The Circuit of Europe ( Circuit d'Europe ) was an air race held in 1911. A prize of £8,000 was offered by Le Journal for the entire Circuit, with additional prizes for the individual stages. The stages of the race totalled 1,600 km (990 mi) were:
91-630: The Boxkite (officially the Bristol Biplane ) was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company ). A pusher biplane based on the successful Farman III , it was one of the first aircraft types to be built in quantity. As the type was used by Bristol for instruction purposes at their flying schools at Larkhill and Brooklands many early British aviators learned to fly in
182-402: A Deperdussin monoplane , was the first to arrive at Liège; his time for the course was 3 h 9 m 54 s. Jules Védrines , flying a Morane came second and Charles Weymann , flying a Nieuport , third. Only eighteen pilots managed to complete the course within the allowed time. The second stage was to have been held on 20 June but poor weather forced a postponement to the next day. The stage
273-642: A tandem rotor civil helicopter. The result was the 13-seat Type 173 , which made its first flight in Filton in 1952. Five examples were built for evaluation purposes. Although no airlines ordered the Type 173, it led to military designs, of which the Type 192 went into service with the RAF as the Belvedere . First flying in 1958, 26 were built in total. Pursuing the idea of a civil tandem rotor helicopter, Hafner and his team developed
364-419: A 'guarantee to fly', Sir George succeeded in getting 15,000 francs compensation from Zodiac. After this failure, the company decided to embark upon designing its own aircraft to serve as a successor. Drawings were prepared by George Challenger for an aircraft based on a successful design by Henri Farman whose dimensions had been published in the aeronautical press. These drawings were produced in little over
455-553: A 50% share of the new company, with Hawker Siddeley group holding the other 50%. In 1966, Bristol Siddeley was purchased by Rolls-Royce , leaving the latter as the only major aero-engine company in Britain. From 1967, Bristol Siddeley's operations became the "Bristol Engine Division" and the "Small Engine Division" of Rolls-Royce, identified separately from Rolls-Royce's existing "Aero Engine Division". A number of Bristol Siddeley engines continued to be developed under Rolls-Royce including
546-564: A Boxkite. Four were purchased in 1911 by the War Office and examples were sold to Russia and Australia. It continued to be used for training purposes until after the outbreak of the First World War. The original intention of Sir George White , the founder and chairman of Bristol Aircraft, was to build licensed copies of the Zodiac biplane, designed by Gabriel Voisin . One example of this design
637-626: A crowd of 100,000. He was invited to take part in the Deccan cavalry manoeuvres that were about to take place, and made a number of flights carrying Captain Sefton Brancker as his observer. He also took part in the Northern cavalry manoeuvres at Karghpur . Flying conditions there were demanding, with many rough landings caused by the terrain, and eventually No. 9 was cannibalised to provide spares to keep No. 12 flying. Nos 27 and 28 were sold to
728-646: A hundred aircraft and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) consisted of only seven squadrons equipped with a miscellany of aircraft types, none of them armed. Official War Office policy was to purchase only aircraft designed by the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), and Bristol had already built a number of their B.E.2 two-seater reconnaissance aircraft. However, pressure from the pilots of the RFC and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) led to orders being placed for
819-637: A licensed and improved version of an aircraft manufactured in France by société Zodiac , a biplane designed by Gabriel Voisin . This aircraft had been exhibited at the Paris Aero Salon in 1909 and Sir George had been impressed by the quality of its construction. Accordingly, a single example was purchased and shipped to England to be shown at the Aero Show at Olympia in March 1910, and construction of five more begun at
910-612: A mainstay of the RAF during the 1920s. More than 5,300 of the type were produced and the Fighter remained in service until 1931. Another aircraft designed at this time was the Bristol Monoplane Scout . Although popular with pilots, the success of this aircraft was limited by War Office prejudice against monoplanes and only 130 were built. It was considered that its relatively high landing speed of 50 mph made it unsuitable for use under
1001-503: A much larger design, the Type 194. This was in an advanced state of design when the Bristol Helicopter Division was merged, as a result of government influence, with the helicopter interests of other British aircraft manufacturers ( Westland , Fairey and Saunders-Roe ) to form Westland Helicopters in 1960. When the competing Westland Westminster was cancelled, the management of the combined company allowed development of
