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 Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot a ...

companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable aircraft produced by the company include the 'Boxkite', the Bristol Fighter, the

Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Blenheim, the Beaufighter, and the

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

, and much of the preliminary work which led to

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

was carried out by the company. In 1956 its major operations were split into Bristol Aircraft and Bristol Aero Engines. In 1959, Bristol Aircraft merged with several major British aircraft companies to form the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) and Bristol Aero Engines merged with

Armstrong Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following t ...

to form

Bristol Siddeley Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd (BSEL) was a British aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited. In 1961 the company was expanded by the purchase of t ...

. BAC went on to become a founding component of the nationalised

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...

, now BAE Systems. Bristol Siddeley was purchased by

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

in 1966, who continued to develop and market Bristol-designed engines. The BAC works were in

Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...

, about north of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

city centre. BAE Systems,

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...

MBDA MBDA is a European multinational developer and manufacturer of missiles.MBDA Inc. US Division Co ...

and GKN still have a presence at the Filton site where the Bristol Aeroplane Company was located.

History

Foundation

The British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, Ltd was founded in February 1910 by Sir George White, chairman of the

Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company The Bristol Omnibus Company was a dominant bus operator in Bristol, and was one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. It ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties. History ...

, along with his son Stanley and his brother Samuel, to commercially exploit the fast-growing aviation sector. Sir George had been inspired to embark on this venture following a chance meeting between himself and American aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright in France during 1909, after which he recognised aviation as holding significant business potential."Bristol Aeroplane Company."
'' BAE Systems'', Retrieved: 12 May 2017. Unlike the majority of aviation companies of the era, which were typically started by enthusiasts with little financial backing or business ability, British and Colonial was from its outset well funded and run by experienced businessmen. Sir George had decided to establish the business as a separate company from the Bristol Tramway Company, having considered that such a venture would be seen as too risky by many shareholders, and the new company's working capital of £25,000 was subscribed entirely by Sir George, his brother, and his son. The affairs of the two companies were closely connected, and the company's first premises were a pair of former tram sheds suitable for aircraft manufacture at

, leased from the Bristol Tramway Company. Additionally, key personnel for the new business were recruited from the employees of the Tramway Company, such as George Challenger, who served as the company's chief engineer and works manager. Flying schools were established at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfie ...

, Surrey, which was then the centre of activity for British aviation, where Bristol rented a hangar; and at

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 ...

on Salisbury Plain where, in June 1910, a school was established on of land leased from the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

. These flying schools came to be regarded as some of the best in the world, and by 1914, 308 of the 664

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

certificates which had been issued had been gained at the company's schools.

The Bristol Boxkite

The company's initial manufacturing venture was to be a licensed and improved version of an aircraft manufactured in France by société

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pat ...

, a biplane designed by

Gabriel Voisin Gabriel Voisin (5 February 1880 – 25 December 1973) was a French aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained (1 km), circular, controlled flight, which was made ...

. This aircraft had been exhibited at the Paris Aero Salon in 1909 and had impressed Sir George with the quality of its construction. Accordingly, a single example was purchased and shipped to England to be shown at the Aero Show at Olympia in March 1910, and construction of five further aircraft commenced at the company's Filton facilities. It was then transported to Brooklands for flight trials, where it immediately became apparent that the type had an unsatisfactory wing-section and lacked sufficient power; in spite of high expectations, even though Bristol fitted the aircraft with a new set of wings, it could only manage a single brief hop on 28 May 1910, after which work on the project was abandoned. Since the machine had been sold with a 'guarantee to fly', Sir George succeeded in getting 15,000 francs compensation from Zodiac. In light of this failure, the company decided to embark upon designing its own aircraft to serve as a successor. Drawings were prepared by George Challenger for an aircraft based on a successful design 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 ...

whose dimensions had been published in the aeronautical press. These drawings were produced in little over a week, and Sir George promptly authorised the construction of twenty examples. The first aircraft to be completed was taken to Larkhill for flight trials, where it performed its

first flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alw ...

on 20 July 1910, piloted by Maurice Edmonds. The aircraft proved entirely satisfactory during flight tests. The first batch equipped the two training schools, as well as serving as demonstration machines; the aircraft, which gained the nickname of the Boxkite, went on to become a commercial success, a total of 76 being constructed. Many served in the company's flying schools and examples were sold to the

as well as a number of foreign governments.

1911–1914

Although satisfactory by the standards of the day, the Boxkite was not capable of much further development and work soon was started on two new designs, a small

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher co ...

biplane and a

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 con ...

