Percival Pembroke

The Percival Pembroke is a British high-wing twin-engined light transport aircraft built by the Percival Aircraft Company, later Hunting Percival.

P.66 Pembroke
Privately owned Hunting Percival P.66 Pembroke C.1 takes off in 2008
Role	Light transport
Manufacturer	Percival Aircraft Company
First flight	21 November 1952
Introduction	1953
Retired	1988
Primary user	Royal Air Force
Produced	1953–1958
Number built	128
Developed from	Percival Prince

Development

The Pembroke was a development of the Percival Prince civil transport. It had a longer wing to permit a higher fully laden weight. The prototype flew on 21 November 1952. Production was complete in early 1958.

Operational history

 

Percival Pembroke C.1 of Bomber Command Communications Squadron at Blackbushe Airport Hampshire in September 1956.

It entered service with the Royal Air Force as the Percival Pembroke C.1 in 1953 to replace the Avro Anson for light transport duties. As with other RAF transports, the passenger seats are rearward-facing for improved safety.

Six were produced as the Pembroke C(PR).1 photographic reconnaissance aircraft. These saw use by No. 81 Squadron RAF during the Malayan Emergency. The RAF's Pembrokes were modified to extend their lifespan in 1970. The last unit to use them was No. 60 Squadron RAF based at RAF Wildenrath in Germany, these were withdrawn from use in 1988 and were replaced by the Hawker Siddeley Andover.

The Finnish Air Force operated two aircraft for aerial photography between 1956 and 1968, on behalf of the National Land Survey of Finland. One of the aircraft was destroyed when it hit a snow wall during landing in 1965. The other aircraft is currently stored at the Aviation Museum of Central Finland.^[1]

Variants

P.66 Pembroke C.1

Communications and transport variant for the RAF, 44 built.

P.66 Pembroke C(PR).1

Photographic reconnaissance variant for the RAF, six built and two conversions from C.1.

P.66 Pembroke C.51

Export variant for Belgium.

P.66 Pembroke C.52

Export variant for Sweden. Swedish military designation Tp 83.

P.66 Pembroke C.53

Export variant for Finland.

P.66 Pembroke C.54

Export variant for West Germany.

P.66 Pembroke C.55

Export variant for Sudan.

P.66 President

Civil transport version, five built.

Operators

 

Luftwaffe Pembroke C.54 preserved at the Junior Museum, Hermeskeil, Germany, in June 2007

  Belgium

• Belgian Air Force operated 12 C.51s from 1954 to 1976.

  Denmark

• Royal Danish Air Force

  Finland

• Finnish Air Force

  Germany

• Luftwaffe
• German Army
• German Navy

  Malawi

• Military of Malawi

  Rhodesia

• South Rhodesian Air Force operated two C.1 aircraft diverted from Royal Air Force contract.

  Sweden

• Swedish Air Force

  Sudan

• Sudanese Air Force

  United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force operated 56 aircraft delivered from 1953.
  • No. 21 Squadron RAF
  • No. 32 Squadron RAF
  • No. 60 Squadron RAF
  • No. 70 Squadron RAF
  • No. 78 Squadron RAF
  • No. 81 Squadron RAF
  • No. 84 Squadron RAF
  • No. 152 Squadron RAF
  • No. 207 Squadron RAF
  • No. 209 Squadron RAF
  • No. 267 Squadron RAF
• Empire Test Pilots' School

  Zambia

• Zambian Air Force

Surviving aircraft

 

Preserved Pembroke C.1 WV740 giving a flying display

Belgium

• RM-4 – On static display at the Brussels Aviation Museum in Brussels.^[2]
• RM-7 – On static display with the Dakota Documentation Centre at Melsbroek Air Base in Steenokkerzeel, Flemish Brabant.^[3][4]

Germany

• 54+02 – C.54 on static display at the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim, Baden-Württemberg. It is painted as D-CAKE.^[5]
• 54+07 – C.54 on static display at the Militärhistorisches Museum Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow in Gatow, Berlin.^[6]
• 54+08 – C.54 on static display at the Aeronauticum in Nordholz, Lower Saxony.^[7]
• 54+21 – C.54 on static display at the Flugausstellung Hermeskeil in Hermeskeil, Rhineland-Palatinate.^[8]
• 54+24 – C.54 on static display at the Flugausstellung Hermeskeil in Hermeskeil, Rhineland-Palatinate.^[8]

Sweden

• 83007 – Tp 83 on static display at the Svedino Automobile and Aviation Museum in Ugglarp, Halland.^[9][10]
• 83008 – Tp 83 airworthy at the Västerås Flygmuseum in Västerås, Västmanland. It is registered as SE-BKH and previously served with the Royal Air Force as XK884.^[11][10]

United Kingdom

• WV740 – C.1 Not airworthy with Mark Anthony Stott in Exeter, Devon. It is registered as G-BNPH.^[12]
• WV746 – C.1 on static display at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford in Cosford, Shropshire. It was formerly the personal aircraft of the Commander in Chief of the Air Support Command in the 1970s and was modified around that time to carry a wheelchair ramp. It later served with 60 Squadron in Germany in the 1980s.^[13][14]
• XL954 – C.1 airworthy with Air Atlantique in Coventry, West Midlands. It is registered as G-BXES.^[15] It was previously owned by the Classic Air Force.^{[citation needed]}