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#17328545866491092-613: A nacelle for the pilot, similar to the Bristol Type T . The second, No.69, was a redesign by Gabriel Voisin, who was employed as a consultant by Bristol. This had no front elevator, monoplane tail with a single rudder, and a reduced gap between the wings. It was tested at Larkhill in February 1912, but was evidently unsuccessful since it was soon rebuilt as a standard Boxkite and was to crash in November 1912. Production continued until 1914, with
1183-502: A new aircraft manufactured by Bristol, known as the Scout . In 1915, Barnwell returned from France, his skills as pilot being considered to be of much less value than his ability as a designer. At this time Leslie Frise , newly graduated from Bristol University's engineering department, was recruited by Barnwell. In 1916, the company's founder Sir George died; he was succeeded in managing the company by his son Stanley. The first project that
1274-427: A new set of wings did little to improve performance. A single brief flight on 28 May was achieved by Maurice Edmond , but after an accident that damaged its undercarriage on 10 June it was abandoned, as was work on five more examples being built at Bristol's factory at Filton . Sir George was advised to acquire rights to build copies of the successful Farman biplane . This proved impossible since George Holt Thomas
1365-720: A presence at the Filton site where the Bristol Aeroplane Company was located. The British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, Ltd was founded in February 1910 by Sir George White , chairman of the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company , along with his son Stanley and his brother Samuel, to commercially exploit the fast-growing aviation sector. Sir George met with the American aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright in France in 1909 by chance, during which he became aware of aviation's business potential. Unlike many aviation companies of
1456-566: A prototype Bristol Badger in May 1919. For £15,000 Bristol got the Cosmos design team, headed by Roy Fedden , along with a small number of completed engines and tooling. Although it was to be several years before Bristol showed any profit from the aero engine division, the Jupiter engine eventually proved enormously successful; indeed, during the inter-war period, the aero-engine division was more successful than
1547-694: A separate helicopter division in the Weston-super-Mare factory, under helicopter pioneer Raoul Hafner . This facility was taken over by Westland in 1960. Other post-war projects included Bristol Cars , which used pre-war BMW designs as the basis for the Bristol 400 . Vehicle production was conducted at Patchway , Bristol. The engine developed for the Bristol 400 found its way into many successful motor cars manufactured by other companies, such as Cooper , Frazer Nash and AC and, in 1954 and 1955 , powered
1638-470: A single circuit, cutting his flight short owing to the turbulent winds caused by the proximity of the Avon Gorge . On the final day the crowds gathered early but wind conditions prevented any flying. At about half-past three it was announced that there would be no more flying, despite which Tetard then made a short straight-line flight reaching no more than 20 ft in altitude, earning a "cheery ovation" from
1729-460: A small tractor configuration biplane and a monoplane . Both of these were exhibited at the 1911 Aero Show at Olympia but neither was flown successfully. At this time, both Challenger and Low left the company to join the newly established aircraft division of the armament firm Vickers . Their place was taken by Pierre Prier , the former chief instructor at the Blériot flying school at Hendon : he
1820-613: A total of 78 being built: 60 of these were the extended Military Version, one was a racer (No. 44) and another the Voisin variant (No. 69); all but the last six aircraft were built at Filton. These were built at Brislington by Bristol Tramways . After the successful flight on Salisbury Plain No. 7 and a second aircraft, No. 8, were sent to Lanark in 1910 to take part in the aviation meeting held there in August. These aircraft were then assigned to
1911-687: A week of instruction. At the end of November 1910, two Boxkites were shipped to Australia for a promotional tour, and in Australia No. 10 was flown first by Joseph Hammond, who made the first aeroplane flight in West Australia from Belmont Park Racecourse on 3 January 1911. On 20 February 1911 Hammond flew the first cross-country flight made between towns in Australia from Altona Bay to Geelong in Victoria, and on 23 February, also at Altona Bay, he made
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#17328545866492002-402: A week, and Sir George promptly authorised the construction of twenty examples. The first aircraft to be completed was taken to Larkhill for flight trials, where it performed its first flight on 20 July 1910, piloted by Maurice Edmonds. The aircraft proved entirely satisfactory during flight tests. The first batch equipped the two training schools, as well as serving as demonstration machines;
