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Percival Proctor

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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.

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 The Mk IV soldiered on until the last was withdrawn in 1955.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

Template:BEL
  • Belgian Air Force operated six Percival P.31C Proctor 4s between June 1947 and July 1954.
Template:UK

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

Armament

none


See also

Related development

Comparable aircraft

Related lists

v • d • e
Lists relating to aviation
GeneralTimeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines
MilitaryAir forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft
Notable incidents
and accidents		Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths
RecordsFlight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Thetford, Owen. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57, 1st edition. London: Putnam, 1957.
  2. ↑ Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919, Volume 3. London: Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10006-9.
  3. ↑ Mondey, David. The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II. London: Chancellor Press, 1994. ISBN 1-85152-668-4.
  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

v • d • e
Lists relating to aviation
GeneralTimeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines
MilitaryAir forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft
Notable incidents
and accidents		Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths
RecordsFlight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft

cs:Percival Proctor de:Percival Proctor pl:Percival Proctor


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