The Bristol Type 172 was a 1940s proposed British long range four-engined bomber project. Although work was carried out on designing experimental half-scale variants, none were built and the project was abandoned.

Design and development

In October 1946 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 ...

tendered a design to the British

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 ...

for a high-speed long-range bomber with four turbojet engines.Barnes 1988, pp.376-377 Designated ''Type 172'', it was liked by Air Staff, who asked the company to build a smaller half-scale

Rolls-Royce Nene The Rolls-Royce RB.41 Nene is a 1940s British centrifugal compressor turbojet engine. The Nene was a complete redesign, rather than a scaled-up Rolls-Royce Derwent"Rolls-Royce Aero Engines" Bill Gunston, Patrick Stephens Limited 1989, , p.111 w ...

-powered single-seat aircraft, the Type 174, to the same geometric design with a 45 degree wing sweep. On 23 July 1947, the

issued Specification E.8/47 ("Prototype Flying Models to

Operational Requirement An Operational Requirement, commonly abbreviated OR, was a United Kingdom (UK) Air Ministry document setting out the required characteristics for a future (i.e., as-yet unbuilt) military aircraft or weapon system. The numbered OR would describe ...

250") to Bristol, who designated it the Type 174.Meekcoms/Morgan 1994, pp. 368-369 After investigation it was found that the high subsonic flow around the wing-body junction would not work, the wing leading edge would need to be swept. In November 1947 work on the Type 174 was stopped and the E.8/47 specification was revised. The revised specification was issued on 8 June 1948 and required a smaller 3/10th scale aircraft powered by a

Rolls-Royce Avon The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of ai ...

engine. Work on the revised design, the Type 176, was started in February 1948. At a subsequent mock-up conference the company felt it could not support further work on the Type 176 as the company needed to concentrate on the

Bristol Britannia The Bristol Type 175 Britannia is a retired British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the Commonwealth. During development two prototypes were lost and the turboprop engines proved sus ...

turboprop airliner.

Variants

;Bristol Type 172 :Proposal for a four-engined long-range bomber, not built. ;Bristol Type 174 :Half-scale variant of the Type 172 for design evaluation powered by a Nene engine, not built. ;Bristol Type 176 :Revised 3/10th Scale development aircraft for the Type 172 powered by a Avon engine, mock-up only, not built.

Specification (Type 172 as proposed)

References

;Notes

Bibliography

* C.H. Barnes ''Bristol Aircraft since 1919'', 1988, Putnam, London. * Kev Darling. ''Avro Vulcan, part 1.''

Lulu.com Lulu Press, Inc., doing business under trade name Lulu, is an online print-on-demand, self-publishing, and distribution platform. By 2014, it had issued approximately two million titles. The company's founder is Red Hat co-founder Bob Young. Lu ...

, 2007. . * K.J. Meekcom & E.B. Morgan. ''The British Aircraft Specifications File'', 1994,

Air-Britain Air-Britain, traditionally sub-titled "The International Association of Aviation Enthusiasts", is a non-profit aviation society founded in July 1948. As from 2015, it is constituted as a British charitable trust and book publisher. History Air-Brit ...

,Tonbridge, Kent.

External links

Bristol Aero Engines Olympus
{{Bristol aircraft

172 Year 172 ( CLXXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Maximus (or, less frequently, year 925 '' Ab urbe condita ...

Abandoned military projects of the United Kingdom