https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_M.1
The Bristol M.1 Monoplane Scout was a British monoplane fighter of the First
World War.
In 1916, Frank Barnwell, chief designer of Bristol Aeroplane Company, realising
that the performance of existing fighter aircraft was inadequate, designed a new
single-seat tractor monoplane fighter as a private venture, the Bristol M.1.
The first prototype, the M.1A made its maiden flight on 14 July 1916. It was of
conventional wood and fabric construction, with a carefully streamlined circular
cross-section fuselage. The wing was shoulder mounted and was braced with flying
wires running from the wing to the lower fuselage and landing wires from the
wings to a cabane made of two semi-circular steel tube hoops positioned over the
pilot's cockpit. A 110 horsepower (82 kW) Clerget rotary engine drove a
two-bladed propeller fitted with a large hemispherical spinner to reduce drag.
It was purchased by the War Office for evaluation, and demonstrated impressive
performance during official testing, reaching a speed of 128 miles per hour (206
km/h) and climbing to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in 8 minutes 30 seconds, although
the forward and downward view was criticised by test pilots.
The War Office ordered four modified aircraft, designated M.1B, in October 1916.
These differed from the first prototype in having a more conventional cabane
consisting of a pyramid of four straight steel struts, a large clear-view
cut-out panel in the starboard wing root to give improved view for landing and a
single .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun mounted on the port wing root.
km/h) higher than any of the contemporary German Fokker Eindecker and French
Morane-Saulnier N monoplanes - it was rejected by the Air Ministry for service
on the Western Front, ostensibly because its landing speed of 49 mph was
considered too high for small French airfields, but more likely because of a
widespread belief that monoplane aircraft were inherently unsafe in combat. The
RFC had imposed a ban on monoplanes after the crash of one of the Bristol-Coanda
Monoplanes on 10 September 1912, and despite the subsequent 1913 Monoplane
Committee clearing the design type there persisted a deep-rooted suspicion of
monoplanes. This suspicion may also have been re-inforced by the RFC's
underwhelming experience with various Morane-Saulnier monoplanes, especially the
Morane-Saulnier N, which was also criticised for its high landing speed.
Nevertheless, a production order for 125 aircraft was placed on 3 August 1917.
and had a Vickers machine gun centrally-mounted in front of the pilot.
A single M.1, registered G-EAVP was rebuilt as a high-speed testbed for the
Bristol Lucifer three cylinder radial engine. This aircraft was designated the
M.1D.
Role
Fighter
Manufacturer
Bristol Aeroplane Company
Designer
Frank Barnwell
First flight
14 July 1916
Introduction
1917
Primary users
Royal Flying Corps
Chile
Number built
130
the rest were used by UK-based training units, where they were popular as
personal mounts for senior officers.
One pilot of the M.1Cs that served on the Macedonian Front was Captain Frederick
Dudley Travers DFC of No. 150 Squadron RAF, the only ace on this type. Travers
switched from the Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a, in which he had scored three of
his four kills and scored the last five of his victories between 2 and 16
September 1918, possibly all in the M.1C serial number C4976. Amongst his
victims was a Fokker D.VII, widely regarded as the best German fighter of its
day.
Twelve were sent to Chile on second half of 1918 in part payment for the
battleships Almirante Latorre and Almirante Cochrane being built for Chile in
Britain but commandeered for the Royal Navy before completion. One of these,
flown by Lt. Dagoberto Godoy, was used to fly from Santiago to Mendoza,
Argentina and back on 12 December 1918, the first flight across the Andes
mountain chain.
The Lucifer engined M.1D, painted red and registered G-EAVP, was successfully
raced during 1922, winning the handicap prize in the 1922 Aerial Derby, piloted
by L.L. Carter. The next year it was fitted with a specially tuned 140 hp (100
kW) Lucifer and entered for the Grosvenor Cup, during which it is crashed at
Chertsey on approach to Croydon Airport, killing the pilot, Ernest Leslie Foot.
Specifications (M.1C)
General characteristics
Crew: one, pilot
Length: 20 ft 5 in (6.24 m)
Wingspan: 30 ft 9 in (9.37 m)
Height: 7 ft 9 in (2.37 m)
Empty weight: 900 lb (409 kg)
Loaded weight: 1,348 lb (611 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 113 knots (130 mph, 209 km/h) at sea level
Endurance: 1 hr 45 mins
Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6,096 m)
Armament
*
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