2093-567: The Bristol 450 sports prototype to class victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. In 1953, S.H. Arnolt, a US car dealer who sold British sports cars, commissioned the Bristol Car Division to build a sports car for the US market, called the Arnolt-Bristol . It is estimated that about 177 were built before production ceased in 1958. In 1960, Sir George White was instrumental in preventing
2184-532: The Bristol Aeroplane Company, Ltd . During this time the company, acting under pressure from the Air Ministry , bought the aero-engine division of the bankrupt Cosmos Engineering Company , based in the Bristol suburb of Fishponds , to form the nucleus of a new aero-engine operation. There was already a good working relationship between Bristol Aircraft and Cosmos, the Cosmos Jupiter having been first flown in
2275-627: The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) and Bristol Aero Engines merged with Armstrong Siddeley to form Bristol Siddeley . BAC went on to become a founding component of the nationalised British Aerospace , now BAE Systems . Bristol Siddeley was purchased by Rolls-Royce in 1966, who continued to develop and market Bristol-designed engines. The BAC works were in Filton , about 4 miles (6 km) north of Bristol city centre. BAE Systems , Airbus , Rolls-Royce , MBDA and GKN still have
2366-532: The F. G. Miles group for the film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines . These were initially powered by a 65 hp (48 kW) Rolls-Royce Continental A65 air-cooled flat four, but this produced insufficient power, since the higher RPM of the mid-20th century engine driving a small-diameter modern propeller was inefficient at the low airspeed achieved by the Boxkite. The 65 hp flat-four
2457-703: The Olympus turbojet – including the joint development Bristol started with Snecma for Concorde – and the Pegasus . The astronomical names favoured by Bristol indicated their heritage in a Rolls-Royce lineup named after British rivers . The Bristol Aeroplane Company's Helicopter Division had its roots in 1944, when the helicopter designer Raoul Hafner , released from the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (AFEE), came to Bristol along with some members of his team. Under Hafner's direction,
2548-723: The Second World War , Bristol's most important aircraft was the Beaufighter heavy two-seat multirole aircraft, a long-range fighter, night fighter , ground attack aircraft and torpedo bomber . The type was used extensively by the RAF, other Commonwealth air forces and by the USAAF . The Beaufighter was derived from the Beaufort torpedo bomber, itself a derivative of the Blenheim. In 1940, shadow factories were set up at Weston-super-Mare for
2639-601: The Type 200 (a competitor of the Hawker Siddeley Trident ) and its derivatives, the Type 201 and Type 205. None of these designs were built. In 1959, Bristol was forced by Government policy to merge its aircraft interests with English Electric , Hunting Aircraft , and Vickers-Armstrongs to form the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Bristol formed a holding company which held a 20 per cent share of BAC, while English Electric and Vickers held 40 per cent each. In 1966,
2730-789: The Belgian Joseph Christiaens, who used them to make the first aeroplane flight in Singapore on 16 March 1911. He then took the aircraft to South Africa where a series of exhibition flights were made in Pretoria , and Christiaens sold No.28 to John Weston , who also became the Bristol company's representative in South Africa. Other examples were exported to Germany (2), Spain (2) and single machines to Romania, India, Bulgaria and Sweden. No original Bristol Boxkites aeroplanes have survived, but three authentic flyable reproductions were built by
2821-529: The Bristol flight schools, No. 7 at Brooklands and No. 8 at Larkhill. In September a third aircraft was completed and delivered to Larkhill, and both the Larkill machines participated in the Army manoeuvres held on Salisbury Plain that month. No. 8 was flown by Bertram Dickson , and was captured by Blue team cavalry when it landed in order to report by telephone, and No. 9 by Robert Loraine . This aircraft
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2912-777: The Bristol holding company which held 20 per cent of BAC and 50 per cent of Bristol Siddeley engines was acquired by Rolls-Royce . Bristol also had the following holdings and subsidiary companies at this time:- Bristol Aerojet (50 per cent) – Bristol Aeroplane Co Australia – Bristol DE Mexico SA (78 per cent) – Motores Bristol De Cuba SA – Bristol Aeroplane Co of Canada – Bristol Aero Industries Ltd – Bristol Aeroplane Co USA – Spartan Air Services Ltd (46.5 per cent) – Bristol Aeroplane Co New Zealand – Bristol Aircraft Services Ltd – Bristol Aeroplane Plastics Ltd – SECA (30 per cent) – Short Bros & Harland (15.25 per cent) – SVENSK-ENGELSK Aero Service AB – TABSA (25 per cent) – Westland Aircraft Ltd (10 per cent). The Canadian Bristol group of companies
