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Percival Proctor
Percival Proctor | |
---|---|
RAF Percival Proctor I | |
Type | Radio trainer/Communications aircraft |
Manufacturer | Percival Aircraft Limited |
Designed by | Edgar Percival |
Maiden flight | 8 October 1939 |
Retired | 1955 |
Primary users | RAF Fleet Air Arm |
Number built | 1,143 |
Developed from | Percival Vega Gull |
The Percival Proctor was a British radio trainer and communications aircraft of the Second World War. The Proctor was a single-engine, low-wing monoplane with seating for three or four, depending on the model.
Contents
Design and development
The Proctor was developed from the Percival Vega Gull in response to Air Ministry Specification 20/38 for a radio trainer and communications aircraft. The prototype first flew on 8 October 1939[1] and the type was put into production for the RAF and RN. While the prototype was tested as an emergency bomber during 1940, plans for use of the Proctor as a bomber were abandoned as the invasion threat receded.
Operational history
The Proctor was initially employed as a three-seat communications aircraft (Proctor I). This was followed by the Proctor II and Proctor III three-seat radio trainers.
In 1941, the Air Ministry issued Specification T.9/41 for a four-seat radio trainer. The P.31 - originally known as the "Preceptor" but finally redesignated the Proctor IV - was developed for this requirement with an enlarged fuselage. One Proctor IV was fitted with a 250-hp (157-kW) Gipsy Queen engine. This was used as a personal transport by AVM Sir Ralph Sorley but production models retained the 210-hp (157-kW) motor of earlier marks.
At the end of the war, many Proctors of the early marks were sold onto the civil market. The Mk IV soldiered on until the last was withdrawn in 1955. In 1945, a civil model derived from the Proctor IV was put into production as the Proctor 5. The RAF purchased four of these for use by air attachés.
The final model of the line was the solitary Proctor 6 floatplane sold to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1946.
Variants
- P.28 Proctor I
- Three-seat communications aircraft, 247 built.
- P.30 Proctor II
- Three-seat radio trainer, 175 built.
- P.34 Proctor III
- Three-seat radio trainer, 437 built.
- P.31 Proctor IV
- Four-seat radio trainer with enlarged fuselage, 258 built.
- Proctor 5
- Four-seat civil light aircraft, 150 built. RAF designation was Proctor C.Mk 5
- Proctor 6
- Floatplane version, 1 built.
Operators
- Belgian Air Force operated six Percival P.31C Proctor 4s between June 1947 and July 1954.
Survivors
Two Percival Proctor IIIs (Z7197, RAF Museum, Hendon on display and LZ766 at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, in restoration) and one Proctor IV (NP294 at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby, also in restoration) are surviving airframes.
In 1968, three Proctors - Mk I, G-AIEY; Mk III, G-ALOK and Mk 5, G-AIAE - were remodelled with cranked wings and other cosmetic alterations to represent Junkers Ju 87s in the MGM film Battle of Britain.[2]
Specifications (Proctor I-III)
Data from The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II[3]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2/1
- Capacity: 1/2
- Length: 28 ft 2 in (8.59 m)
- Wingspan: 39 ft 6 in (12.04 m)
- Height: 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m)
- Wing area: 202 ft² (18.77 m²)
- Empty weight: 2,375 lb (1,075 kg)
- Loaded weight: lb (kg)
- Useful load: lb (kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 1,588 lb (3,500 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× de Havilland Gipsy Queen II 2-blade, 210-hp (157-kW)
Performance
- Never exceed speed: knots (mph, km/h)
- Maximum speed: 139 knots (160 mph, 257 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 122 knots (140 mph, 225 km/h)
- Stall speed: 42 knots (48 mph, 77 km/h [4]) (flaps down)
- Range: 435 nm (500 mi, 805 km)
- Service ceiling: 14,000 ft (4,265 m)
- Rate of climb: 700 ft/min (3.6 m/s)
- Wing loading: lb/ft² (kg/m²)
- Power/mass: hp/lb (W/kg)
Armament
none
See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
Lists relating to aviation | |
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General | Timeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines |
Military | Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft |
Notable incidents and accidents | Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths |
Records | Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft |
References
Notes
- ↑ Thetford, Owen. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57, 1st edition. London: Putnam, 1957.
- ↑ Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919, Volume 3. London: Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10006-9.
- ↑ Mondey, David. The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II. London: Chancellor Press, 1994. ISBN 1-85152-668-4.
- ↑ Air Transport Auxiliary Ferry Pilots Notes (reproduction). Elvington, York, UK: Yorkshire Air Museum, 1996. ISBN 0-9512379-8-5.
Bibliography
- Ellison, Norman H. Percivals Aircraft (The Archive Photographs Series). Chalford, Stroud, UK: Chalford Publishing Company, 1997. ISBN 0-7524-0774-0.
- Percival, Robert. "A Portrait of Percival." Aeroplane Monthly, Vol. 12, No. 9, September 1984.
- Silvester, John. "Percival Aircraft 1933-1954 (Parts 1-4)." Aeroplane Monthly, Vol. 11, No. 1-4, January-April 1983.
External links
Template:Hunting Percival aircraft
Lists relating to aviation | |
---|---|
General | Timeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines |
Military | Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft |
Notable incidents and accidents | Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths |
Records | Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft |
cs:Percival Proctor de:Percival Proctor pl:Percival Proctor
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Percival Proctor". |