The Bristol Monoplane (sometimes known as the 1911 Monoplane) was the first monoplane designed and built by the

British and Colonial 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 ...

Design and development

The single-seat monoplane was designed in 1911 by George Challenger and

Archibald Low Archibald Montgomery Low (17 October 1888 – 13 September 1956) developed the first powered drone aircraft. He was an English consulting engineer, research physicist and inventor, and author of more than 40 books. Low has been called the "fa ...

and two were built at Filton in February 1911. It used features from both the Bleriot (warping wings) and

Antionette Antionette is an alternate form of the French and Latin feminine given name Antoinette. It was among the top 2000 female baby names in the US from the late 19th century through the late 20th century. Notable people with this name include the follow ...

(triangular-section fuselage) designs. The Monoplane was powered by a 50 hp

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 with a two-bladed propeller, the landing gear was what later be called

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

with a tail-skid. No. 35 was sent to

Larkhill Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It lies about west of the centre of Durrington village and north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about north of Salisbury. The settlement ...

for testing before being exhibited at

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

in March 1911. No. 36 was displayed at

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in April 1911. No. 35 was damaged at Larkhill when it failed to take-off and was not repaired.

Specifications)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{Bristol aircraft 1910s British experimental aircraft

Monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Shoulder-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1911