3003-499: The Bulldog was retired from front line service. Since the Bulldog had started life as a private venture rather than an Air Ministry-sponsored prototype it could be sold to other countries, and Bulldogs were exported to, among others, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, and Australia. During this time, Bristol was noted for its preference for steel airframes, using members built up from high-tensile steel strip rolled into flanged sections rather than
3094-506: The French army took off from Issy-les-Moulineaux . In all, 43 pilots started the race. The event was marred by three fatal accidents: Léon Lemartin crashed on take-off from Vincenness and died on arrival at hospital, Lt. Pierre Princeteau crashed at Issy while attempting to land to repair a fault, his aircraft overturning and catching fire, and Pierre Landron was killed when his aircraft caught fire near Chateaux-Thierry . René Vidart , flying
3185-585: The Mexican Government to be installed in training schools throughout Mexico. Malcolm Roebuck was hired from Alfred Herbert Ltd along with William Walford Webb Woodward to supervise this project. In 1977, BAC was nationalised, along with Scottish Aviation and Hawker Siddeley , to form British Aerospace (BAe), which later became part of the now-privatised BAE Systems . The Canadian unit was acquired by Rolls-Royce Holdings and sold in 1997 to current owner Magellan Aerospace . A small number of records from
3276-615: The Military Version. The examples of this type sold to the Russian government and the first aircraft sold to the British Army were fitted with a third rudder hinged to the centre leading-edge interplane strut of the tailplane, but this was not made standard. Two modified Boxkites were produced for competition purposes. The first, No. 44, was a single-seater built to compete in the 1911 Circuit of Europe air race and had reduced wingspan and
3367-466: The RAF at this time was the Blenheim light bomber. In August 1938, Frank Barnwell was killed flying a light aircraft of his own design; Barnwell was succeeded as Bristol's Chief Designer by Leslie Frise . By the time war broke out in 1939, the Bristol works at Filton were the largest single aircraft manufacturing unit in the world, with a floor area of nearly 25 hectares (2,691,000 square feet). During
3458-455: The Saturday. The most spectacular flights were made the following Tuesday, when around ten flights were made between 7 and 9 o'clock, including a fifteen-minute flight by Tetard during which he flew over Clifton Suspension Bridge and made a circuit over the suburbs of Redland and Westbury . Weather conditions then deteriorated and only a single flight was made in the afternoon, when Tetard made
3549-572: The Type 194 to continue, but it too failed to find a market. The Helicopter Division started out at the main Bristol Aeroplane Company site in Filton, but from 1955 it was moved to the Oldmixon factory in Weston-Super-Mare , which had built Blenheims during the War. The factory is now the site of The Helicopter Museum . Bristol did not systematically assign project type numbers until 1923, starting with
3640-500: The Type 90 Berkeley. In that year, they also retrospectively assigned type numbers in chronological order to all projects, built or not, from August 1914 onwards. Thus the Scouts A and B did not get a type number but the Scout C did and was the Type 1. The final Bristol project, numbered Type 225, was an unbuilt 1962 STOL transport. Of these 225 Types, 117 were built. This list does not include
3731-450: The abandoned production Zodiacs, and was delivered to the company's flying school at Larkhill on Salisbury Plain , where it was first flown on 30 July 1910, piloted by Maurice Edmond. Farman sued Bristol for patent infringement , but the company's lawyers claimed substantial design improvements in matters of constructional detail, and the lawsuit was dropped. The Boxkite was a two-bay biplane with an elevator carried on booms in front of
Bristol Boxkite - Misplaced Pages Continue
3822-402: The aircraft produced were employed at the Bristol flying schools at Brooklands and Larkhill., which were responsible for training nearly half the pilots who gained licences in Britain before the First World War; many distinguished pilots gained their licence in a Boxkite, including Brigadier-General Henderson , the first commander of the Royal Flying Corps , who gained his licence after less than
3913-466: The aircraft, which gained the nickname of the Boxkite , went on to become a commercial success, a total of 76 being constructed. Many served in the company's flying schools and examples were sold to the War Office as well as a number of foreign governments. Although satisfactory by the standards of the day, the Boxkite was not capable of much further development and work soon was started on two new designs,
4004-465: The car division being lost during the wider company's merger with BAC. Accordingly, Bristol Cars Limited was formed, and remained within the Filton complex. Sir George retired in 1973 and Tony Crook purchased his share, becoming sole proprietor and managing director. Pre-fabricated buildings, marine craft and plastic and composite materials were also amongst the company's early post-war activities; these side-ventures were independently sold off. Bristol