. Both of these were exhibited at the 1911 Aero Show at Olympia but neither was flown successfully. At this time, both Challenger and Low left the company to join the newly established aircraft division of the armament firm

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public i ...

. Their place was taken by Pierre Prier, the former chief instructor at the Blériot flying school at Hendon: he was later joined by Gordon England. In January 1912, Romanian aircraft engineer

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 ...

was appointed as the company's chief designer. During early 1912, a highly secret separate design office, known as the " X-Department", was set up to work on

Dennistoun Burney Sir Charles Dennistoun Burney, 2nd Baronet (28 December 1888 – 11 November 1968, in Bermuda) was an English aeronautical engineer, private inventor and Conservative Party politician.''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Oxford: OUP. Ear ...

's ideas for naval aircraft. Frank Barnwell was taken on as the design engineer for this project, and took over as Bristol's chief designer when Coandă left the company in October 1914. Barnwell was to become one of the world's foremost aeronautical engineers, and was to work for the company until his death in 1938. The company expanded rapidly, establishing a second factory at the

Brislington Brislington is an area in the south east of the city of Bristol, England. It is on the edge of Bristol and from Bath. Brislington Brook runs through the area in the woodlands of Nightingale Valley and St Anne's Wood. Brislington formerly hou ...

tramway works; the firm employed a total of 200 people by the outbreak of the

First World War 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 ...

First World War

At the outbreak of war in August 1914, Britain's military forces possessed just over a hundred aircraft and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) consisted of only seven squadrons equipped with a miscellany of aircraft types, none of them armed.Mason 1992, p. 194. Official War Office policy was to purchase only aircraft designed by the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), and Bristol had already built a number of their

B.E.2 The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was a British single-engine tractor two-seat biplane designed and developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Most of the roughly 3,500 built were constructed under contract by private companies, including establish ...

two-seater reconnaissance aircraft. However, pressure from the pilots of the RFC and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) led to orders being placed for a new aircraft manufactured by Bristol, known as the Scout. Bristol F2B D8096 flying 1

In 1915, Barnwell returned from France, his skills as pilot being considered to be of much less value than his ability as a designer. At this time

Leslie Frise Leslie George Frise FRAeS (2 July 1895 – 26 September 1979) was a British aerospace engineer and aircraft designer; he designed the Type 156 Bristol Beaufighter. He was involved in the development of aircraft and gun-turret hydraulic systems. ...

, newly graduated from Bristol University's engineering department, was recruited by Barnwell. In 1916, the company's founder Sir George died; he was succeeded in managing the company by his son Stanley. The first project that was worked on by Barnwell after his return, the

Bristol T.T.A. The Bristol Type 6 T.T.A was a British two-seat, twin-engine biplane, designed in 1915 as a defence fighter. Two prototypes were built, but the T.T.A. did not go into production. Development The Bristol T.T.A was designed in 1915 to a War Off ...

, was designed in response to a War Office requirement for a two-seat fighter intended to conduct home defence operations against

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

raids. This was not successful but, in 1916, work was started on the Bristol F.2A, which was developed into the highly successful F.2B Fighter, one of the outstanding aircraft of the 1914–18 war and a mainstay of the RAF during the 1920s. More than 5,300 of the type were produced and the Fighter remained in service until 1931.Barnes 1964, p. 117. Another aircraft designed at this time was the Bristol Monoplane Scout. Although popular with pilots, the success of this aircraft was limited by War Office prejudice against monoplanes and only 130 were built. It was considered that its relatively high landing speed of 50 mph made it unsuitable for use under the field conditions of the Western Front, and the type's active service was limited to the Near East.

Inter-war years

By the end of the war, the company employed over 3,000 at its production works, which were split between Filton and

. Its products had always been referred to by the name 'Bristol' and this was formalized in 1920, when British and Colonial was

liquidated Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistr ...

and its assets transferred to the Bristol Aeroplane Company, Ltd. During this time the company, acting under pressure from the

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 ...

, bought the aero-engine division of the bankrupt

Cosmos Engineering Company Cosmos Engineering was a company that manufactured aero-engines in a factory in Fishponds, Bristol during World War I. Sir Roy Fedden, the company's principal designer, developed the 14-cylinder radial Mercury engine during this period. The com ...

, based in the Bristol suburb of

Fishponds Fishponds is a large suburb in the north-east of the English city of Bristol, about from the city centre. It has two large Victorian-era parks: Eastville Park and Vassall's Park (once the Vassall Family estate, also known as Oldbury Court). ...