United States

 

Pembroke on display in Neelyville, Missouri, US

• XF796 – C.1 airworthy with Giuseppe Baldassarri in Carrollton, Georgia.^[16][17]
• RM-1 – Currently on Static display in Oshkosh Wisconsin. It previously served with the Belgian Air Force.^[18][19]
• RM-9-C.51 stored outside at Anoka-Blaine airport Slated to be dismantled and moved to Nashville Michigan / Round Engine Aero.
• C/N P66/0017

RM-2/OT-ZAB (BAF82), N51948 (Air America), N66PK, Puyallup/Thun Field, (WA USA), preserved near Taylor's Stateside Liquor Store, Neelyville, Missouri (MO, USA) Unmarked on display at Stateline Liquor Store in Neelyville, Missouri. It displays nose art of a Tequila bottle and the name "Tequila Sunrise".

Specifications (Pembroke C.1)

 

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1956–57^[20]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Capacity: 6–10 passengers
• Length: 46 ft 0 in (14.02 m)
• Wingspan: 64 ft 6 in (19.66 m)
• Height: 16 ft 1 in (4.90 m)
• Wing area: 400 sq ft (37 m²)
• Aspect ratio: 10.4:1
• Airfoil: NACA 23017
• Empty weight: 8,969 lb (4,068 kg)
• Gross weight: 13,000 lb (5,897 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Alvis Leonides 127 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engines, 540 hp (400 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 220 mph (350 km/h, 190 kn) at 2,000 ft (610 m)
• Cruise speed: 185 mph (298 km/h, 161 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m) (weak mixture)
• Range: 1,030 mi (1,660 km, 900 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 22,000 ft (6,700 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,500 ft/min (7.6 m/s)

See also

Related development

• Percival Merganser
• Percival Prince

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer

Related lists

• List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force

References

Notes

1. Keskinen et al.: Suomen museolentokoneet p. 48, (1981), Forssa, Tietoteos, ISBN 951-9035-60-5
2. "Airframe Dossier – Percival P-66 Pembroke, s/n RM-4 FABe, c/n P.66/21, c/r OT-ZAD". Aerial Visuals. AerialVisuals.ca. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
3. "Welkom bij Dakota". VZW DAKOTA, Documentatiecentrum van de 15 WING (in Dutch). Dakota VZW. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
4. "Airframe Dossier – Percival P-66 Pembroke/President, s/n RM-7, c/n P66-0027". Aerial Visuals. AerialVisuals.ca. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
5. "Airframe Dossier – Percival P-66 Pembroke/President, s/n 54+02 Luftwaffe, c/n P66/0092, c/r D-CAKE". Aerial Visuals. AerialVisuals.ca. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
6. "Hunting Percival P.66 Pembroke C.Mk. 54 (Flugzeugkennungen der Bundeswehr: AS-558, zuletzt 54+07)". Museum-Digital. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
7. "Airframe Dossier – Percival P-66 Pembroke/President, s/n 54+08 Marineflieger, c/n PAC/66/105". Aerial Visuals. AerialVisuals.ca. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
8. . Flugausstellung (in German). Archived from the original on 6 January 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
9. "Aviation Museum". Svedinos Bil & Flygmuseum. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
10. "Tp 83 1955–1977". Pennan & Svärdet. Pennan & Svärdet. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
11. "Percival P.66 Pembroke". Västerås Flygmuseum. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
12. "GINFO Search Results [G-BNPH]". Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
13. "Hunting Percival Pembroke C1". Royal Air Force Museum. Trustees of the Royal Air Force Museum. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
14. Simpson, Andrew (2013). "INDIVIDUAL HISTORY [WV746]" (PDF). Royal Air Force Museum. Royal Air Force Museum. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
15. "GINFO Search Results [G-BXES]". Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
16. "Airframe Dossier – Percival Pembroke C.1, s/n XF796 RAF, c/n PAC/66/76, c/r N2692U". Aerial Visuals. AerialVisuals.ca. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
17. "FAA REGISTRY [N2692U]". Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
18. "Airframe Dossier – Percival Pembroke 51, s/n RM-1 FABe, c/r N51973". Aerial Visuals. AerialVisuals.ca. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
19. "FAA REGISTRY [N51973]". Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
20. Bridgman 1956, pp. 84–85.

Bibliography

• Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1956–57. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1956.
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985) London: Orbis Publishing, 1985.
• Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919 (Volume 3). London: Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10014-X.
• Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
• Silvester, John. "Call to Arms: The Percival Sea Prince and Pembroke". Air Enthusiast, No. 55, Autumn 1994, pp. 56–61. ISSN 0143-5450
• Sturtivant, Ray, ISO and John Hamlin. RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. ISBN 0-85130-365-X.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Percival Pembroke.

• Contemporary advert for Pembroke
• "Flight" 1954 cutaway drawing military mission roles