The Percival Prince is a British light transport of the early postwar period. It was a twin-engine, high-wing, cantilever monoplane of all-metal stressed-skin construction; the
undercarriage was of
retractable,
tricycle type.
Development
The design of the Prince continued from the solitary
Merganser. Further development of the type led to the Survey Prince survey aircraft and the Sea Prince. An improved version of the Prince 3 with an increased wingspan and engine and undercarriage modifications was developed for the
Royal Air Force as the
Percival Pembroke.
Operational history
The Prince was produced in six versions for the civil market. Several examples were operated as executive aircraft including
Standard Motors and
Shell Oil. Three aircraft were used by the UK
Ministry of Civil Aviation as airport facilities checking aircraft.
The Sea Prince operated in two roles: in T.Mk.1 form it served as a navigation and anti-submarine trainer; the C.Mks. 1 and 2 were flown in the transport role. However, these were land planes and not
COD (carrier on board delivery) aircraft.
Sea Princes operated in both roles from 1954 to 1972 and as a navigation trainer until 1978, when it was replaced by the
Handley Page Jetstream
P.54 Survey Prince – Prince 2 with lengthened transparent nose and camera hatches, six built.
P.50 Sea Prince C1 – Prince 2 for
Royal Navy use, three built.[2]
P.57 Sea Prince T1 – Prince 3 with long nose housing radar, twin wheeled main undercarriage and lengthened engine nacelles for navigation and anti-submarine training, 41 built.
P.57 Sea Prince C2 – Transport version of Sea Prince T1, four built.
Royal Australian Air Force – Three Princes were in service with the RAAF from 1952 to 1957. The aircraft were used for communications and support duties at the Weapons Research Establishment,
Woomera, South Australia.