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92-461: Most V/STOL aircraft types were experiments or outright failures from the 1950s to 1970s. V/STOL aircraft types that have been produced in large numbers include the F-35B Lightning II , Harrier and V-22 Osprey . A rolling takeoff, sometimes with a ramp ( ski-jump ), reduces the amount of thrust required to lift an aircraft from the ground (compared with vertical takeoff), and hence increases

184-642: 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

276-553: 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

368-593: 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 the car division being lost during the wider company's merger with BAC. Accordingly, Bristol Cars Limited was formed, and remained within

460-559: A few being tested, the F-35B is the first and only supersonic V/STOL aircraft to have reached operational service, having entered service in 2016. Harrier jump jet The Harrier , informally referred to as the Harrier jump jet , is a family of jet-powered attack aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations (V/STOL). Named after a bird of prey , it was originally developed by British manufacturer Hawker Siddeley in

552-612: 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

644-698: A more capable version of the Harrier. Early efforts concentrated on the development of an improved Pegasus engine , designated the Pegasus 15 , which was being tested by Bristol Siddeley . During August 1981, the program received a boost when British Aerospace (BAe) and McDonnell Douglas signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), marking the UK's re-entry into the program. The Harrier was extensively redeveloped by McDonnell Douglas, and later joined by British Aerospace (now parts of Boeing and BAE Systems , respectively), leading to

736-503: 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

828-781: A naval V/STOL jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft; it was a navalised development of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. The first version entered service with the Royal Navy 's Fleet Air Arm in April 1980 as the Sea Harrier FRS.1 , and was informally known as the Shar . Sea Harriers played a high-profile role in the Falklands War of 1982, flying from the aircraft carriers HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes . Wartime experiences led to

920-561: 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 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,

1012-523: 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 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

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1104-475: A successful design by Henri Farman whose dimensions had been published in the aeronautical press. These drawings were produced in little over 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

1196-513: A theoretical aircraft to take advantage of the Pegasus engine, using data provided by Bristol. During March 1959, the newly merged Hawker Siddeley decided to privately fund a pair of prototypes of the design, which had received the internal company designation of P.1127 , to demonstrate the design's capabilities. During the 1960s, the P.1127 attracted the attention of the RAF; this would eventually result in

1288-404: A training sortie/mission, using forward speed to supplement the jet lift with aerodynamic lift. A short takeoff also uses less fuel than a vertical take off . On some aircraft carriers, a ski-jump ramp is used at the bow of the carrier to help the aircraft become airborne. Landings are not usually done in a conventional manner because the range of speeds at which this is advisable is narrow due to

1380-465: Is a dog-fighting tactic, allowing for more sudden braking and higher turn rates. Braking could cause a chasing aircraft to overshoot and present itself as a target for the Harrier, a technique formally developed by the USMC for the Harrier in the early 1970s. This technique was much discussed in the media before the Falklands War in 1982, but ultimately not used by British pilots in that conflict. However,

1472-409: Is achieved at the desired altitude. The short-takeoff procedure involves proceeding with a normal takeoff and then rotating the nozzles partially downwards (a thrust vector less than 90°) at a speed below the normal takeoff speed; usually this is done at about 65 knots (120 km/h). For a shorter takeoff run the thrust vector is greater for more jet lift. The reaction control system uses thrusters at

1564-402: Is closer basing to the enemy, which reduces response time and tanker support requirements. In the case of the Falklands War , it also permitted high-performance fighter air cover and ground attack without a large aircraft carrier equipped with aircraft catapult . This is a partial list; there have been many designs for V/STOL aircraft. Although many aircraft have been proposed and built, with

1656-658: Is the first generation-version and is also known as the AV-8A or AV-8C Harrier; it was used by multiple air forces, including the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Marine Corps (USMC). The Sea Harrier is a naval strike/air defence fighter derived from the Hawker Siddeley Harrier; it was operated by both the Royal Navy and the Indian Navy . During the 1980s, a second generation Harrier emerged, manufactured in

1748-552: 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 the era, which were started by enthusiasts with little financial backing, British and Colonial

1840-674: 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 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

1932-537: The F-35 Lightning II , designated as the F-35B. Throughout the 1950s, particularly in the years following the Korean War , a number of aircraft companies in both Europe and America separately decided to investigate the prospective capabilities and viability of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, which would eliminate the requirement for vulnerable runways by taking off and landing vertically as opposed to

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2024-642: The First World War . At the outbreak of war in August 1914, Britain's military forces possessed just over 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

