What was the first single-engined turboprop aircraft to fly?

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TheGreenGoblin
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What was the first single-engined turboprop aircraft to fly?

#1 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Wed May 12, 2021 1:49 pm

Take a bow if if you said the Boulton Paul Balliol.
The Boulton Paul Balliol and Sea Balliol are monoplane military advanced trainer aircraft built for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) by Boulton Paul Aircraft. Developed in the late 1940s, the Balliol was designed to replace the North American Harvard trainer. It used the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The Sea Balliol was a naval version for deck landing training.

The Balliol was developed to meet Air Ministry Specification T.7/45 for a three-seat advanced trainer powered by a turboprop engine, competing against the Avro Athena. It was a conventional low-wing monoplane with a retractable main undercarriage and a fixed tailwheel. Pilot and instructor sat side by side ahead of a second student who would watch the instruction given to the pilot. In August 1948, Boulton Paul received an order for four prototypes, to be powered by the Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop, and in August 1946, this was followed by an order for 20 pre-production aircraft, with ten each to be powered by the Dart and the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba turboprop, with delays to development of the Dart meaning that the prototypes would now be fitted by the Mamba.The Mamba was not flight ready when the first prototype was completed, so it was fitted with a 820 hp (611 kW) Bristol Mercury 30 radial engine for initial testing. Thus powered, it first flew on 30 May 1947. The second prototype, powered by the intended Mamba, first flew on 17 May 1948, the world's first single-engined turboprop aircraft to fly. The Air Ministry had meanwhile had second thoughts about its training requirements, and in 1947 issued a new specification, T.14/47, requiring a two-seat trainer, powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine, available in large numbers from surplus stocks, rather than the expensive turboprop engines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulton_Paul_Balliol

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Re: What was the first single-engined turboprop aircraft to fly?

#2 Post by G-CPTN » Wed May 12, 2021 2:19 pm

TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Wed May 12, 2021 1:49 pm
powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine, available in large numbers from surplus stocks,

Imagine that today - Merlins aplenty.

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Re: What was the first single-engined turboprop aircraft to fly?

#3 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Wed May 12, 2021 2:24 pm

G-CPTN wrote:
Wed May 12, 2021 2:19 pm
TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Wed May 12, 2021 1:49 pm
powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine, available in large numbers from surplus stocks,

Imagine that today - Merlins aplenty.
Indeed! If I could time travel back to the past. I would go and buy up every fuselage, engine etc. before they were simply left to rot, destroyed or otherwise got rid off.
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Re: What was the first single-engined turboprop aircraft to fly?

#4 Post by ian16th » Wed May 12, 2021 3:13 pm

I know that the 1st turbo prop a/c was a Gloster Meteor.
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Re: What was the first single-engined turboprop aircraft to fly?

#5 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Wed May 12, 2021 3:55 pm

ian16th wrote:
Wed May 12, 2021 3:13 pm
I know that the 1st turbo prop a/c was a Gloster Meteor.
Gloster Meteor turbo prop.JPG
The Trent Meteor E 227 became the world's first flying turboprop-powered aircraft on September 20, 1945. It was a Gloster Meteor Mk1 fitted with a pair of Rolls Royce RB 50 Trent engines and a modified empennage.
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Re: What was the first single-engined turboprop aircraft to fly?

#6 Post by ian16th » Wed May 12, 2021 4:18 pm

Odd looking beast wasn't it?
Clipboard01.jpg
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Re: What was the first single-engined turboprop aircraft to fly?

#7 Post by ian16th » Wed May 12, 2021 4:25 pm

G-CPTN wrote:
Wed May 12, 2021 2:19 pm
TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Wed May 12, 2021 1:49 pm
powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine, available in large numbers from surplus stocks,

Imagine that today - Merlins aplenty.
When I passed out from Boys service, Apr 1954, and was posted to Bomber Command Bombing School RAF Lindholme, I was dead jealous of my mates who were posted to operational units with Jet a/c!

Only in later years did I come to realise that I was the lucky one!

For 2½ years, every working day, the sound of 4 Merlins per a/c was a tune that I heard.
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