Bristol Brabazon

I believe that it was possible for the Flight Engineer to get in to the wing on the Sunderland to fix engine snags in flight.

Cutaway here:

www.flickr.com/photos/27862259@N02/6407371243/

I suggest we not pay too much attention to the in-flight point. It was a PR slant to grab attention. Brabazon wing was derived from an 11/42 Bid for a very big bomber: on Heavies (not less than one) engine-per-sortie might well give trouble, so some form of access would be helpful. The bomber lapsed, but Bristol won its adaptation as (to be) Brabazon, in part as they were idle (though with zero expertise in big structure), in part because they were already funded into propellor-turbines: Mark II Brabazon was the intended variant, with Theseus as UK's means of defeating ginormous US schemes (Convair XC-99, Lockheed Constitution, more). They all died because size was only wanted as means of getting payload into the Pacific Theatre: after VJ Day, economy/reliability were wanted, which 6 or 8 engines did not offer.

Harboda77;149166 wrote:

... this aircraft is designed specifically as a trans-oceanic air-liner to provide fast travel for a large number of passengers at one time.

Just discovered that the design began as the Bristol '100-ton bomber', from 1942. Spec was 300 mph cruising with 10,000 lb bomb load with a range of 4,000 miles. Original design had a butterfly tail.

Source: Bristol Aircraft since 1910. Putnam

As a child when Coventry still had an aerospace industry i used to visit the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum and stand by the wheel of a Brabazon which was proudly displayed.