The Bristol T.B.8, or Bristol-Coanda T.B.8 was an early

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 ...

built 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 ...

and designed by the Romanian

Henri Coandă Henri Marie Coandă (; 7 June 1886 – 25 November 1972)''Flight'' 1973 was a Romanian inventor, aerodynamics pioneer, and builder of an experimental aircraft, the Coandă-1910 described by Coandă in the mid-1950s as the world's first jet, a co ...

. Fifty four Bristol T.B.8s were built, being mainly used as a trainer. A small number of Bristol T.B.8s were briefly used as

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s at the start of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

by the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

Design and development

Romanian

, chief designer of the

, developed the Bristol T.B.8 as a biplane conversion of his previously designed

Bristol-Coanda Monoplane The Bristol Coanda Monoplanes were a series of monoplane trainers designed by the Romanian designer Henri Coandă for the British company British and Colonial Aeroplane Company. Several versions of the plane were built from 1912 onwards with ...

. The conversion was made to meet an order from the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

, with the Bristol T.B.8 first flying on 12 August 1913. This aircraft was tested with both wheeled

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

and floats. The Bristol T.B.8 was a single- engined, two-seat biplane, with two-bay wings and a slender

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

. It was powered by a variety of rotary engines, including 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 ...

and Le Rhône engines with power ranging from 50 hp Gnomes to 100 hp

Gnome Monosoupape The ''Monosoupape'' ( French for single-valve), was a rotary engine design first introduced in 1913 by Gnome Engine Company (renamed Gnome et Rhône in 1915). It used a clever arrangement of internal transfer ports and a single pushrod-operated ...

. Early Bristol T.B.8s used

wing warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposite direc ...

, with later production aircraft being fitted with

ailerons An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in Flight dynamics, roll (or ...

. Bristol T.B.8s were normally equipped with a distinctive four wheel

. The Bristol T.B.8 was produced by both the conversion of existing Coanda-Bristol Monoplanes and the manufacturing of new aircraft. TB8 bombs

One Bristol T.B.8 was fitted with a prismatic

Bombsight A bombsight is a device used by military aircraft to drop bombs accurately. Bombsights, a feature of combat aircraft since World War I, were first found on purpose-designed bomber aircraft and then moved to fighter-bombers and modern tactical ...

in the front

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

and a cylindrical bomb carrier in the lower forward fuselage, capable of carrying twelve 10 lb (4.5 kg) bombs, which could be dropped singly or as a salvo as required. This aircraft was displayed at the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

''Salon de l'Aéronautique'' and evaluated by the French military before being purchased by the

Royal Navy Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

Operational history

Bristol T.B.8s were purchased for use both by the Royal Naval Air Service and the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

, with the Royal Flying Corp's Bristol T.B.8s being transferred to the Royal Navy Air Service shortly after the start of World War I. Three Bristol T.B.8s, including the aircraft displayed at the Paris Air Show in December 1913, were sent to France following the outbreak of World War I, serving with a Royal Navy Air Service squadron commanded by

Charles Rumney Samson Air Commodore Charles Rumney Samson, (8 July 1883 – 5 February 1931) was a British naval aviation pioneer. He was one of the first four officers selected for pilot training by the Royal Navy and was the first person to fly an aircraft fr ...

. One of these Bristol T.B.8s executed a bombing attack on German gun batteries at Middelkerke Belgium on 25 November 1914, with the attack being the only bombing sortie flown by the Bristol T.B.8. The Bristol T.B.8 was considered too slow for frontline operations, and was relegated to training operations, serving until 1916.

Variants

;G.B.75 :The Romanian government was pleased with the Bristol T.B.8 and placed an order for an improved version, for which they provided a 75 hp (56 kW)

engine. The resulting aircraft, designated the G.B.75 was significantly different in appearance, with a streamlined front fuselage and rounded cowling, enclosing the rotary engine. The characteristic Coanda fin was replaced with an unbalanced rudder plus fin. Maximum speed was increased to 80 mph (130 km/h). It first flew on 7 April 1914 and required the removal of the spinner and an increase in stagger to adjust the centre of pressure. Despite the alterations the Bristol G.B.75 was declared ready for service in June of 1914. The altered Bristol G.B.75s were requisitioned by the Royal Flying Corps at

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

, never being delivered to Romania, and being powered by a standard Gnome engine. ;T.B.8H :One Bristol Coanda Monoplane was converted into the T.B.8 prototype and was fitted with twin floats as the T.B.8H "Hydro" variant.

Operators

; *

Romanian Air Corps The Romanian Air Corps or Aviation Corps (RAC) ( ro, Corpul de Aviație) was the air arm of the Romanian army until the formation of the Romanian Air Force. It was established on 1 April 1913 as the Military Aeronautics Service () and subordinat ...

- 10 aircraftRonald L. Tarnstrom, Trogen Books, 1998, ''Balkan Battles'', p. 326 ; *

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

Specifications (T.B.8)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bristol Tb.8 1910s British military trainer aircraft 1910s British bomber aircraft Rotary-engined aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes TB.8 Aircraft first flown in 1913