, to form the nucleus of a new aero-engine operation. There was already a good working relationship between Bristol Aircraft and Cosmos, the Cosmos Jupiter having been first flown in a prototype

Bristol Badger The Bristol Badger was designed to meet a British need for a two-seat fighter-reconnaissance aeroplane at the end of the First World War. Three Badgers were delivered to the Air Board to develop air-cooled radial engines, particularly that ...

in May 1919. For £15,000 Bristol got the Cosmos design team, headed by

Roy Fedden Sir Alfred Hubert Roy Fedden MBE, FRAeS (6 June 1885 – 21 November 1973) was an engineer who designed most of Bristol Engine Company's successful piston aircraft engine designs. Early life Fedden was born in the Bristol area to fairly weal ...

, along with a small number of completed engines and tooling. Although it was to be several years before Bristol showed any profit from the aero engine division, the Jupiter engine eventually proved enormously successful; indeed, during the inter-war period, the aero-engine division was more successful than the parent company and Bristol came to dominate the market for air-cooled

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

s. Apart from providing engines for almost all Bristol's aircraft designs, the Jupiter and its successors powered an enormous number of aircraft built by other manufacturers.

Bristol's most successful aircraft during this period was the

Bristol Bulldog The Bristol Bulldog is a British Royal Air Force single-seat biplane fighter designed during the 1920s by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. More than 400 Bulldogs were produced for the RAF and overseas customers, and it was one of the most fam ...

fighter, which formed the mainstay of

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

(RAF) fighter force between 1930 and 1937, when the Bulldog was retired from front line service. Since the Bulldog had started life as a private venture rather than an Air Ministry-sponsored prototype it could be sold to other countries, and Bulldogs were exported to, among others, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, and Australia. During this time, Bristol was noted for its preference for steel airframes, using members built up from high-tensile steel strip rolled into flanged sections rather than the light alloys more generally used in aircraft construction. On 15 June 1935, the Bristol Aeroplane Company became a

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company whose shares may be fre ...

. By this time, the company had a payroll of 4,200, mostly in the engine factory, and was well positioned to take advantage of the huge re-armament ordered by the British Government in May of that year. Bristol's most important contribution to the expansion of the RAF at this time was the Blenheim light bomber. In August 1938, Frank Barnwell was killed flying a light aircraft of his own design; Barnwell was succeeded as Bristol's Chief Designer by

. By the time war broke out in 1939, the Bristol works at Filton were the largest single aircraft manufacturing unit in the world, with a floor area of nearly 25

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s (2,691,000 square feet).

Second World War

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Bristol's most important aircraft was the Beaufighter heavy two-seat multirole aircraft, a long-range fighter,

night fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...

ground attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...

and

torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...

. The type was used extensively by the RAF, other Commonwealth air forces and by the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. The Beaufighter was derived from the Beaufort torpedo bomber, itself a derivative of the Blenheim. In 1940,

shadow factories British shadow factories were the outcome of the Shadow Scheme, a plan devised in 1935 and developed by the British Government in the buildup to World War II to try to meet the urgent need for more aircraft using technology transfer from the mo ...

were set up at

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

for the production of Beaufighters, and underground at Hawthorn, near

Corsham Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the south-eastern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 national route, southwest of Swindon, southeast of Bristol, northeast of Bath and southwest of ...

, Wiltshire, for engine manufacture. Construction in the former stone quarry at Hawthorn took longer than expected and little production was achieved before the site closed in 1945. The company's war-time headquarters was located in the

Royal West of England Academy The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. Situated in a Grade 2* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition progr ...

, Clifton, Bristol.

Post-war

When the war ended, Bristol set up a separate helicopter division in the Weston-super-Mare factory, under helicopter pioneer Raoul Hafner. This facility was taken over by

Westland Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila ...

in 1960. Other post-war projects included Bristol Cars, which used pre-war BMW designs as the basis for the

Bristol 400 The Bristol 400 is a luxury car produced by the Bristol Aeroplane Company of Great Britain, its first. After World War II in 1947, BAC decided to diversify and formed a car division, which would later be the Bristol Cars company in its own ri ...

. Vehicle production was conducted at

Patchway Patchway is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated north-north west of central Bristol. The town has become an overflow settlement for Bristol and is contiguous with Bristol's urban area, along with the nearby towns of Filton and Bra ...