4095-450: The company developed the new Bristol Perseus line of radials based on the sleeve valve principle, which developed into some of the most powerful piston engines in the world and continued to be sold into the 1960s. In 1956, the division was renamed Bristol Aero Engines and then merged with Armstrong Siddeley in 1958 to form Bristol Siddeley as a counterpart of the airframe-producing company mergers that formed BAC. Bristol retained
4186-587: The company in October 1914. Barnwell went on to become one of the world's foremost aeronautical engineers, and worked for the company until his death in 1938. The company expanded rapidly, establishing a second factory at the Brislington tramway works; the firm employed a total of 200 people by the outbreak of the First World War . At the outbreak of war in August 1914, Britain's military forces possessed just over
4277-557: The company include the 'Boxkite' , the Bristol Fighter , the Bulldog , the Blenheim , the Beaufighter , and the Britannia , and much of the preliminary work which led to Concorde was carried out by the company. In 1956 its major operations were split into Bristol Aircraft and Bristol Aero Engines . In 1959, Bristol Aircraft merged with several major British aircraft companies to form
4368-399: The company's Filton works. It was then transported to Brooklands for flight trials, where it immediately became apparent that the type had an unsatisfactory wing-section and lacked sufficient power; even though Bristol fitted the aircraft with a new set of wings, it only achieved a single brief hop on 28 May 1910, after which work on the type was abandoned. Since the machine had been sold with
4459-463: The crowd by then numbering around 12,000. On 14 March 1911 the British War Office ordered four Boxkites for the planned Air Battalion Royal Engineers , the first production contract for military aircraft for Britain's armed forces. The first example, powered by a 50 hp Gnome engine, was delivered to Larkhill on 18 May that year. An order for a further four was placed later that year, with
4550-518: The demonstrations in Sydney were made by his assistant, Leslie Macdonald, who took a photographer from the Daily Telegraph for a 25-minute flight over Sydney on 6 May, making the first aerial photographs to be taken in Australia. By 19 May, 72 flights totalling 765 miles had been made by No. 10; No. 11, still in its crate, was sold to W. E. Hart of Penrith, N.S.W, who used the aircraft to become
4641-426: The division produced two successful designs that were sold in quantity. The first, designated the Type 171 , had a shaky start after the wooden rotor blades of the second prototype failed on its first flight in 1949. Nevertheless, the Type 171, called Sycamore in military service, was sold to air forces around the world and 178 were built in total. After the Type 171, the Bristol Helicopter Division started work on
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#17328545866494732-409: The early history of this company are held within the papers of Sir George White at Bristol Archives (Ref. 35810/GW/T) ( online catalogue ). Other records at Bristol Record Office include the papers of Lionel Harris, an engineer at the Bristol Aeroplane Company in the 1940s (Ref. 42794) ( online catalogue ) The Bristol Engine Company was originally a separate entity, Cosmos Engineering , formed from
4823-470: The era, which were started by enthusiasts with little financial backing, British and Colonial was well funded from its outset. Sir George chose to establish a separate company from the Bristol Tramway Company, as the venture might be seen as too risky by many shareholders, and the new company's working capital of £25,000 was subscribed entirely by Sir George, his brother, and his son. The affairs of
4914-511: The field conditions of the Western Front, and the type's active service was limited to the Near East. By the end of the war, the company employed over 3,000 at its production works, which were split between Filton and Brislington. Its products had always been referred to by the name 'Bristol' and this was formalized in 1920, when British and Colonial was liquidated and its assets transferred to
5005-477: The first Australian to gain a pilot's licence in Australia. The Boxkite would go on to be ordered by Central Flying School , the first military aviation unit in Australia, and aircraft number 133 would perform the first flight by the CFS, and first official Australian military flight, on 1 March 1914 by Lieutenant Eric Harrison . It would continue to serve until written off in 1917. The second Boxkite to enter CFS service
5096-625: The first passenger flight in Australia, taking his mechanic Frank Coles for a 7½ minute flight. Later that same day he took his wife for a 12½ minute flight, making her the first woman to fly in Australia. Official observers from the Australian Army observed these demonstrations and were also taken for flights. Although reports were favourable no aircraft were ordered. After the flights in Melbourne Hammond returned to his home in New Zealand and
