

It was a time when we were proud to be British. Of course I still am.

[@grandaddyoe1434]

In the days when most people in Britian were born there . . .

[@gerardleahy6946]

It was outdated even in its maiden flight but was utterly beautiful. It is a shame that it was scrapped.

[@jaymac7203]

What a sight that must have been 😳

[@FOBob-sr1fd]

From a Yank: Britain had so many ground breaking aircraft it's crazy. The Trident, VC-10, Viscount, and the often overlooked Britannia. From my research it looks like the government's meddling in aircraft development to fit the unique needs of BOAC constrained what would have otherwise been worldwide adoption of these great aircraft, giving Boeing the opening it needed.

[@omnacky]

And then they made the SR-71 15 years later

[@cremebrulee4759]

Based on some of the window locations, it looks like it has an upper deck like the 747.

[@giselo66]

Fantastic airplane!

[@tomsharpe2251]

Aeroplane*

[@Erkele]

@@tomsharpe2251 Lentokone

[@davidsimpson9647]

Dreadful piece of garbage!! Underperforming,underpowered,sloppy construction

[@tomsharpe2251]

@@Erkele karl pilkington

[@mattpaulson1044]

Only made a few flights before structural cracks manifested in wings. Hardy a great plane

[@johnnyfreedom3437]

That's absolutely amazing that that Behemoth got off the ground in a little over 1500 ft! Runways today are over a mile long, This Plane would have had no problem! A little before my time though. That's a great pilot in that plane. Getting up is one thing getting safely down is another!!

[@vishwassurve589]

Bravo for Efforts of scientists and technology revolution.

[@sailingstpommedeterre4905]

Wow, never knew about wonderful aircraft

[@alanchantiefighterskuanlia627]

Truly awesome plane which is way ahead of its time. A flying luxury cruise ship. .

[@borusa32]

I think it was more likely significantly out of date by the time it took to the air. If it was intended to steal passengers from cruise ships that bird had already flown and flown again by 1949.

[@xkgbciax5286]

well it was when it was thought of but b4 it was a prototype it was all ready too old and anyone can see it was way underpowered just from the rollout and take off and on top of that as it was test flight so im guessing the fuel would have very lite load and only a few on board no bags

[@mariannwatt2678]

Slide rule and brains what a fine aircraft should have been a game changer ! Great UK avation history cheers ! Retired us a&p mechanic.

[@fattymcfatso1083]

'ave a pint, boys - great job

[@steventurner8428]

A British spruce goose, one only but this thing actually flew

[@Sashazur]

The spruce goose flew too, but only once!

[@Glen.Danielsen]

Why have I never heard of this magisterial plane? 🇺🇸💛🇬🇧

[@fattymcfatso1083]

Because it never flew commercially

[@BakedTuber]

I used to go to patchway school for a few years. Is it me or does Filton airfield look alot greener than I remember given that I know it's 1949 and not 1989!

[@robertmilne4304]

It's amazing it was able to actually take off.

[@Jnthnpg]

Wingspan of Waterloo Bridge? Holy cow.

[@kostephan9442]

Either Waterloo bridge is smaller than I thought or that’s got to be a slight exaggeration…I mean that’s huge 😢

[@brianlam1663]

My Gawd!! Wort will these megnificent men end their flying machines do next!?

[@tonyhancock3912]

Marvellous

[@danizweifler6061]

this guy knew how to land an plane.. ! // climb out did scare me quite a bit // don't even think about a take-off in hhh-conditions !!

[@Eructation1]

Looked under powered. ROC after take off low, nose pitched down soon after take off to gain airspeed it seems. Remember, this was an unloaded aircraft.

[@DoubleMonoLR]

Remember, it was it's first test flight.

[@tedf1471]

The village of Charlton was demolished and the main runway extended for this white elephant, it took 1.4Km to lift off (village could have been left alone.) At least the production facilities were switched to the Bristol Britannia.

[@ichabodon]

What a sight that must have been. To actually be there and see it.

[@mohitvazirani4204]

looked like it was going to stall, what a beauty

[@sudarshanrajbhandari391]

How proud they all might have been then

[@mistofoles]

@0:22 - What's he supposed to be doing ? Inflating the tyres ?

[@bruceburns1672]

Very sad , Britian had the manufacturing ability , it just needed the correct design , it turned out to be the Boeing 707 , but funnily enough the prop driven Lockheed Constellation was a sales success till 1958 .

[@bojanglesthewizard8875]

I believe because the range was still very good

[@alecfoster5542]

The Constellation was a superior plane in every aspect: capacity, speed, and performance. As elegant as the Brabazon was, it was a white elephant doomed from the start.

[@eddiewillers1]

Well, it sort-of had the correct design with the de- Havilland DH-106 'Comet' - which also flew in 1949.

[@flybobbie1449]

@@alecfoster5542 Constellation is half the size of the Brazen, half it's length to start.

[@philipketchell8369]

The Bristol Britannia did OK.

[@edwardfletcher7790]

Damn that thing is LOUD ! Contra-rotating props make a lot of noise !

[@olcotttheosophy]

Thanks scientists and engineers. World changed by Engineers and scientists..

[@abundantYOUniverse]

And dont forget the air.

[@vishwassurve589]

Yess its Aviation technology revolution at that time.

[@wrsmith711]

never heard of this before....

[@mixe1]

My father was born in that year. God those planes were slow :D

[@MoparMissileDivision]

Did anyone else notice the starboard elevator tip flutter at 1:38 ? Or was it just the extremely poor quality of the 75+ year old film?

[@greattobeadub]

And British aviation lived happily ever after and dominated commercial aircraft building.

[@bax545]

wonderfully menacing haunting sound the prop engines make - beautiful!

[@admiralbenbow5083]

The dawn of the jet age, British style.

[@NicolaW72]

This aircraft (G-AGWP) was the only Brabazon ever built - it was a sensation at its time but unfortunately economically totally unsuccesful. Instead of the Brabazon the Lockheed Super Constellation became the "Queen of the Skies" in the 1950ies. The Bristol Britannia as successor of the Brabazon became years later a little bit more succesful with 85 sold copies.

[@cremebrulee4759]

Did any airline ever buy this model?