, Bristol. The engine developed for the Bristol 400 found its way into many successful motor cars manufactured by other companies, such as Cooper,

Frazer Nash Frazer Nash was a brand of British sports car manufactured from 1922 first by Frazer Nash Limited founded by engineer Archibald Frazer-Nash. On its financial collapse in 1927 a new company, AFN Limited, was incorporated. Control of AFN passed t ...

and AC and, in and , powered the Bristol 450

sports prototype A sports prototype, sometimes referred to as simply a prototype, is a type of race car that is used in the highest-level categories of sports car racing. These purpose-built racing cars, unlike street-legal and production-based racing cars, are n ...

to class victories in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

race. In 1953, S.H. Arnolt, a US car dealer who sold British sports cars, commissioned the Bristol Car Division to build a sports car for the US market, called the Arnolt-Bristol. It is estimated that about 177 were built before production ceased in 1958.

In 1960, Sir George White was instrumental in preventing the car division being lost during the wider company's merger with BAC. Accordingly, Bristol Cars Limited was formed, and remained within the Filton complex. Sir George retired in 1973 and Tony Crook purchased his share, becoming sole proprietor and managing director. Pre-fabricated buildings, marine craft and plastic and composite materials were also amongst the company's early post-war activities; these side-ventures were independently sold off. Bristol was involved in the post-war renaissance of British civilian aircraft, which was largely inspired by the Brabazon Committee report of 1943–5. In 1949, the Brabazon airliner prototype, at the time one of the largest aircraft in the world, first flew. This project was deemed to be a step in the wrong direction, gaining little interest from military or civilian operators, resulting in the Brabazon being ultimately cancelled in 1953. At the same time as the termination, Bristol decided to focus on development of a large turboprop-powered airliner, known as the

. Capable of traversing

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

routes, it proved a commercial success; both it and the Freighter were produced in quantity during the 1950s. However, sales of the Britannia were poor and only 82 were built, primarily due to its protracted development; having been ordered by BOAC on 28 July 1949 and first flown on 16 August 1952, it did not enter service until 1 February 1957. Bristol was also involved in

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

development, with the

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

and

Sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry". Species of trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplata ...

going into quantity production. Another post-war activity was

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocke ...

development, culminating in the production of the

Bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ...

anti-aircraft missile. Upon introduction, the Bloodhound was the RAF's only long range transportable surface-to-air missile. Bristol Aero Engines produced a range of

rocket motor A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants as the reaction mass for forming a high-speed propulsive jet of fluid, usually high-temperature gas. Rocket engines are reaction engines, producing thrust by ejecting mass rearward, in accordan ...

s and

ramjet A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an as ...

s for missile propulsion. The guided weapons division eventually became part of Matra BAe Dynamics Alenia (

MBDA MBDA is a European multinational developer and manufacturer of missiles.MBDA Inc. US Division Co ...

In the late 1950s, the company undertook supersonic transport (SST) project studies, the Type 223, which were later to contribute to

. A research aircraft, the Type 188, was constructed in the 1950s to test the feasibility of stainless steel as a material in a Mach 2.0 airframe. By the time the aircraft flew in 1962, the company was already part of BAC. In parallel with these supersonic studies, several subsonic designs were schemed in this period, including the Type 200 (a competitor of the

Hawker Siddeley Trident The Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident (originally the de Havilland DH.121 and briefly the Airco DH.121) is a British airliner produced by Hawker Siddeley. In 1957, de Havilland proposed its DH.121 trijet design to a British European Airways (BEA ...

) and its derivatives, the Type 201 and Type 205. None of these designs were built.

Merger into BAC

In 1959, Bristol was forced by Government policy to merge its aircraft interests with English Electric,

Hunting Aircraft Hunting Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer that produced light training aircraft and the initial design that would evolve into the BAC 1-11 jet airliner. Founded as Percival Aircraft Co. in 1933, the company later moved to Luton, UK. ...

, and

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

to form the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Bristol formed a holding company which held a 20 per cent share of BAC, while English Electric and Vickers held 40 per cent each. In 1966, the Bristol holding company which held 20 per cent of BAC and 50 per cent of Bristol Siddeley engines was acquired by

. Bristol also had the following holdings and subsidiary companies at this time:- Bristol Aerojet (50 per cent) – Bristol Aeroplane Co Australia – Bristol DE Mexico SA (78 per cent) – Motores Bristol De Cuba SA – Bristol Aeroplane Co of Canada – Bristol Aero Industries Ltd – Bristol Aeroplane Co USA – Spartan Air Services Ltd (46.5 per cent) – Bristol Aeroplane Co New Zealand – Bristol Aircraft Services Ltd – Bristol Aeroplane Plastics Ltd – SECA (30 per cent) – Short Bros & Harland (15.25 per cent) – SVENSK-ENGELSK Aero Service AB – TABSA (25 per cent) – Westland Aircraft Ltd (10 per cent).