5187-431: The front outrigger booms were braced by a pair of vertical struts and were attached to the ends of the interplane struts. This arrangement was inherited from the Zodiac, being necessary in that aircraft because the front spar of the wing did not also form the leading edge. Additionally the rear elevator had a straight trailing edge. No. 8 also had double-surfaced wings; the wings of No. 7 were single-surfaced with
5278-477: The late 1950s, the company undertook supersonic transport (SST) project studies, the Type 223 , which were later to contribute to Concorde . A research aircraft, the Type 188 , was constructed in the 1950s to test the feasibility of stainless steel as a material in a Mach 2.0 airframe. By the time the aircraft flew in 1962, the company was already part of BAC. In parallel with these supersonic studies, several subsonic designs were schemed in this period, including
5369-403: The light alloys more generally used in aircraft construction. On 15 June 1935, the Bristol Aeroplane Company became a public limited company . By this time, the company had a payroll of 4,200, mostly in the engine factory, and was well positioned to take advantage of the huge re-armament ordered by the British Government in May of that year. Bristol's most important contribution to the expansion of
5460-400: The neutral position. The wings and fixed rear horizontal surfaces were covered by a single layer of fabric: the other surfaces were covered on both sides. Power was usually provided by a 50 hp (37 kW) Gnome rotary engine, although other engines were also used. The engine was mounted on a pair of substantial wooden beams mounted above the lower wing: these continued forward to carry
5551-426: The organisers decided that weather conditions were suitable the pilots disagreed, and hauled down the white flag that had been hoisted as the signal that flying would take place. It was immediately rehoisted but the pilots refused to fly, saying that they would reconsider their position later. Weather conditions did not improve, and the start was postponed. The weather did not clear until 26 June. Nine pilots started
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#17328545866495642-450: The parent company and Bristol came to dominate the market for air-cooled radial engines . Apart from providing engines for almost all Bristol's aircraft designs, the Jupiter and its successors powered an enormous number of aircraft built by other manufacturers. Bristol's most successful aircraft during this period was the Bristol Bulldog fighter, which formed the mainstay of Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter force between 1930 and 1937, when
5733-407: The post-war rapid contraction of military orders, Cosmos Engineering went bankrupt and the Air Ministry let it be known that it would be a good idea if the Bristol Aeroplane Company purchased it. The Jupiter competed with the Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar through the 1920s but Bristol put more effort into their design and, by 1929, the Jupiter was clearly superior. In the 1930s, and led by Roy Fedden,
5824-399: The pre-First World War automobile company Brazil-Straker . In 1917, Cosmos was asked to investigate air-cooled radial engines and, under Roy Fedden , produced what became the Cosmos Mercury , a 14-cylinder two-row (helical) radial, which they launched in 1918. This engine saw little use but the simpler nine-cylinder version known as the Bristol Jupiter was clearly a winning design. With
5915-423: The prize for the stage with a time of 2 h 56 min. Vidart was second (3 h 27 min) and Beaumont third (3 h 32 min). Held over two days, the section from Hendon to Dover being made on 6 July. The cross-channel flight from Dover to Calais was held the following day. Ten competitors set off from Hendon: the only one to fail to reach Dover was James Valentine , the only British competitor in
6006-402: The production of Beaufighters, and underground at Hawthorn, near Corsham , Wiltshire, for engine manufacture. Construction in the former stone quarry at Hawthorn took longer than expected and little production was achieved before the site closed in 1945. The company's war-time headquarters was located in the Royal West of England Academy , Clifton, Bristol. When the war ended, Bristol set up
6097-483: The race. The next day the first of the nine contestants still in the competition taking off at 4.30 am and followed at three-minute intervals by all but one of the others who was slightly delayed by engine trouble. All made the crossing safely. Held on 7 July. Lt. Jean Louis Conneau (flying as André Beaumont) completed the circuit with a total flying time of 58 h 36 s, Garros was second (62 h 18 min) and Vidart third (73 h 32 min). The stage
6188-448: The ribs enclosed in pockets, like production aircraft. No. 7 was initially fitted with a 50 hp (37 kW) Grégoire, but for its first flight this was replaced by a Gnome, although the Grégoire was later refitted for trial purposes: No. 8 had a 50 hp (37 kW) E.N.V. The first examples built had upper and lower wings of equal span, although most of the aircraft eventually produced had an extended upper wing and were known as
