Bristol Aircraft Since 1910

207 Pages·1988·171.02 MB·English

by  C.H. Barnes

\
BRISTOL
AIRCRAFT
SINCE
1910
C. H.BARNES
TherestoredBulldog,formerlyG-ABBB,flyingoverFiltonWor~safteritspresentation
totheShuttleworthTrustinJuly1961.
PUTNAM
42 GREAT RUSSELL STREET
LONDON
/
IN MEMORIAM
SIR G. STANLEY WHITE, Bt.
Founding Director, February 1910
Managing Director, 1911-1955
Deputy Chairman, 1955-1964
whose wise counsels guided his Company
throughout the events recorded in this
book.
© C.H. Barnes !964
PrintedandboundinGreatBritainfor
Putnam & Company Ltd
42 GreatRussellStreet,London,w.e.!
byWilliamClowes & SonsLtd, Beccles
Setin MonotypePlantin
Firstpublished1964
Contents
Acknowledgements 9
Introduction 11
History ofthe Company 13
Zodiac .. 45
" There be ofthem that have left a Boxkite 47
name behind them". Glider .. 54
Racing Biplane (1911) 55
ECCLESIASTICUS XLIV, 8. Monoplane (1911) 56
Biplane Type T 57
PrierMonoplanes 60
Gordon England Biplanes 66
Coanda Monoplanes 70
Coanda Two-seat Biplanes 76
Burney Flying Boats 86
Scouts A-D, S.S.A., G.B.1 and S.2A 91
T.T.A. and F.3A 101
F.2Aand F.2B 104
M.1A-C Monoplanes 120
M.R.1 Metal Biplane 126
Scouts E and F 130
F.2C and Badger 134
Braemar, Pullman and Tramp 138
Tourer 143
Babe 148
Bullet .. 151
Seely 154
Ten-seaters and Brandon 156
Bullfinch 161
M.1D Monoplane 164
Taxiplane andPrimary Trainers 166
Racer .. 170
Bloodhound 174
Jupiter-Fighter and Advanced Trainers 178
Greekand Bulgarian Tourers 183
Berkeley 186
Brownie 189
Type 92 193
Boarhound and Beaver 196
Bagshot 201
Badminton 203
Type 101 .. 207
BUlldog and Bullpup 211
7
------------
Type 109 232
Type 1l0A
235
Types 118 and 120
238
Four-gun Fighters
243
Bombay
249
High Altitude Monoplane
253
Types 142 and 143
257
Types 146, 147and 148
262
Blenheim, Bolingbroke and Bisley 266 Acknowledgements
Beaufort
283
Beaufighter
290
Type 159
308 The author acknowledges with gratitude the very generous contributions,
Buckingham, Brigand and Buckmas~~r
312 advice and encouragementgiven byhis colleagues throughoutthe Company;
Brabazon I
322 particularly he thanks the Chairman and Directors ofthe Bristol Aeroplane
Freighterand Wayfarer
330
Britannia Company Ltd. for so readily granting him permission to prepare this work
343
Helicopters for publication and allowing him unrestricted access to the Company's
360
Turbojets voluminous photographic and documentary archives. The original draft was
376
begun in 1946, with the approval ofthe late Herbert J. Thomas, whomade
AppendixA: Type Number List manyvaluablecommentsonthehistoryofthefirsttenyears. Othersnolonger
383
AppendixBo' Bristol Sequence Numbers " .. .. .. 389 with us who contributed first-hand reminiscences included the brothers
AppendixCo' A!rcraft built.byBristolbutnot ofBristolDesign 394 Frank and Arthur Coles, George Clephane and Gilbert Williams, while
AppendixD: AIrcraftofBnstolDesignbuiltbylicensees .. 395 amongthosenowlivinginretirementwhohavehelpedareCharlesBriginshaw,
Arnold Clinton, Frank Davey, Sir Roy Fedden, Jack Gommo, Reg Hearder,
Bibliography
398 Cy Holmes, Ernie Knight, Fred Mayer, Bill Morgan, Harold Soloman and
Clifford TillSon. Ofthose still with the Company, special thanks are due to
Index ..
401 Cyril F. Uwins, O.B.E., A.F.C., Chief Test Pilot for thirty years and later
Deputy Chairman,who has readandapprovedthepresenttext,whichhehas
enriched by may detailed accounts of events not otherwise on record. For
adviceoncommercialaspects the authoris verygratefulto A. W. Barr, C. S.