The Bristol Aeroplane Company of Canada

The Canadian Bristol group of companies was the largest of the overseas subsidiaries. The group undertook aircraft handling and servicing at

Dorval Airport Dorval () is an on-island suburban city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. In 2016, the Canadian Census indicated that the population increased by 4.2% to 18,980. Although the city has the largest surface area in Montré ...

, Montreal.

Vancouver Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is located from Downtown Vancouver. It is the second busiest ...

was the base for Bristol Aero Engines (Western), Ltd., one of the Canadian company's four operating subsidiaries. Work at Vancouver included the overhaul of Pratt and Whitney and Wright engines for the R.C.A.F. and commercial operators. Bristol Aircraft (Western), Ltd (Stevenson Field, Winnipeg) was formerly MacDonald Brothers Aircraft, and was the largest of the subsidiaries and the group's only airframe plant. Bristol de Mexico, S.A. de CV. (Central Airport, Mexico City), overhauled piston engines for South American operators. Bristol de Mexico S.A. obtained a license to manufacture Alfred Herbert Ltd machine tools in 1963 and commenced assembling their centre lathes in 1963. They also commenced building their own design of small engine lathes for the Mexican Government to be installed in training schools throughout Mexico. Malcolm Roebuck was hired from Alfred Herbert Ltd along with William Walford Webb Woodward to supervise this project.

Nationalisation

In 1977, BAC was nationalised, along with

Scottish Aviation Scottish Aviation Limited was an aircraft manufacturer based at Prestwick, Scotland. History The company was founded in 1935. Originally a flying school operator, the company took on maintenance work in 1938. During the Second World War, Scott ...

and Hawker Siddeley, to form

(BAe), which later became part of the now-privatised BAE Systems. The Canadian unit was acquired by

Rolls-Royce Holdings Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...

and sold in 1997 to current owner

Magellan Aerospace Magellan Aerospace Corporation is a Canadian manufacturer of aerospace systems and components. Magellan also repairs and overhauls, tests, and provides aftermarket support services for engines, and engine structural components. The company's busin ...

Bristol Engine Company

The Bristol Engine Company was originally a separate entity,

Cosmos Engineering Cosmos Engineering was a company that manufactured aero-engines in a factory in Fishponds, Bristol during World War I. Sir Roy Fedden, the company's principal designer, developed the 14-cylinder radial Mercury engine during this period. The com ...

, formed from the pre-First World War automobile company Brazil-Straker. In 1917, Cosmos was asked to investigate air-cooled

s and, under

, produced what became the Cosmos Mercury, a 14-cylinder two-row (helical) radial, which they launched in 1918. This engine saw little use but the simpler nine-cylinder version known as the Bristol Jupiter was clearly a winning design. With the post-war rapid contraction of military orders, Cosmos Engineering went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

and the

let it be known that it would be a good idea if the Bristol Aeroplane Company purchased it. The Jupiter competed with the

Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar The Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar was an aircraft engine developed by Armstrong Siddeley. The Jaguar was a petrol-fuelled air-cooled 14-cylinder two-row radial engine design. The Jaguar III was first used in 1923, followed in 1925 by the Jaguar ...

through the 1920s but Bristol put more effort into their design and, by 1929, the Jupiter was clearly superior. In the 1930s, and led by Roy Fedden, the company developed the new

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 192 ...

line of radials based on the

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. ...

principle, which developed into some of the most powerful piston engines in the world and continued to be sold into the 1960s. In 1956, the division was renamed Bristol Aero Engines and then merged with

in 1958 to form

as a counterpart of the airframe-producing company mergers that formed BAC. Bristol retained a 50% share of the new company, with Hawker Siddeley group holding the other 50%. In 1966, Bristol Siddeley was purchased by

, leaving the latter as the only major aero-engine company in Britain. From 1967, Bristol Siddeley's operations became the "Bristol Engine Division" and the "Small Engine Division" of Rolls-Royce, identified separately from Rolls-Royce's existing "Aero Engine Division". A number of Bristol Siddeley engines continued to be developed under Rolls-Royce including the Olympus turbojet – including the joint development Bristol started with

Snecma Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It ...

for

– and the Pegasus. The

astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxi ...

names favoured by Bristol indicated their heritage in a Rolls-Royce lineup named after British rivers.