2116-654: 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,

2208-575: The Royal Air Force explored whether experienced helicopter pilots, with their ability to hover and transition to forward flight, would be a better source for Harrier squadrons. In both cases the pilots were completely out of their depth with conventional flight, navigation, orientation and weapons delivery at the high speeds of a fast jet. With the introduction of two-seat Harriers, less experienced pilots were introduced. The United States Marine Corps also started with very experienced pilots, who were mostly test pilots. In addition to normal flight controls,

2300-671: 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,

2392-805: The US Marine Corps , with the aircraft to be used as sources of spare parts for the Marine Corps's airworthy fleet. As of 6 May 2024 , the STOVL variant of the F-35 Lightning II , designated the F-35B, has replaced the AV-8B Harrier II in service with the US Marine Corps The RAF and Royal Navy introduced the F-35B in June 2018 with their first F-35 unit, 617 Squadron . As of March 2021, Italian Navy AV-8Bs had been replaced by F-35Bs, on

2484-563: 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 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

2576-529: The compressor along with a "hot" jet which was directed via a conventional central tailpipe; this concept had originated from Michel Wibault, a French aviation consultant. Throughout much of the early development work, there was no financial support for the project from HM Treasury ; however, support for the engine development portion of the effort was sourced via NATO's Mutual Weapon Development Program (MWDP). Senior project engineer Ralph Hooper at Hawker promptly set about establishing an initial layout for

2668-465: The 1960s. The Harrier emerged as the only truly successful V/STOL design of the many attempted during that era. It was conceived to operate from improvised bases, such as car parks or forest clearings, without requiring large and vulnerable air bases . Later, the design was adapted for use from aircraft carriers . There are two generations and four main variants of the Harrier family, developed by both UK and US manufacturers: The Hawker Siddeley Harrier

2760-473: 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 was then the centre of activity for British aviation, where Bristol rented a hangar; and at Larkhill on Salisbury Plain where, in June 1910,

2852-827: 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

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2944-511: The British aero engine manufacturer Bristol Engine Company , who were designing an innovative vectored thrust engine, British aviation conglomerate Hawker Aircraft developed their design for an aeroplane that could meet an existing NATO specification calling for a "Light Tactical Support Fighter" . Bristol's projected vectored thrust engine, which received the name Pegasus , harnessed rotatable "cold" jets which were positioned on either side of

3036-403: 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 was involved in the post-war renaissance of British civilian aircraft, which

3128-431: The Harrier has a lever for controlling the direction of the four vectoring nozzles. Pilots were impressed that to control the aircraft's vertical flight required only a single lever added in the cockpit. For horizontal flight, the nozzles are directed rearwards by shifting the lever to the forward position; for short or vertical takeoffs and landings, the lever is pulled back to point the nozzles downward. During 2010, it

3220-618: The Hawker P.1127 prototype and the Kestrel evaluation aircraft. On 18 April 1969, the Harrier GR.1 officially entered service with the RAF when the Harrier Conversion Unit at RAF Wittering received its first aircraft. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) also chose to procure the type, receiving 102 AV-8A and 8 TAV-8A Harriers between 1971 and 1976. The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is

3312-527: The Hawker Siddeley Kestrel, was ordered and manufactured for testing. During 1964, the first of these had commenced flight operations; the Kestrel was assessed by the multinational "Tri-partite Evaluation Squadron", which consisted of British, US and German pilots, to determine how VTOL aircraft could be operated; the evaluations were finalised in November 1965. During 1966, following the cancellation of

3404-563: The Italian aircraft carrier Cavour . In 2016, the Indian Navy retired the last of their remaining 11 Sea Harriers, which had been operating from INS  Viraat in favour of the conventional Mikoyan MiG-29K . Starting in 2007, Spain was looking to replace its Harrier IIs – with the likely option being the F-35B. However, in May 2014, the Spanish government announced that it had decided to extend

3496-517: The Jupiter engine eventually proved enormously successful; indeed, during the inter-war period, the aero-engine division was more successful than 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

3588-585: 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

3680-462: The P.1127, designated the P.1150 , culminating in the abortive Hawker P.1154 . NBMR.3 also attracted ten other contenders, among which was P.1154's principal competitor, the Dassault Mirage IIIV . The P.1154 was ultimately selected to meet NBMR-3; however, this did not lead to orders being placed. On 6 December 1961, prior to the design being submitted to NATO, it was decided that