Cowles and W. Slatter. Over the past twenty years nearly everybody in the
firm with any material to contribute has either givenit gladly or been brow
beatenbytheauthorintodoingso;itisimpossibletonameallwhohavehelped
and invidious to attempt any further selection from among so many. Their
contributions could not, however, have been weldedinto a balanced and co
herent whole without the good offices ofvarious members ofthe Contracts,
Sales and Service, Flight Test, Full-scale Layout, Secretarial, Public Rela
tions, PrintingandPhotographicDepartments.
Outside the Company, the author owes much to the editors and staffs of
Flight, The Aeroplane and Air Pictorial, and the librarians and staffs ofthe
Royal Aeronautical Society, the Royal Aero Club, the Science Museum, the
ImperialWar Museumand the Royal Aircraft Establishment. Assistance has
been generously given from time to time by Bristol-Siddeley Engines Ltd.,
Canadair Ltd., D. Napier and Sons Ltd., Rolls-Royce Ltd., Vickers-Arm
strongs (Aircraft) Ltd. and Westland Aircraft Ltd.; by B.0.A.C. and EI Al
Israel Airlines and by many serving and former members ofthe Royal Navy
and Royal Air Force. Special thanks are due, too, for the valuable help
8 r* 9
received over many years from C. F. Andrews, L. L. Bridgman, P. W.
Brooks, J. M. Bruce, C. W. Cain, H. F. Cowley, C. H. Gibbs-Smith, A. J.
Jackson, Hans Kofoed, L. E. Opdycke, E. A. Ritaranta, F. G. Swanborough,
J. W. R. Taylor and G. Wansbrough-White, all ofwhom share the author's
enthusiasmfor elucidatingaeronauticalhistory.
Finally there are those 'but for whom .. .': the author's wife, who Ufi
failinglysuppliedcriticism, consolationand coffee,as required; his colleagues
Ellen Summers, John Jupe and Ken Winkley, whose excellent drawings Introduction
enhance the text; and Jacqueline Welch, who undertook the burden of
typing out the manuscript; in this connection must also be remembered Like most successful enterprises, the Bristol Aeroplane Company grew
Miss M. G. 1. Morgan, who performed a similar service in 1948 for the from small beginnings. It was not the first to manufacture aeroplanes in
unpublished Company History.
Britain, being antedated by Short Brothers Limited and Handley Page
C. H. B. Limited, but was distinguished by the very ample financial and commerc~al
Kendleshire, Bristol.
footing on whichitwas placedatits inception byits founder andfirst Charr
May, 1964.
man, Sir George White, Bt., the millionaire Bristol-born pioneer ofelectric
tramways. Whileotherfirms beganas syndicates ofsportsmenandengineers,
having a common interest in flying but little idea ofbusiness organisation,
and were often on the verge ofbankruptcy, Sir Georgeformed his company
Author's Note. Since itis impracticable touse all the numerous illustra with the express intention ofdeveloping reliable aeroplanes capableofuseful
tions available, thephotographs anddrawings inthis book have beenchosen andprofitableoperationinbothpeaceandwar.
wherever possible, so as to ?e complementary to those already published i~ Themannerinwhichheannouncedtheenterprise,andtheconsternationhe
other PUTNAM AeronautIcal Books, to which the reader is referred for caused among his less imaginative business colleagues, have been well
alternative views.
described by John Pudney in Bristol Fashion, which admirably conveys the
atmosphere ofthat heroic age in which the first 'Bristol' aeroplanes began
flying. Itis the purpose ofthis bookto record the design philosophy, manu
facture, performanceandachievements ofthemultitudeofBristolaeroplanes
which have spanned the half-century since then. Indeed a book ofthis size
cannotcontainmorethanthebarefacts oftherecord, evenifthemanufacture
ofaeroplanes werethewholeofthestory. Butalthoughaeroplanes have been
the continuing product, they have not always been the only one or even the
mostimportant one; nor has manufacturebeenthe Company's soleactivity.
