The Bristol Type 146 was a British single-seat, eight-gun
fighter 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 ...
prototype built to a mid-1930s
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
contract. Powered by a radial engine, it was outclassed by
Merlin
Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...
-engined fighters and only one was built.
Design and development
The Bristol 146 was built by Bristol Aircraft to an Air Ministry order for a prototype single-seat eight-gun fighter meeting
Air Ministry specification F.5/34 issued in 1934. The specification further called for an air-cooled engine for overseas use. The Type 146 incorporated the experience of metal-skinned monoplanes that Bristol had gained with the earlier
Type 133, but was quite different in detail.
The Type 146 was a low-wing
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...
monoplane with tapering wings of moderate
dihedral on the outer sections. The wings were stress skinned with
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
with only the
aileron
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 roll (or movement around ...
s and tail control surfaces fabric-covered. The two sets of four
Browning machine guns were housed in the outer wing sections. The
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 ...
was mounted about halfway along the centre section and retracted cleanly inwards into the wing; the tailwheel was also fully retractable. In contrast to the Type 133, the
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 ...
was a
monocoque
Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell".
First used for boats, ...
structure. The cockpit was enclosed with a one-piece sliding canopy.
The Type 146 was designed to be powered by a
supercharged
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement.
The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...
Bristol Perseus
The Bristol Perseus was a British nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial aircraft engine produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1932. It was the first production sleeve valve aero engine.
Design and development
In late 1925 ...
sleeve valve
The sleeve valve is a type of valve mechanism for piston engines, distinct from the usual poppet valve. Sleeve valve engines saw use in a number of pre-World War II luxury cars and in the United States in the Willys-Knight car and light truck. ...
radial engine, but this was not ready and the older, lower-horsepower
Mercury IX was used instead.
Testing
The Type 146 flew for the first time on 11 February 1938 in the hands of
Cyril Uwins
Cyril Frank Uwins OBE, AFC, FRAeS (1896–1972) was a British test pilot who worked for Bristol Aeroplane Company, where he made the first flight of 58 types of aircraft. On 16 September 1932 he broke the world aeroplane height record by climbin ...
and was flight tested satisfactorily before going on to be assessed against the F.5/34 specification by the
Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment
The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) was a research facility for British military aviation from 1918 to 1992. Established at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, the unit moved in 1939 to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where its work ...
at
RAF Martlesham Heath
Royal Air Force Martlesham Heath or more simply RAF Martlesham Heath is a former Royal Air Force station located southwest of Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. It was active between 1917 and 1963, and played an important role in the development of ...
in April 1938. Its competitors there were the
Gloster F.5/34, the
Martin-Baker MB2
The Martin-Baker MB 2 was a British private-venture fighter prototype based on a simple basic structure that had been developed in the earlier MB 1 civil aircraft. Although briefly evaluated as a fighter by the Royal Air Force, the MB 2 was li ...
and the
Vickers Venom
The Vickers Type 279 Venom was a British low-wing monoplane single-seat, single-engined, eight-gun fighter aircraft. It was fast and manoeuvrable but its Bristol Aquila radial engine was underpowered. Together with other designs built to the same ...
.
Though the Type 146 met the specification neither it nor any of the other competing designs was taken into production. The RAF believed that the future of British fighter design was with the emerging
Rolls-Royce Merlin
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later ...
-engined aircraft (Specification F.36/34) which had more power and cleaner aerodynamics.
The second Type 146 prototype was cancelled, while K5119 continued to fly.
On 28 May 1938, following an
Empire Air Day
Empire Air Day was an annual air show open to the public held at Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom in the 1930s. According to a speech on by Anthony Muirhead in the House of Commons recorded in ''Hansard'', "The idea of Empire Air Day ...
display at
Filton Aerodrome
Filton Airport or Filton Aerodrome was a private airport in Filton and Patchway, within South Gloucestershire, north of Bristol, England.
Description
The airfield was bounded by the A38 road to the east, and the former London to Avonmouth r ...
, the sole Type 146 struck a "set-piece" display while taxying and was damaged beyond economic repair. It was the last single-engined fighter to be built by Bristol.
Specifications
Notes
References
*
*
*
"Bristol 146." ''Control Column'', Official Organ of the British Aircraft Preservation Council, Volume 12, No. 6, August/September 1978.
{{Bristol aircraft
1930s British fighter aircraft
Type 146
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1938