Tripartite Airliner

:eek: Sounds interesting! Whether this was just a vague project or it actually led to more detailed studies, I'd be curious to see anything about this!
 
Would this have been related to the Canadair CL-40 or CL-50 projects ? as well the Britannia 600/Type 187.

Bristol/Convair/Canadair Joint Project

With Bristol thinking they could not handle a project the size of the 187, discussions were also held with general Dynamics (Convair) and Canadair during 1955/56 over the development of the 187. The new study was to be powered by four Bristol BE25 series 2 engines and would accommodate up to 150 passengers at six abreast on two decks, within a fuselage diameter of 13ft 8in. The mid-wing monoplane would have a range of 5,300 statue miles (4,600 nautical miles) and would operate the Transatlantic non-stop with a 25,000lb payload. The proposed all-up weight was put at 205,000lb.

It was envisaged that the maiden flight would take place in January 1960, with entry into service by April 1962. BOAC were interested in the proposals early on, as they featured a double-bubble fuselage. However, the government was not so ken, especially as it appeared that Bristol and the UK would have ended up giving a lot of technical knowledge to their American rivals. Design and production would have been split with Convair at san Diego having design responsibility, including production drawing, wing design and system and fuselage detail. Bristol would have been responsible for fuselage layout, stressing and general structure, manufacturing the fuselage and tail while there would have been two final assembly lines, one at Filton and the other at san Diego. The Bristol BE25 would also have been built under licence in America.

Info from here: http://www.alternatehistory.com/Discussion/showthread.php?t=126337

Regards Bailey
 
The source is "AlternateHistory.org". So to me this is most probably a what-if... unless someone proves me wrong of course!
 
The source is "AlternateHistory.org". So to me this is most probably a what-if... unless someone proves me wrong of course!
Click to expand...

Because of the source, I was sceptical as well, but I could be persuaded. :-\

Couple more bits of info from Flight.

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201634.html?search=britannia%20600%20type%20187

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1956/1956%20-%200925.html?search=britannia%20600%20type%20187

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1956/1956%20-%200179.html?search=britannia%20600%20type%20187

The description of the CL-50, is a "Double-Bubble" with BE.25's as well !
 
Bailey said:
Would this have been related to the Canadair CL-40 or CL-50 projects ? as well the Britannia 600/Type 187.

Bristol/Convair/Canadair Joint Project

With Bristol thinking they could not handle a project the size of the 187, discussions were also held with general Dynamics (Convair) and Canadair during 1955/56 over the development of the 187. The new study was to be powered by four Bristol BE25 series 2 engines and would accommodate up to 150 passengers at six abreast on two decks, within a fuselage diameter of 13ft 8in. The mid-wing monoplane would have a range of 5,300 statue miles (4,600 nautical miles) and would operate the Transatlantic non-stop with a 25,000lb payload. The proposed all-up weight was put at 205,000lb.

It was envisaged that the maiden flight would take place in January 1960, with entry into service by April 1962. BOAC were interested in the proposals early on, as they featured a double-bubble fuselage. However, the government was not so ken, especially as it appeared that Bristol and the UK would have ended up giving a lot of technical knowledge to their American rivals. Design and production would have been split with Convair at san Diego having design responsibility, including production drawing, wing design and system and fuselage detail. Bristol would have been responsible for fuselage layout, stressing and general structure, manufacturing the fuselage and tail while there would have been two final assembly lines, one at Filton and the other at san Diego. The Bristol BE25 would also have been built under licence in America.

Info from here: http://www.alternatehistory.com/Discussion/showthread.php?t=126337

Regards Bailey
Click to expand...

That would appear to be a word for word quote from page 45 of "Stuck on the drawing board: Unbuilt British commercial aircraft since 1945" by Richard Payne, published by Tempus Publishing Limited.

cheers

Duncan
 
Another bit of information:-

"Britannia Srs 600
AIso known as the Bristol 187, the srs 600
was the subject of a joint design study with
Convair of San Diego for a 'double-decker'
Britannia with thinner and more slender
wings, and Orion engines. Up to 200
passengers were to be carried."

From Bristol Britannia - Charles Woodley - Crowood Aviation Series - 2002

Regards Bailey.
 
BTW, actually it'd be a "bipartite" airliner, since GD owned Canadair....
 
Theer was no GD in 1956, was there? Convair and Canadair were not yet incorporated into a new entity at that time. I'd say it happened somewhere circa 1961 or about.
 

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