Helicopter Division

BEA Bristol 171 Sycamore at London Gatwick

The Bristol Aeroplane Company's Helicopter Division had its roots in 1944, when the helicopter designer Raoul Hafner, released from the

Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (AFEE) was a branch of the British Air Ministry, that researched and developed non-traditional airborne applications, such as gliders, rotary wing aircraft, and dropping of personnel and equipment ...

(AFEE), came to Bristol along with some members of his team. Under Hafner's direction, the division produced two successful designs that were sold in quantity. The first, designated the Type 171, had a shaky start after the wooden

rotor blade A helicopter main rotor or rotor system is the combination of several rotary wings (rotor blades) with a control system, that generates the aerodynamic lift force that supports the weight of the helicopter, and the thrust that counteracts aerody ...

s of the second prototype failed on its first flight in 1949. Nevertheless, the Type 171, called Sycamore in military service, was sold to air forces around the world and 178 were built in total. After the Type 171, the Bristol Helicopter Division started work on a

tandem rotor Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

civil helicopter. The result was the 13-seat Type 173, which made its first flight in Filton in 1952. Five examples were built for evaluation purposes. Although no airlines ordered the Type 173, it led to military designs, of which the Type 192 went into service with the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

as the

. First flying in 1958, 26 were built in total. Pursuing the idea of a civil tandem rotor helicopter, Hafner and his team developed a much larger design, the Type 194. This was in an advanced state of design when the Bristol Helicopter Division was merged, as a result of government influence, with the helicopter interests of other British aircraft manufacturers (

, Fairey and

Saunders-Roe Saunders-Roe Limited, also known as Saro, was a British aero- and marine-engineering company based at Columbine Works, East Cowes, Isle of Wight. History The name was adopted in 1929 after Alliott Verdon Roe (see Avro) and John Lord took a c ...

) to form

Westland Helicopters Westland Helicopters was a British aircraft manufacturer. Originally Westland Aircraft, the company focused on helicopters after the Second World War. It was amalgamated with several other British firms in 1960 and 1961. In 2000, it merged ...

in 1960. When the competing

Westland Westminster The Westland Westminster was a British helicopter of the 1950s from Westland Aircraft. A large cargo design, it was powered by two turboshaft engines driving a single, five-bladed rotor. Initially unclad, the all-metal airframe was later enclose ...

was cancelled, the management of the combined company allowed development of the Type 194 to continue, but it too failed to find a market. The Helicopter Division started out at the main Bristol Aeroplane Company site in Filton, but from 1955 it was moved to the Oldmixon factory in

Weston-Super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

, which had built Blenheims during the War. The factory is now the site of

The Helicopter Museum The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, is a museum featuring a collection of more than 80 helicopters and autogyros from around the world, both civilian and military. It is based at the southeastern corner of the fo ...

Products

Bristol did not systematically assign project type numbers until 1923, starting with the Type 90 Berkeley. In that year, they also retrospectively assigned type numbers in chronological order to all projects, built or not, from August 1914 onwards. Thus the Scouts A and B did not get a type number but the Scout C did and was the Type 1. The final Bristol project, numbered Type 225, was an unbuilt 1962 STOL transport. Of these 225 Types, 117 were built. This list does not include the unbuilt "paper aeroplanes"; it does include the pre-August 1914 aircraft.

Aircraft

Pre-World War I

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 fi ...

Bristol Glider The Bristol Glider was an early British two-seat biplane glider designed in 1910s by George Challenger and built by the British & Colonial Aeroplane Company at Filton Aerodrome, Bristol. Challenger was chief engineer of the British & Colonia ...

* Bristol Racing Biplane *

Bristol Biplane Type 'T' The Bristol Biplane Type 'T', sometimes called the Challenger-Dickson Biplane, was a derivative of the Bristol Boxkite. It was built in 1911 by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company and was designed as a cross-country racing aircraft for M ...

* Bristol Monoplane *

Bristol Prier monoplane __NOTOC__ The Bristol Prier monoplane was an early British aircraft produced in a number of single- and two-seat versions. Background The Bristol Prier Monoplanes were a series of tractor configuration monoplanes designed for the Bristol and Co ...