3772-514: The P.1154 would be developed with the requirements for use by both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy (RN). Following the cancellation of the NBMR-3 requirement, HSA focused all its attention on the British joint requirement. Accordingly, development of the type continued for some time; however, by October 1963, the Ministry of Aviation was concerned with the project's progress, and noted that

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3864-491: The P.1154, the RAF opted to proceed with ordering a modified derivative of the P.1127/Kestrel for service, which was designated the Harrier GR.1. The Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.1/GR.3 and the AV-8A Harrier were the first generation of the Harrier series, the first operational close-support and reconnaissance attack aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities. These were developed directly from

3956-649: 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 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

4048-640: 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

4140-500: 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

4232-591: The United States as the AV-8B and in Britain as the British Aerospace Harrier II respectively. By the start of the 21st century, the majority of the first generation Harriers had been withdrawn, many operators having chosen to procure the second generation as a replacement. In the long term, several operators have announced their intention to supplement or replace their Harrier fleets with the STOVL variant of

4324-407: The ability to rotate the nozzles slightly forwards did allow the aircraft to fly slowly backwards in the hover, which was widely used in British and American airshows. The wind direction is critical during VTOL manoeuvres because unless it enters the intake from straight ahead it will push the nose sideways as it turns to enter the intake (known as intake momentum drag). If not corrected immediately,

4416-438: The aircraft extremities, nose, tail and wingtips. Thrust from the engine can be temporarily syphoned to control the aircraft's pitch, roll and yaw before it is going fast enough for the elevators, rudder and ailerons to become effective. The Harrier has been described by pilots as "unforgiving" to fly. The aircraft is capable of forward flight (where it behaves like a fixed-wing aircraft above its stall speed) and VTOL (where

4508-419: The aircraft will roll out of control. The pilot has a wind vane in front of the windscreen to help keep pointing into the wind. The procedure for vertical takeoff involves facing the aircraft into the wind. The swivelling nozzles are pointed vertically downwards (thrust vector 90°) and the throttle is pushed to its maximum stop, at which point the aircraft leaves the ground. The throttle is adjusted until hovering

4600-445: 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 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

4692-419: The aircraft's service life to beyond 2025 due to a lack of funds for a replacement aircraft. An unusual feature of the Harrier family of aircraft is their use of two types of flight control to provide pitch, roll and yaw control: conventional control surfaces for wingborne flight, and a system of reaction control valves directing jets of bleed air from the high-pressure compressor of the engine out through

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4784-451: 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 the Bristol 450 sports prototype to class victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. In 1953, S.H. Arnolt,

4876-450: 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

4968-533: The conventional lift and control surfaces are ineffective) along with STOL . Accelerating and decelerating transitions between hovering and conventional flight required considerable skill and concentration on the part of the pilot, especially in crosswind conditions. Pilots for the combined UK/US/Germany trials on the Kestrel were first given several hours of helicopter tuition Royal Air Force pilots destined for Harrier squadrons were usually selected from those with single-seat fast-jet experience. On two occasions

5060-496: The conventional horizontal approach. In addition to military applications, the prospect of applying such technology to commercial airliners was also viewed with considerable interest by the mid-1950s, thus the value of developing viable vertical take-off systems was judged to be substantial. However, during this era, few companies envisioned that a VTOL aircraft could also be compatible with the characteristics of high performance military aircraft. During 1957, following an approach by

5152-516: The design engineer for this project, and took over as Bristol's chief designer when Coandă left 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

5244-424: The development and issuing of Requirement ASR 384, which sought a V/STOL aircraft for ground attack operations. During late 1965, the RAF placed an order for six pre-production P.1127 (RAF) aircraft. Around the same time as the RAF's interest in the concept, NATO proceeded to develop their own specification, NBMR-3 , which called for a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft; specific requirements included

5336-426: 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

5428-409: 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

5520-460: The effort to combine a strike aircraft and a fighter in a single aircraft, and trying to fit that same airframe to both of the services, was "unsound". On 2 February 1965, work on the P.1154 was cancelled by the new British government on grounds of cost at the point of prototype construction. Irrespective of work on the P.1154 programme, development had continued on the subsonic P.1127 evaluation aircraft. A total of nine aircraft, known as

5612-410: The expectation for the performance of such an aircraft to be equivalent to the conventional McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter. Specifications called for a supersonic V/STOL strike fighter with a combat radius of 460 kilometres (250 nmi), a cruise speed of Mach 0.92, and a dash speed of Mach 1.5. During the early 1960s, Hawker commenced work upon developing a supersonic version of

