Percival Prince/Pembroke
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| Pembroke C1 G-BXES flew on with Air Atlantique's historic flight in the UK in RAF colours after its service days were over |
| Percival
Aircraft's first aircraft in the line that would lead to the Prince and
Pembroke was the five-seat P48 Merganser which first flew on May 9,
1947. A highwing light transport, the Merganser featured two 296hp Gipsy Queen 521 engines but, when production of the powerplant was not proceeded with, Percival was left without an alternative and decided to develop the larger P50 Prince. The first prototype flew with Alvis radial engines on May 13, 1948 and 24 production aircraft followed in various sub marks all featuring small changes and progressively uprated engines. The Prince 5 emerged as the President. Percival, and later Hunting, developed the Prince into the ten-seater P66 Pembroke, which first flew on November 21, 1952, and differed from the Prince in a longer wingspan and internal changes. Forty-four were built for the Royal Air Force as C1s and the type was exported to several air forces, including West Germany and Sweden. The Royal Navy bought four aircraft as the Sea Prince C1 and also acquired 42 Sea Prince T1s as flying classrooms. Three Sea Prince C2s were built as light transports. The Royal Air Force retained four Pembrokes into the 1980s and some of these remain airworthy in the UK with operators of historic aircraft. |
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