* Bristol-Burney seaplanes * Bristol-Coanda Monoplanes * Bristol Gordon England biplane *

Bristol B.R.7 The Bristol B.R.7 was a Romanian-designed single-engine two-seat biplane built by Bristol to a Spanish government order in 1913. It failed to meet its specifications and the order was cancelled. Development The Romanian aircraft designer Henri ...

Bristol Hydro no.120 The Hydro no.120 was a Romanian-designed two-seat, single-engine biplane configured as a single-float seaplane. Built by Bristol in 1913, it was lost on its first flight. Development The Romanian aircraft designer Henri Coandă joined the Brit ...

* Bristol G.B.75 * Bristol T.B.8 *

Bristol P.B.8 The Bristol P.B.8, or Bristol-Coanda P.B.8', was an early British-built, Romanian-designed two-seat biplane trainer made by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1914. Only one was completed, which was never flown. Design and development Romanian He ...

Bristol S.S.A. The Bristol S.S.A., (Single-Seat Armoured), was an armoured scout built at Bristol in 1914 to fulfill a French government order. Design and development At the request of the French government, Henri Coanda designed a single-seat armoured bipl ...

World War I

* Bristol Types 1–5 Scout A-D * Bristol Type 6 T.T.A. * Bristol Type 7 F.3A * Bristol Type 8 S.2A * Bristol Types 10, 11, 20, and 77 M.1 Monoplane Scout * Bristol Types 12, 14–17, and 22 F.2 Fighter * Bristol Type 13 M.R.1 * Bristol Type 18 Scout E * Bristol Type 21 Scout F

Inter-war

* Bristol Type 23 Badger * Bristol Types 24 Braemar and 25 Tramp * Bristol Type 26 Pullman * Bristol Types 27–29, 47, and 48 Tourer * Bristol Types 30 and 46 Babe * Bristol Type 31 Grampus * Bristol Type 32 Bullet * Bristol Type 36 Seely * Bristol Type 37 Tramp * Bristol Types 52 and 53 Bullfinch * Bristol Type 62 and 75 Ten-Seater and Type 79 Brandon * Bristol Type 72 Racer * Bristol Type 76 Jupiter Fighter * Bristol Type 73 Taxiplane and Type 83/183 Primary Trainer * Bristol Type 84 Bloodhound *

Bristol Type 90 Berkeley The Bristol Berkeley was built to a British government specification for a single-engine day or night bomber. Three of these two-seat biplanes were built, but no contract for further production was awarded. Development In August 1923, British ...

* Bristol Type 91 Brownie *

Bristol Type 92 The Bristol Type 92, sometimes known as the Laboratory biplane, was an aircraft built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to address the differences between wind tunnel cowling models and full scale cowling for radial engines and was designed as a ...

'Laboratory' biplane * Bristol Types 93 Boarhound and 93A Beaver * Bristol Type 95 Bagshot * Bristol Type 99 Badminton *

Bristol Type 101 The Bristol Type 101, was a British two-seat fighter prototype of the 1920s. Development Designed as a private venture, the 101 was a single-bay biplane, two-seat design of mixed construction. The fuselage was a spruce box-girder covered wi ...

* Bristol Type 105 Bulldog * Bristol Type 107 Bullpup *

Bristol Type 109 The Bristol Type 109 was a British two-seat long-distance biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton Aerodrome, England.Jackson 1973, page 308 Design and development The Type 109 was a single-engine two-seat conventional biplane b ...

Bristol Type 110A The Bristol Type 110A was a single-engine biplane for charter work, accommodating four passengers in comfort. Designed by Frank Barnwell and built at Filton Aerodrome by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. No orders were obtained and only one air ...

Bristol Type 118 The Bristol Type 118 was a general-purpose military aircraft, a two-seat biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in the early 1930s, powered by a Bristol Mercury radial engine and aimed at overseas markets. The Type 120 was a Bristol Peg ...

* Bristol Type 120 * Bristol Type 123 * Bristol Type 130 Bombay * Bristol Type 133 *

Bristol Type 138 The Bristol Type 138 High Altitude Monoplane was a British high-altitude single-Radial engine, engine, low-wing monoplane research aircraft developed and produced by the Bristol Aeroplane Company during the 1930s. It set nine world altitude rec ...

* Bristol Type 142 'Britain First' *

Bristol Type 143 The Bristol Type 143 was a British twin-engine monoplane aircraft designed by Frank Barnwell of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Developed alongside the more famous Bristol Type 142, which was developed into the Blenheim light bomber, it used th ...