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5704-421: The extremities of the nose, tail, and at the wingtips during vectored thrust –borne flight and hover modes. The two systems are fully interlinked but air is not supplied to the reaction control valves during conventional wingborne flight. Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Bristol Engine Company The Bristol Aeroplane Company , originally

5796-619: The family of second-generation V/STOL jet multi-role aircraft . The American designation for this was the AV-8B Harrier II . On 12 December 1983, the first production AV-8B was delivered to the USMC. The AV-8B is primarily used for attack or multi-role tasks, typically operated from small aircraft carriers . The RAF also chose to procure the second generation of the British Aerospace-built (with McDonnell Douglas as subcontractor) Harrier II GR5/GR7/GR9 , which entered service in

5888-460: The former chief instructor at the Blériot flying school at Hendon : he 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

5980-474: The huge re-armament ordered by the British Government in May of that year. Bristol's most important contribution to the expansion of 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

6072-475: The largest single aircraft manufacturing unit in the world, with a floor area of nearly 25 hectares (2,691,000 square feet). During 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

6164-477: 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

6256-407: The manufacture of new Harriers concluded in 1997, the last remanufactured aircraft (Harrier II Plus configuration) was delivered in December 2003, ending the Harrier production line. The Harrier jump jet, though capable of taking off vertically, can do so only at less than its maximum loaded weight. In most cases a short take off is needed to lift the required amount of fuel and weapons needed for

6348-481: The mid-1980s. This model was also operated by several other NATO countries, including Spain and Italy. In December 1989, the first RAF squadron to be equipped with the Harrier II was declared operational. The British Harrier II was used by the RAF and later by the Royal Navy up to 2010, at which point the Harrier II and the Joint Force Harrier operational unit was disbanded as a cost-saving measure. Between 1969 and 2003, 824 Harrier variants were delivered. While

6440-422: The name 'Bristol' and this was formalized in 1920, when British and Colonial was liquidated and its assets transferred to 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

6532-615: The payload and range that can be achieved for a given thrust. For instance, the Harrier is incapable of taking off vertically with full weapons and fuel load. Hence V/STOL aircraft generally use a runway if it is available. I.e. short takeoff and vertical landing ( STOVL ) or conventional takeoff and landing ( CTOL ) operation is preferred to VTOL operation. V/STOL was developed to allow fast jets to be operated from clearings in forests, from very short runways, and from small aircraft carriers that would previously only have been able to carry helicopters . The main advantage of V/STOL aircraft

6624-528: 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,

6716-512: 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

6808-410: The production of an improved model in the form of the upgraded Sea Harrier FA2 ; this version entered operational service on 2 April 1993. The Sea Harrier was also procured by the Indian Navy , where the first Indian Sea Harriers entered squadron service during December 1983. As early as 1973, Hawker Siddeley and American aviation manufacturer McDonnell Douglas were jointly working on development of

6900-411: The relatively vulnerable outrigger undercarriage. Operationally, a near-vertical landing with some forward speed is preferred; this technique is called shipborne rolling vertical landing (SRVL). Rotating the vectored thrust nozzles to some angle other than rearwards during normal flight (to a maximum of 8-degree forward of vertical, i.e. 98 deg.) is called vectoring in forward flight , or "VIFFing". This

6992-528: 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 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

7084-498: The two training schools, as well as serving as demonstration machines; 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

7176-504: Was already a good working relationship between Bristol Aircraft and Cosmos, the Cosmos Jupiter having been first flown in 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,

7268-641: 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

7360-520: Was announced that the RAF and RN would retire their remaining Harriers by 2011, and in December 2010 the RAF's Harrier GR9s made their last operational flights. In June 2011, the MoD denied press reports that the aircraft were to be sold to the US Marine Corps for spares to support their AV-8B fleet. However, at the end of November 2011, Defence Minister Peter Luff announced the sale of the final 72 Harriers to

7452-461: 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 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

7544-465: 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

7636-603: 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 the same time as the termination, Bristol decided to focus on development of

7728-571: 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 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

7820-426: Was not capable of much further development and work soon was started on two new designs, 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 ,

7912-413: Was noted for its preference for steel airframes, using members built up from high-tensile steel strip rolled into flanged sections rather than 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

8004-554: 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 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

8096-416: 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 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

8188-534: 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 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

8280-542: Was the Bristol Bulldog fighter, which formed the mainstay of Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter force between 1930 and 1937, when 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

8372-498: 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)

8464-471: 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 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

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