PP-XEG Percival P.50
Prince
(c/n P50/2)
Empresa de Transportes Aereos Norte do Brasil
Ltda (Aeronorte) ordered, in 1950, three
Percival
Prince aircraft for their local service routes. The airline had
been founded as long
ago as
1940 and flew 3 ex-Varig Lockheed 10A Electras in addition to 4
Curtiss C-46s.
The
Prince illustrated above in this Percival Aircraft photograph was the
first one (and second
one
built) and is seen in its
temporary (delivery) registration of PP-XEG. It was originally
allocated the UK registration G-ALFZ. As British
manufacturers were want to do in
that
era, it
shows the aircraft flying with the starboard engine
feathered, to demonstrate its
single
engine capability. In service,
this aircraft was registered PP-NBA. The second Prince was
ex G-AKYE
(c/n P50/11) and was PP-NBF with Aeronorte, whilst the third was PP-NBG
(c/n P50/15). Aeronorte merged with REAL in
1954, and I doubt that any of the
remaining
Princes
were taken over by that carrier. In the case of PP-XEG,
Martin Bernsmuller advises
that it was written
off at Caxias, State of Maranhao on 9 March 1952.