Bristol Type 146 The Bristol Type 146 was a British single-seat, eight-gun fighter monoplane prototype built to a mid-1930s Air Ministry contract. Powered by a radial engine, it was outclassed by Merlin-engined fighters and only one was built. Design and deve ...

Bristol Type 148 The Bristol Type 148 was a two-seat, single-engine low-wing monoplane built in 1937 to an Air Ministry specification for an army cooperation aircraft. It lost in the competition to the Westland Lysander and did not progress past the two prototy ...

* Bristol Types 142M, 149, and 160 Blenheim

World War II

* Bristol Fairchild Type 149 Bolingbroke * Bristol Type 152 Beaufort * Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter *

Bristol Type 159 The Bristol Type 159 was a British design for a four-engined heavy bomber by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, of Filton, Bristol. A mockup was built but the project was cancelled and no aircraft were built. Design and development In March 1939 the ...

* Bristol Type 163 Buckingham * Bristol Type 164 Brigand * Bristol Type 166 Buckmaster

Post-WW2

* Bristol Type 167 Brabazon * Bristol Type 170 Freighter and Wayfarer *

Bristol Superfreighter The Bristol Type 170 Superfreighter Mk 32 was a larger, stretched version of the Bristol Freighter designed for Silver City Airways for use on the short air ferry routes to France. Production and operation The first Superfreighters, with a long ...

* Bristol Type 175 Britannia * Bristol Type 188 high speed research aircraft

Helicopters

* Type 171 Sycamore * Type 173 * Type 192 Belvedere

Engines

Bristol Engine designs include: ''Original series:'' * Cherub *

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...

* Titan * Mercury * Neptune * Pegasus *

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

* Hydra ''Sleeve-valve series:'' * Perseus * Aquila *

Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological characters named Taurus * '' Bos tauru ...

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

Centaurus Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the largest constellations, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. ...

''Turbine-based types:'' Bristol-pegasus-brooklands

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describ ...

turboprop with heat exchanger *

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus (; Ancient Greek: Πρωτεύς, ''Prōteus'') is an early prophetic sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" ''(hálios gérôn)''. ...

two-shaft turboprop * Olympus two-spool turbojet *

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...

single-spool turbojet * Orion two-shaft turboprop * Pegasus two-spool vectored thrust turbofan *

Cumulus Cumulus clouds are clouds which have flat bases and are often described as "puffy", "cotton-like" or "fluffy" in appearance. Their name derives from the Latin ''cumulo-'', meaning ''heap'' or ''pile''. Cumulus clouds are low-level clouds, gener ...

APU for TSR-2 *

Bristol Janus During World War 2, the Bristol Aero Engine part of the Bristol Aeroplane Company was pre-occupied with developing and manufacturing radial piston engines, such as the Bristol Hercules and the more powerful Bristol Centaurus. However, in 1944 ...

small"Bristol Theseus."
''Flight'', 8 September 1949. p. 313. free-power turbine engine for Bristol Type 173 helicopter ''Ramjet types:'' * BRJ.801 *

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...

* Odin

Missiles and rockets

Bristol missile designs include: *

Blue Envoy Blue Envoy (a Rainbow Code name) was a British project to develop a ramjet-powered surface-to-air missile. It was tasked with countering supersonic bomber aircraft launching stand-off missiles, and thus had to have very long range and high-speed ...

– project for a surface-to-air missile to meet Operational Requirement 1140; did not enter production *

– large surface-to-air missile *

Fulmar The fulmars are tubenosed seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family consists of two extant species and two extinct fossil species from the Miocene. Fulmars superficially resemble gulls, but are readily distinguished by their flight on ...

– research rocket *

Skua The skuas are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus ''Stercorarius'', the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the long-tailed skua, the Arctic skua, and the pomarine skua are called ...

– sounding rocket *Bristol 182 for the specification

UB.109T UB.109T, better known as Red Rapier, was a British cruise missile project calling for a system able to deliver a 5,000 lb (2.27 tonne) conventional warhead within 100 yards of its target at over range while travelling at at . The con ...

, also known by MoS codename "Blue Rapier"

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

External links

*
The Bristol Aeroplane Company
the founder's family's website *
Bristol aircraft engines
* {{Authority control Defunct aircraft manufacturers of England Defunct companies based in Bristol Defunct helicopter manufacturers of the United Kingdom Former defence companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies established in 1910 Filton 20th century in Bristol 1910 establishments in England History of Bristol