From the first year ofits existence the Company set up flying schools at
Brooklands and Larkhill which provided a standard of tuition unmatched
between 1910 and 1914. In 1923 the Bristol flying school was restarted at
FiltontotrainR.A.F. Reservepilots,andthis developedintomanagementby
the Company ofboth Elementary and Instructors' Flying Training Schools,
which remained active until 1953. Experimental work also began at an early
date,and oneofthemostinterestingprojects ofthose days was the collabora
tionbetweenthe Companyand Lt. Charles Burney, R.N., whose novelideas
onsea-goingnavalaircraftledtoaseriesofhydrofoilexperiments. Evenmore
imaginativewas Burney'sproposalfor anaerialtorpedotobefiredfromlarge
calibresmooth-borenavalguns,andagreatdeal ofpioneerworkwas doneby
the Company onthis project also.
During the 1914-1918 War the Company's output was enormously
expanded, and when hostilities ceasedthe Directors courageously decided to
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II
diversifytheproducts,whilecontinuingaircraftdevelopment;theyundertook
alargeand successful coach-buildingprogrammefor both Bristol Tramways
History of the Company
and Armstrong-Siddeley Motors, also the design ofa small light car and a
'skimmer' or air-propelled hydroplane vessel for use in shallow water. FORMATION OF THE COMPANY
These tentative ventures were abandoned when in 1920 the Company took
NomagicisclaimedforthefamousnameofBristol,norindeedhastheBoard
over the defunct Cosmos Engineering Company, whose technical directol'",
ofTradeeverallowedittoberegisteredas atrademark. Itwas probablywith
Roy Fedden, had designed and begun manufacturing the air-cooled radial
such registration in mind that Sir George White formed, on 19 February
Jupiter and Lucifer aero-engines. From that point the Bristol Aero-Engine
1910, not one but four companies;-
Department became the major production unit in the Company, winning
The Bristol Aeroplane Company Limited;
world markets first from the Napier Lion and then from the Armstrong
The Bristol Aviation Company Limited;
Siddeley Jaguar, finally in 1959 to merge with its former rival, Armstrong
The British and Colonial Aeroplane Company Limited; and
SiddeleyMotors Ltd.,tobecomeBristol-SiddeleyEnginesLimited.
The British and Colonial Aviation Company Limited.
Another of the Company's activities was the Armament Department,
Well versed in companylaw, he regarded the making ofaeroplanes as one
formed in 1935, from which, when war ended in1945,emergedtwofurther
object and the flying of them as quite another. He also recognised that
products-motor cars and plastics. Then there were prefabricated houses, premature adoption of the name 'Bristol' in a company's title might well
developing into the export ofcomplete schools, churches and hospitals; but
prejudice alater application for its registration as atrad~ mark. So he ch?se
th~ stories ofall these enterprises would fill several volumes ofthis size, so
to begin trading with the third ofthe four new compames~ ~he others beI~g
thISbookmustbeaboutBristolaircraftonly,for spacewillpermitnomore.
providedwith onlyanominal capital of£100 each. The Bntlsh and Colomal
Aeroplane Company, however, began operations with no less than £25,000;
all the money was subscribed by Sir George White, his brother Samuel and
hisson G. StanleyWhite,sothatalltherisks weretakenbythefamily alone;
indeed it would have been useless to appeal for public subscriptions, for,
althoughthelocalpresswelcomedthenewenterprise, Sir George's colleagues
on Bristol Stock Exchange quite frankly called him mad. Sir George, his
brother and his son were named as Directors, with himselfas Chairman. At
theirfirstmeeting,attheregisteredofficeatClareStreet,Bristol,on28Febru
ary, Sir George's nephews Henry White Smith and Sydr;ey Smith were
appointed Secretary and Manager ofthe new Company; Emile Stern was
appointed the Company's agent in Paris, and an agreement licensing the
Company to manufacture aeroplanes designed by the Societe Zodiac was
formally signed.
FactorypremisesweremadeavailablebyleasingfromtheBristolTramways
Companytheiromnibus depotandrepairshop,comprisingtwoironsheds,at
theirnorthernterminusatFilton,somefour milesfromthecitycentre. Filton
House, in private occupation until August 1911, was then acquired by the
FiltonWorksinOctober1910.
Tramways CompanyandmergedwiththefactoryandleasedtotheAeroplane
Company as general offices. The two sheds which comprised the whole
original factory were still in use fifty years later as part ofthe main machine
shop,and can beseennearthe right-handedgeofthefrontispiece.
