The Bristol Glider 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, ...

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 ...

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

designed in 1910s by George Challenger and built by the British & Colonial Aeroplane Company 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 ...

, Bristol. Challenger was chief engineer of the British & Colonial Aeroplane Company and he designed the glider for Sir George White the company founder. White had the glider built to present to the Bristol and West of England Aero Club after he had been elected president of the club in October 1910. Challenger had previously designed the

Bristol Boxkite The Boxkite (officially the Bristol Biplane) was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company). A pusher biplane based on the successful Farman III, it was one of the ...

, strongly influenced by

Henri Farman Henri Farman (26 May 1874– 17 July 1958) was a British-French aviator and aircraft designer and manufacturer with his brother Maurice Farman. Before dedicating himself to aviation he gained fame as a sportsman, specifically in cycling and moto ...

's aircraft, and the Glider followed the same layout. It had a

foreplane In aeronautics, a canard is a wing configuration in which a small forewing or foreplane is placed forward of the main wing of a fixed-wing aircraft or a weapon. The term "canard" may be used to describe the aircraft itself, the wing configuration ...

well ahead of the wings, mounted on wire-braced wooden booms, which also carried 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 ...

of a pair of long skids carrying small wheels. Four booms, tapering together in elevation, carried a single

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...

rather than the pair used by the Boxkite. The foreplane and tailplane moved together to control pitch. A small pair of

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

s was mounted between the booms near the tail. Lateral control was by

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 ...

fitted on the upper wing. The Glider first flew from the landing ground at Keynsham on 17 December 1910, piloted by Challenger. It was hand-towed into the air and retrieved uphill using a two-wheel dolly. It was damaged in February 1911 and repaired but a more serious accident on 4 September 1911 cost £30 to repair. The Glider survived until 1912 but the final fate is not known. The Glider had been designed to have a engine fitted but this was never installed.

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* * {{Bristol aircraft Glider aircraft 1910s British sailplanes

Glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

Aircraft first flown in 1910

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Bibliography