The Bristol P.B.8, or Bristol-Coanda P.B.8', was an early British-built, Romanian-designed two-seat

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

trainer made by the

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 a ...

in 1914. Only one was completed, which was never flown.

Design and development

Romanian Henri Coandă, chief designer of the

, developed the P.B.8 as a

trainer to replace the early Bristol Boxkite at the Bristol flying school at Brooklands, it was the only biplane designed by Coanda. It was small biplane with equal span wings with ailerons on both the upper and lower wings. The small cockpit had room for two in tandem, although access to the rear seat was restricted by the upper wing. It inherited an unusual four-wheel landing gear from other Coanda designs like the T.B.8. The aircraft was powered by an

Gnome Lambda The Gnome 7 Lambda was a French designed, seven-cylinder, air-cooled rotary aero engine that was produced under license in Britain and Germany. Powering several World War I-era aircraft types it was claimed to produce from its capacity of al ...

engine fitted at the rear of the cockpit nacelle and driving a pusher propeller. The design was started November 1913 but its construction was a low priority for the company and the completed aircraft was not delivered to Brooklands until July 1914. The

Gnome A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

engine was requisitioned by the war office and removed from the aircraft before it had a chance to fly.

Specifications (T.B.8)

References

* {{Bristol aircraft 1910s British civil trainer aircraft Rotary-engined aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Biplanes P.B.8