Sydney Smith, accompanied by Sir George's youngest nephew Herbert
J. Thomas, went to Paris to examinethe designs and methods ofthe Societe
Zodiac, and arranged for a Zodiac biplane to be exhibited at the Olympia
Aero Show in March. This was received at Filton by the newly appointed
Engineer and Works Manager George H. Challenger (son of the General
Manager of the Tramways Company) and his assistant Collyns Pizey (a
12 13
Onlytwo Army officers, Lts. J. W. Dunne and LancelotD. L. Gibbs, had
former Tramways apprentice later in charge at the generating station at the so far been officially authorised to take part in flying trials (at Blair Atholl),
Counterslip, Bristol). It had been hoped also to obtain a Zodiac monoplane andwhenthesewereabandonedGibbs hadbeenpermittedto continueathis
for theShow,butthis was neversentfromParis. ownexpense,whichhedidatChfllons,wherehemetCapt. BertramDicks?n,
AftertheShowtheZodiacwassentto Brooklands,wheretheCompanyhad
on furlough from arduous consular service in Persia. Dickson took to flymg
leased a shed on the flying ground. Unfortunately it refused to leave the
likeaduckto water andwas soonchallengingthe Frenchpremierpilots over
ground, and ~dmond, the French pilot engaged to fly it, recommended its
their own flying grounds. At the Bournemouth meeting inJulyhecarriedoff
a~andonment ~ favour ofan improved version ofthe Henri Farman type. manyfirstprizes onhis Farmanand also met Sir George White,whoseviews
FIvemore Zodiacs had already been started at Filton butthe Directors took
on building up British aviation were the same as his own. When the War
the decision to discard them as part ofthe price to'be paid for experience.
Nevertheless, ~hey claimed damages against the Societe Zodiac for failing to
mak~ goodtherrwarrant~tofly, andthelicencewas cancelledonpaymentby
Zodiac of15,000 francs 10 compensation. Prior to this, however, the Zodiac
trade mark had been adopted as that ofthe British and Colonial Company
andfor atimeappearedontheCompany'sletterhead.
Pioneersinconference:
~bout this time the ~rench 50 h.p. Gnome engine had just become
~vailable for export, and Emile Stern secured one ofthe first for installation SirGeorgeWhiteand
10.~hallenge~'sFarman-type biplane, also the Company's sole agency in the CoLS.F.Codyat
LarkhillinAugust1912.
Bn:Ish EmpIre for the Gnome engine. Although the Farman brothers com
plamed that the Company had infringed their patents, no court action was
taken; ~o doubt they recognised that the success ofthe Bristol biplane could
d~nothin~butenhancetheirownreputation, andtheyalways remainedmost
fnendly WIth the Directors.
There was plentyof~onfidenceinthe new biplane, and onewas offeredto
Capt. R. F. Scott for ~IS Antarctic Expedition; Scottwiselydeclined,for no
aeroplane.was.at t.hat tl~e a~ywhere near reliable enough for such atask. In
thesameImagmatIvesl?lf1tSrr GeorgeWhitewroteto Mr.Haldane, Secretary
Office, forced at last by public opinion to take official notice of aviation,
ofStatefor War, offenngto placethe Company's entireresources at thedis
invited four pilots, including Dickson, to co-operate in the Autumn Manre
posal o~t.he War ?fficeand toabstainfrom allbusiness withforeignpowers.
uvres he chose a Bristol biplane, his example being byfollowedLt.Robert
TheMIUlster~eclmed th~ o~er and preferredthe Companyto developbusi- .
Loraine (later to become famous as an actor-manager). Their exploits were
ness abroad WIthout restnctlOn; nevertheless, the WarOfficeagreed to lease ~so mark~d
vividly reported bythe late Harry Harper, butthe occasion the
to the.Company a site and flying rights over2,284acresoflandat Lark Hill
first use in this country (though just antedated by McCurdy m Amenca) of
on Salisb~y Plain, wherein June the Company erectedthree iron sheds.
air to ground radio communication, using a spark and coherer apparatus
The l?lrectors realised that sound manufacture was not enough and
designedbyT. ThorneBakerofCricklewood.
prospectlve purchaser~ of aeroplanes would need to be taught to fly. The
After this demonstration of the value of aerial reconnaissance, the War
Brook~andsand Larkhlll sheds wereideal nuclei for flying schools, and from ~.
Office grudgingly extended permission for officers to fly, and Lt. H.
Larkhill?n30 July 1910Edmondflew the Boxkitefor thefirst time. Theuse
Maitlandand Capt. H. F. Woodenrolledon21 September as thefirst pupils
ofLarkhillas aflying schoolwas opposedbecauseofallegedloss ofamenities
ofthe 'Bristol' schoolat Brooklands,whereArchibald R. Lowwas manager.
at Stoneheng~,.and an undertaking was given to site buildings so as not to .