6279-535: The same time as the termination, Bristol decided to focus on development of a large turboprop-powered airliner, known as the Britannia . Capable of traversing transatlantic routes, it proved a commercial success; both it and the Freighter were produced in quantity during the 1950s. However, sales of the Britannia were poor and only 82 were built, primarily due to its protracted development; having been ordered by BOAC on 28 July 1949 and first flown on 16 August 1952, it did not enter service until 1 February 1957. Bristol
6370-408: The seats, which were arranged in tandem , with the pilot sitting over the leading edge of the wing. The undercarriage consisted of a pair of long skids, each bearing a pair of wheels sprung by bungee cords, and a single sprung tailskid mounted below the leading edge of the lower tailplane. The first two Boxkites, assigned works numbers 7 and 8, differed in detail from the later production aircraft;
6461-474: The stage on 28 June, Weyman having withdrawn from the race in order to take part in the Gordon Bennett Trophy race. Védrines won with a time of 58 min, Kimmerlin was second (1 h 11 min) and Garros third. (1 h 15 min) After a delayed start due to fog at Calais, the stage was won by Védrines in 1 h 16 min, Vidart coming second (1 h 32 min) and "Beaumont" third (1 h 44 min): only three other competitors completed
6552-514: The stage that day. The delayed start of the previous stage caused a postponement until Monday 3 July to avoid interfering with the Gordon Bennett race being held at Eastchurch that weekend. The fastest pilot over the first leg was Gilbert, winning a £100 prize with a time of 37 min 57 s. Beaumont won the Standard prize for the best overall time between Paris and London, and Védrines won
6643-424: The two companies were closely connected, and the company's first premises were a pair of former tram sheds used for aircraft manufacture at Filton leased from the Bristol Tramway Company. Additionally, key personnel for the new business were recruited from the Bristol Tramway Company, including the chief engineer and works manager, George Challenger . Flying schools were established at Brooklands , Surrey, which
6734-571: The type mainly being used as a trainer. They continued in use with the Air Battalion and Royal Flying Corps (RFC) until December 1912. Four more Boxkites were purchased by the RFC from the Bristol flying school at Brooklands following the outbreak of the First World War ; the last of these was written off in February 1915. The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) also made use of the Boxkite as a trainer, using it at its training schools at Eastbourne , Eastchurch and Hendon until at least 1915. Most of
6825-409: The unbuilt "paper aeroplanes"; it does include the pre-August 1914 aircraft. Bristol Engine designs include: Original series: Sleeve-valve engines: Turbines' 1911 Circuit of Europe air race The first stage was held on 18 June. Most of the competitors started from the military parade ground at Vincennes , watched by around 500,000 spectators. A few who were members of
6916-402: The wings and an empennage consisting of a pair of fixed horizontal stabilisers, the upper bearing an elevator, and a pair of rudders carried on booms behind the wing. There were no fixed vertical surfaces. Lateral control was effected by ailerons on both upper and lower wings. These were single-acting, the control cables arranged to pull them down only, relying on the airflow to return them to
7007-511: Was actually built by the school after Bristol ceased making the aircraft available for order, and thus the Boxkite became the first military aircraft assembled in Australia. In all, four Boxkites would serve the CFS, training pilots through World War I. A further two were sent to India, including No. 12, the first Boxkite built with an extended upper wing. In India the first flights were made by Henri Jullerot in Calcutta on 6 January 1911 before
7098-641: Was also involved in helicopter development, with the Belvedere and Sycamore going into quantity production. Another post-war activity was missile development, culminating in the production of the Bloodhound anti-aircraft missile. Upon introduction, the Bloodhound was the RAF's only long range transportable surface-to-air missile. Bristol Aero Engines produced a range of rocket motors and ramjets for missile propulsion. The guided weapons division eventually became part of Matra BAe Dynamics Alenia ( MBDA ). In
7189-624: Was built at the RAAF Museum over a seven-year period and will be displayed at the museum. Data from Bristol Aircraft Since 1910 General characteristics Performance Notes Bibliography Bristol Aeroplane Company The Bristol Aeroplane Company , originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company , was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines . Notable aircraft produced by
