With Bristol’s new aerospace museum opening, we delved into the archives to bring you a photographic history of just a few of the great aircraft that have been made here. We couldn’t possibly have included them all (and really wanted to get a decent picture of the triplane bomber produced in WW1); just think of it as a potted history …
Sir George White. Made his money in trams and the stock market, but was still spotting business opportunities in old age. The story goes that when announced at the Bristol Tramways works at Filton that the firm was going into the aeroplane business he rapped his umbrella on the ground so emphatically that it broke.
One of the first flights by a Bristol-made aeroplane – the Bristol Boxkite – on the Downs, November 1910. The pilot was Frenchman Maurice Tetard. Sir George had brought in a lot of French expertise (and indeed had encouraged his people to rip off a French design). It was the start of an on-off, but productive, partnership with our Gallic chums.
A Bristol Scout in the Middle East in WW1. Unveiled just before the war, the Scout was a useful reconnaissance aircraft until it was outclassed by better machines produced in the urgency of war.
Filton’s greatest contribution to the war effort in WW1, the Bristol Fighter proved a rugged reconnaissance aircraft which was also able to hold its own in a dogfight.
Anyone else there remember Frog model kits? They were a rival to Airfix back in the 1960s and 70s. This is the box art for a model of the Bristol 138, an experimental aircraft built for high altitude research between the wars. It set nine altitude records in the 1930s.
The Bristol Bulldog was one of the best-known RAF fighters between the wars. Designed by the legendary Frank Barnwell, it never saw combat in RAF service, but the Finnish air force used them with some success against the Russians in the 1939-40 ‘Winter War’. Douglas Bader was flying one of these when he lost his legs. The picture, taken in January 1930, shows Bulldogs being built for export to Australia.
The first Blenheim. This is the prototype ‘Type 142M’, which made its maiden flight at Filton in June 1936. Originally designed in response to a challenge from newspaper baron Lord Rothermere for a high-speed passenger aircraft and originally dubbed ‘Britain First’ it developed into the RAF’s Bristol Blenheim bomber. In its day it was faster than any fighter in the world, though it was soon surpassed by rival machines.
August 1939. On the eve of war, soldiers of the Royal Ulster Rifles disembark for an exercise involving moving troops by air. Their transport is a Bristol Bombay, which, though it was becoming obsolete, would prove vital in defeating the Italians in North Africa in the war’s early years.
The famous WW2 Bristol Beaufighter, being assembled at Filton (or possibly Oldmixon?) in 1942.
Beaufighters launch a rocket attack on an enemy target, year and location unknown.
June 17 1949. An aerial photo taken by the Bristol Post of the massive Brabazon hangar at Filton. At the time it was said to be the largest (or second largest) enclosed man-made space in the world.
The Bristol Freighter, built in the post-war years as a cargo aircraft. In the 1950s and 60s it was often used to carry wealthy holidaymakers and their cars to the continent. The passenger-only variant was called the Wayfarer.
The design was conceived by Wing Commander Taffy Powel who opened a fascinating and innovative chapter in British aviation. A keen and impatient traveller himself, Powel realised that by adapting the design of the Bristol Bombay bomber, he could fly passengers with their cars from Britain to continental Europe. The aircraft he conceived was the Bristol Freighter and it allowed motorists to take their cars abroad from Britain.
On the July 7, 1948, Powel's Silver City airline made the first ever British flight with a car, from Lympne in Kent to Le Touquet on the northern coast of France. A service was also started from Lydd Ferryfield airport, also in Kent. Both services were resounding successes and a larger derivative, the Bristol Superfreighter, was soon developed. In turn that was replaced by a British conversion of some Douglas DC-4 airliners known as the ATL-98 Carvair, (with raised cockpit and nose door reminiscent of the Freighter).
As ferries became faster and were supplemented by hovercraft and hydrofoils, capable of carrying civilian vehicles, the economics of carrying small numbers of cars by air became uncompetitive so the Carvairs were not replaced and the airlines based around that concept faded from the scene, being taken over by others mainly focused on passenger traffic rather than cargo.
April 14 1962 and another new Bristol aircraft is about to make her maiden flight. The Bristol T188 was a supersonic research aircraft notable for being made partly of stainless steel. Very fast and very thin, it was nicknamed the “flaming pencil” and produced much valuable data which was later used by Concorde engineers.
The plane is seen here on the day of it's maiden flight. Test pilot Godfrey Auty took the 188 twin engined jet from the runway at Filton Airfield, Bristol and landed at Boscombe Down, 22 minutes later. April 14, 1962.
The elegant and much-loved Bristol Britannia, the “whispering giant”. This picture shows the last flying Britannia making her final fly-past over RAF Kemble in November 2002.
The Bristol Type 173 twin-engine helicopter was designed as a civil passenger aircraft. Five were built for evaluation, but no airlines were interested. It was however further developed to become the Belvedere military transport. This 1955 picture shows a 173 leaving London for Paris to demonstrate the potential of civil helicopter flights to city centres.
In this picture from June 13, 1955, the helicopter is about to fly to Paris from South Bank, London, to demonstrate potential city-centre operations. Bristol's chief helicopter test pilot, Mr C T D Hosegood, was at the controls and Mr Alex Langfield, sales demonstration engineer was also aboard.
The 173 on this trip was to fly to Le Bourget Airport, rather than the centre of Paris, as it was to go on display in the 21st Salon Interrnational de L'Aeronautque.
Filton, April 9 1969. ‘Nuff said.
The world's first and only supersonic airliner took to the skies from Filton for the first time on April 9, 1969. Her fleet went on to complete thousands of transatlantic crossings before touching down in Heathrow on its last official flight in October 2003.
The Airbus A380; the world’s largest passenger aircraft, partly made in Bristol and using advanced technologies developed here.