ThefirstpupiltogainaRoyalAeroClubcertificateatBrooklandswasBristol
ob~cure the nsmg sun on Midsummer Day. As more hangars came to be
born Leslie Macdonald on 12 November, who received no. 28. Low and
built.the! were arrangedin.two groups, the space between, 'Sun Gap', often an~
Sydney Smith quickly followed with certificates nos. 33 an.d 34, Capt.
provmgmvaluable to apupil compelledtolandwhileapproachingthe sheds.
Wood gained no. 37, while at Larkhill Edmond's first pupil to qualify was
Although~roo~landsattractedmanypupilsfrom London, Larkhillhadsome
Joseph Hammond, a New Zealander, who received certificateno: 32. Mean
advantag~m bemgnear Bulfordand Tidworthcamps, thus bringingaviation ~an,
while Dickson, fulfilling along-standing engagementto fly at was all
tothenot~ceof:heWarOfficefromwithintheArmy,forsubalternsandsenior
butfatallyinjuredinthefirst recordedmid-air collision,fromwhIchhemade
officersalikeqUlcklytookaninterestinthenewactivityoverhead.
15
14
a~raculousbutnevercompleterecovery,tobecometheCompany'stechnical schools, including Herbert Thomas, aged only 18, the youngest qualified
advIserand Londonand ContinentalrepresentativeinJanuary 1911. Fortwo aviator in the country. Sixteen biplanes had been built, and by using the
mo:-e years ~e contributed much to the Company's success, although not as prime 10% oftheTramways Company'stimberstocks,leavin~therema~nder
apilot, buthishealthbegantofailinthesummerof1913andhediedin Scot for the coachbuilders, they could Incorporatethe finest materIals and stIll be
landon28 September.
soldfor £1,100apiece,ofwhichthe Gnomeengineaccountedfor £600. Such
excellentvalue earned a special tribute from the Belgian aviator Christiaens,
who chose two Boxkites in preferenceto Farmans for a tour ofMalaya and
South Africa. He later sold one to John Weston of Pretoria, who, being
already a qualified balloonist, became the first holder ofboth the aeronaut's
andaviator's certificates ofthe RoyalAero Club.
In spite ofChristiaens' approval, however, the War Office orderedits first
twO aeroplanes from Henri Farman and Louis Paulhan, and it was not until
14 March 1911, after the Russian contract had been made public, that Mr.
Haldaneannounced the purchase offour Boxkites,thefirstBritishaeroplanes
for the Army Air Battalion. Late in 1910, Capt. H. F. Wood had demon
stratedaBoxkite at the Royal Aero Club's ground at Eastchurch in the hope
ofstartingathird Bristol school adjacent to Chatham and Sheerness, butthe
Admiraltyacceptedan offer by George Cockburnto instructNavalofficers at
Eastchurch,usingbiplanessuppliedbyShortBrothers.
EastchurchinJanuary 1911 sufferedthe loss ofCecil Gracein his attempt
towinthedeForestPrize;badweatheralsocausedthediscomfitureofseveral
other competitors, includingthe popular hero Claude Grahame-White, who
quicklydisposed,inminorcrashes,oftwoBoxkiteslenttohimfortheattempt.
In spite ofthese misfortunes the Company's progress continued, and on 18
January 1911 Stanley White was appointed Managing Director and the
Pioneer~in fiel~:
the EdmondinBoxkiteNo.8atLanarkinAugust1910,with(1.tor.)Crisp,Frank
oles,LesueMacdonald,CollynsPizey,G.H. Challenger,BendallandBriginshaw.
ByNovember 1910,Boxkiteswere being builtat Filtonattherateoftwo a
w~ek, and two well-known French pilots, Henri JulIerot and Maurice
Teta:d, had been.engaged to test them. On 14 November a spectacular
public den:onstratIon was given from a temporarytenthangaronDurdham
w~ence
Down, BrIstol, Tetard took Stanley White and other privileged
passengers.~ver Clifton and the Suspension Bridge. This was arehearsal for
more ~bltIOUS.demonstrations overseas, and in December two missions,
r:-v
each wIth 0 bIplanes, were dispatched to Indiaand Australia, respectively,
~he
formerInchargeofFarnallThurstan,withJulIerotas pilot,andthelatter
c~arge
In. ofSydney Smith, with Hammond and Macdonald as pilots. These
mIssIons. arouse~ the greatest interest, although few sales resulted, their
outstandIng achIevement being the introduction to flying of Capt. Sefton
~r~nck~r,.
who was to become such a dynamic figure in both military and
cIvIl aVIatIOn.
