The Boulton & Paul P.71A was a 1930s British twin-engined all-metal

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

transport aircraft by

Boulton & Paul Ltd Boulton & Paul Ltd was a British general manufacturer from Norwich, England that became involved in aircraft manufacture. Jeld Wen Inc. bought Boulton & Paul (along with another joinery company John Carr) from the Rugby Group plc in 1999 to ...

used by

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passenger ...

for feeder-line work. The P.71 was development of the P.64 Mailplane which had not met the airline's specifications. Two aircraft entered service in early 1935 but both were lost to accidents by end of 1936.

History

The P.71A was the successor to the Boulton & Paul's first attempt to meet the airline requirement, the P.64 Mailplane. The P.71A was lighter, slimmer and longer and used Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar IVA

radial piston engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is cal ...

s. Two aircraft were built and delivered to Imperial Airways at

Croydon Airport Croydon Airport (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main air ...

in February 1935. The airline had lost interest in using them as mailplanes, so the two aircraft were converted as

VIP A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples inc ...

transports with 13 removable seats.

G-ACOX

The first aircraft, registered G-ACOX and named ''Boadicea'' after the Briton queen of that name, was lost in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

on 25 September 1936 while on an air-mail flight from

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

with the loss of the two crew.

G-ACOY

The second aircraft, registered G-ACOY and named ''Britomart'' after the literary character of that name, was damaged beyond repair in a landing accident at

Haren, Brussels Haren (Dutch language, Dutch and French language, French, sometimes written ''Haeren'' in French) is an old municipality of Brussels in Belgium, that was merged into the municipality of the City of Brussels in 1921. It is an outlying part of the m ...

on 25 October 1935.

Operators

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Specifications

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * *

External links

Boulton & Paul P.71A
– British Aircraft Directory {{DEFAULTSORT:Boulton and Paul P.71A P.071A 1930s British mailplanes Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1935 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft