What is this three-engine beauty?
2 Answers
It appears to be a Westland IV/Wessex
I don't know why it is marked P-1, but the elevator is distinctive.
P-1 is a temporary civilian registration issued to the company to use on prototypes. Each company was assigned a letter, so any time you see a British civilian aircraft with a letter-number code like this, it is a prototype. The best known are probably E.2 to E.3 used for the de Havilland Albatross airliners, as seen below:
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3$\begingroup$ Hi Mike, the question asked it was about the type of airplane in the photograph, not so much the number on the side. That’s an interesting addendum though. $\endgroup$ Nov 28, 2022 at 22:11
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$\begingroup$ well, the sole answer was unsure of the importance of the number, and my answer added that it was a prototype Wessex, not just any Wessex. $\endgroup$ Dec 3, 2022 at 1:44