7280-458: Was equipped with a radio transmitter for trials and was the first aeroplane in the United Kingdom to send a message by radio. Between 11 and 16 November 1910, a series of demonstration flights were made in Bristol. Temporary hangars were built on Durdham Down and although flying was limited by the weather conditions a crowd of almost 10,000 saw Maurice Tetard make a fifteen-minute flight on
7371-465: Was formerly MacDonald Brothers Aircraft, and was the largest of the subsidiaries and the group's only airframe plant. Bristol de Mexico, S.A. de CV. (Central Airport, Mexico City), overhauled piston engines for South American operators. Bristol de Mexico S.A. obtained a license to manufacture Alfred Herbert Ltd machine tools in 1963 and commenced assembling their centre lathes in 1963. They also commenced building their own design of small engine lathes for
7462-484: Was imported from France and exhibited by Bristol at the 1910 Aero show in London in March 1910, and afterwards taken to Brooklands for flight testing. Initial attempts to get it to fly were entirely unsuccessful. This was largely due to its unsatisfactory wing section (the shallow camber of the Zodiac's wings had been commented upon by the aviation journal Flight ), but the aircraft was also underpowered for its weight, and
7553-603: Was involved in the post-war renaissance of British civilian aircraft, which was largely inspired by the Brabazon Committee report of 1943–5. In 1949, the Brabazon airliner prototype, at the time one of the largest aircraft in the world, first flew. This project was deemed to be a step in the wrong direction, gaining little interest from military or civilian operators, resulting in the Brabazon being ultimately cancelled in 1953. At
7644-433: Was later joined by Gordon England . In January 1912 Romanian aircraft engineer Henri Coandă was appointed as the company's chief designer. During early 1912 a highly secret separate design office, known as the " X-Department ", was set up to work on Dennistoun Burney 's ideas for naval aircraft. Frank Barnwell was taken on as the design engineer for this project, and took over as Bristol's chief designer when Coandă left
7735-501: Was negotiating rights with the Farman company, but George Challenger , the chief engineer at Filton, believed that he could produce a satisfactory copy since full details of the Farman machine had been published in Flight . This was authorized by Sir George, and Challenger set to work on drawings for a new aircraft. The first example was constructed in a matter of weeks, using some components from
7826-820: Was sent to the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery . Another went to the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire (where it is still flown during flying displays, when the weather permits), and the third to the Museum of Australian Army Flying in Queensland . A Bristol Boxkite replica was constructed for the Australian Centenary of Military Aviation Air Show 2014 . It made its first test flight on 11 September 2013 at RAAF Base Williams, Point Cook. The replica
7917-498: Was the largest of the overseas subsidiaries. The group undertook aircraft handling and servicing at Dorval Airport , Montreal. Vancouver Airport was the base for Bristol Aero Engines (Western), Ltd., one of the Canadian company's four operating subsidiaries. Work at Vancouver included the overhaul of Pratt and Whitney and Wright engines for the R.C.A.F. and commercial operators. Bristol Aircraft (Western), Ltd (Stevenson Field, Winnipeg)
8008-446: Was then the centre of activity for British aviation, where Bristol rented a hangar; and at Larkhill on Salisbury Plain where, in June 1910, a school was established on 2,248 acres (9.10 km ) of land leased from the War Office . By 1914 308 of the 664 Royal Aero Club certificates issued had been earned at the company's schools. The company's initial manufacturing venture was to be
8099-444: Was therefore replaced by a 90 hp (67 kW) Continental O-200-B engine. With the increased power these proved flyable enough to be used for cross-country flights between filming locations. Another tribute to the soundness of the design is that the calculations made for the purpose of granting the necessary Certificates of Airworthiness found that the stressing of the design was very close to modern requirements. After filming one
8190-442: Was won by Jules Védrines, René Vidart coming second and Jean Louis Conneau , flying as André Beaumont in a Blériot third. 19 pilots started the third stage, of whom 14 finished. The stage was won by Gilbert with a time of 2 h 4 min 25 s. Roland Garros was second (2 h 10 min 21 s) and Vidart third (2 h 17 min 20 s). The fourth stage was to have started on 24 June. However, although
8281-407: Was worked on by Barnwell after his return, the Bristol T.T.A. , was designed in response to a War Office requirement for a two-seat fighter intended to conduct home defence operations against Zeppelin raids. This was not successful but, in 1916, work was started on the Bristol F.2A , which was developed into the highly successful F.2B Fighter , one of the outstanding aircraft of the 1914–18 war and
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