On 15 November Henry White Smithreportedtohis DirectorsthatEmile
S.tern had.successfully negotiated the sale to the Russian Government of
eIghtBoxkites,butthis news wasnotmadepublicuntilfour monthslater.
By the end of 1910 seven pupils had earned their brevets at the Bristol
HenriJullerotandStanleyWhiteatDurdhamDown,14November1910.
16
17
short career with the Company, he clearly showed what a Bristol Boxkite
couldachievewhenusedregularlyas across-countryvehicle.
Though successful, the Boxkite was soon eclipsed by faster, lighter and
handiermonoplanes ofequalpower,andtheDirectorsw~reful.ly awareoft~e
advantagesofspeedbothintransportandinwarfare.TomvestIgat~thePO~Sl­
bilityofalternativedesigns, ChallengerandPizeywerechargedWIthfOrml?g
anexperimentaldepartment,andtheirfirststepwas.tolearntofly atL~rkhIll,
under Tetard's instruction. Pizey showed such aptltude that he remamed as
aninstructorandtook chargeofthe Larkhillschoolwhen Tetardret~rnedto
France. MeanwhileLow'sabilityas amathematicianhadbeenre~oglllseda~d
he joined Challenger at Filton in place ofPizey; at the.same tlme Gabnel
Voisin was retained as technical consultant, and GrandseIgn: also c?llabora
ted. A monoplane and asmall biplane were designed and bUllt at Filton an~
shown at the 1911 OlympiaAero Show, but no real progress was.mad~ untJ!
Pierre Prier, an outstanding Bleriotpilot and enginee~,cameto Filtonm the
spring of 1911 to design a fast monoplane for ~ntry m the Gordon.Bennett
CupRace. Fromthissingle-seatersprangafamIly oftwo-seaters whIch were
built and soldabroad in numbers until they were superseded by the Coanda
monoplanes of 1912. Both Capt. Dickson ~nd Farnall T~urstan helped to
improve the Prier monoplanes, by arrangmg demonstra;lOns ~or overseas
customers and suggesting new features to meet customers specIal problems
andpreferences.
LarkhillFlyingSchoolphotographedfromaBoxkitebyStanleyWhitein1911.
Company's capital was increased to £50,000. The Filton factory by then
e~ployed80.men and had been enlarged to provide floor space to allowfive Flyinginstruction, 1911: (I.) Solo onaBoxkLitaerkahtiBll.rooklands;(r.) DualonaPriermonoplaneat
aIrcraftatatImeto belaiddown.
The Bristol flying schools, using Boxkites for primary ins:ruction and
Both Brooklands and Larkhill attracted many pupils, and Maurice
T~buteau, Priermonoplanesfor advancedwork, hadbeensosuccessfuldunng 1911that
who had recently flown across the Pyrenees and had gone on to
on 30 December the Company's capital was again doubled, to £100~000, to
wmtheCoupeMichelindeFrance,wasengaged,togetherwithVersepuyand
cope with the demand for new aeroplanes. In October 1911 the DIrectors
Robert Grandseigne, to augment the flying staff. Afew weeks later Douglas
had written to both the War Office and the Admiralty offering to undertake
Graham Gilmour joined the Company as demonstration pilot, having
andcompletewithinsixmonthsthetuitionof250armyoffic~rsand250~aval
already been lent a Boxkite in which to install a borrowed E.N.V. engine to
officers at specially low and advantageous rates; both serVIces had declIned
co.mpetefor the British Michelin Cup of1910,wonthatyear by S. F. Cody.
the offer but the War Office granted the meagre sum of£75 to volunteers
Gilmour was the most daring and skilful British pilot ofthe day, and his
suitableforpostingtotheArmyAirBattalion,tobepaidafterth:yhadgain~d
~an~uvres weretheenvyanddelightofthewholeBrooklandsfraternity, but
their Royal Aero Club certificatesattheir own expense. Ev:enWIthouto~cIal
hIS dIsregardforpettyrestrictionslaterbroughthiminto conflictwiththelaw
support, theBristolschoolshadtrained 53outofthe 109pIlotswho qualIfied
and at the end of1911 the Directors terminated his agreement; afew weeks
l~ter inBritainin 1911,five times asmanyastheoutputofthenextmostsuccessful
he fe!l victim to the structural failure ofamonoplane, in which he was
schools those ofGrahame-White and Hewlett & Blondeau at Hendon.
kIlled dunng one ofhis least ostentatious flights. Nevertheless, during his Grea~er
interestin aviation meant that more attention was being paidto it
18
19
in the older-established branches of engineering, and late in 1910 Vickers
Sons and Maxim Limited had acquired a licence to manufacture Esnault
Pelterie monoplanes and had appointed Capt. H. F. Wood as their aviation
manager. He immediately set about recruiting technical staff, among them
George Challenger, Archibald Low and Leslie Macdonald. Tetard and
Versepuy had decided to return to France when their original contracts
expired,andwerefollowedlaterin1911 byTabuteauandPrier,sotherewere
severalvacanciesatFiltonfor bothpilotsanddesignersbytheendoftheyear.
HenriCoanda,FrankBarnwellandLt.C.D.BurneywithX.2atFilton,1912.
Coanda remained in charge ofgeneral design policy until he returned to
RumaniainOctober 1914andtookoverbiplanedesignafter GordonEngland
resigned in the spring of 1913. Barnwell concentrated solely on Burney's
projects until the end of 1913, when he and Busteed collaborated in the
creation ofthe first Bristol Scout-a classicdesign which marked him as one
oftheworld'sforemost aeronauticalengineers andsetthepatternfor thelong
line of Bristol prototypes which stemmed from his drawing board until his
untimelydeathin1938.BarnwellwasacontemporaryofGordonEnglandand
wasappointedtohisspecialisedpostbeforeCoandajoinedthe Company.
Atfirsttheschools at Brooklands and Larkhillwerefilled byprivatepupils
ofmanynationalities,butsoontheirreports broughtpurchasingcomInissions
toviewthe Company'sproductsandfacilities,andby 1912Bristolpilotswere
CollynsPizeyonT-typebiplaneinCircuitofBritainRace,July1911.
regularly demonstrating their mounts at the military centres of France,
They were .quickly filled, the new pilots including James Valentine, Harry Spain, Italy, Germany and Rumania, with such success that not only were
Busteed,EncGordonEngland,HowardPixtonandH. R. Fleming. Ofthese, Bristol aeroplanes ordered in quantity but schools ofmilitary aviation were
GordonEnglandshowedaptitudeas adesigner,andwasallowedhis head. established on the Bristol pattern. Thus, in February 1912, schools were
. Meanwhile, Sir George White, always withakeen eyefor talent, had been formed simultaneously at Madrid and at Halberstadt in Germany. Bristol
Impressed .by a highly original design by a Rumanian engineer, Henri monoplanes were in use at Malpensa in Italy in April, and a new school on
Coanda;thIS aeroplaneemployedaductedfaninsteadofanairscrewandhad Bristol lines was opened at Mirafiore in August. At home Mr. Haldane had
manyotheringenious features. Coandawas invitedto Filton, andinJanuary received a peerage and his successor Col. Seely expanded the Army Air
1912was appointed 'cheftechnique' to developandimprovethePriermono Battalion into the Royal Flying Corps with its own Central Flying School.
planes which had been so successful. He worked independently of Gordon The Corps was commanded by Col. Sir Alexander Bannerman, who had
England, who was engaged on biplane design, and neither Coanda nor learnedto fly atthe Company's Brooklands schoolin April, when the Corps
England had any contact with a third highly secret design office, set up in had81 certificatedofficers,50ofthemfromBristolschools.
Dec.ember 19.11,whosesolestaffatfirst consistedofFrankBarnwell,amarine Althoughthe SpanishschoolatCuatrosVientos was organisedbythearmy
engmeer tramed on Clydeside, and his assistant Clifford Tinson. Their and commanded by Capt. Barron, it was intended to equip it entirely with
duti~s:wereto collaboratewith Lt. Charles Burney, R.N., inthe development Bristolaeroplanes, and EricHarrison, whohadcometoBristolfromAustralia
ofhIS Ideas for sea-going naval aircraft oforiginal design, for which patents with Harry Busteed in 1911, was appointed ChiefInstructor. In Germany a
weretakenoutjointlybyBurneyandtheCompany. different arrangement was made, and on 28 February the Deutsche Bristol-
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