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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0206.PDF
206 FLIGHT, 12 February 1960 The British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, Limited. FIFTY BRISTOL YEARS ... connection with France recurs at various intervals in the 50 years.But there were also well-known British pilots, such as Collyns Pizey, Howard Pixton, Warren Merriam and Harry Busteed, nowair commodore (retired). With the break, so the Zodiac trade-mark disappeared, and in late 1910 there appeared the famous scroll, a symbol known the world over. This was not strictly a trade-mark,as the name of a city cannot so be used; but it is universally recognized as a label of excellence—so much so that it has beenused by other manufacturers in Bristol. The same scroll is used on the radiators of Bristol buses and on the uniforms of drivers Boxkite and conductors; it was not, as is generally supposed, borrowedby aeroplane from tram, but by tram from aeroplane—and as late as 1920.Col Sydney Smith, as Secretary of Tramways, sought permission of his brother, Sir Henry White-Smith, as Secretary of Aeroplane,to use the symbol to commemorate the building of Bristol Fighters at the Brislington Works of the Tramway Company during 1916-1919. So citizens who see the "Bristol scroll" in connection with the Tramways (Bus) Company are viewing a memorial to thefighter that turned the tables for the Royal Flying Corps against the German Air Force in 1917, and which established the greatname of Bristol aeroplanes. Apart from the symbol, the company was always jealous of thename Bristol, as instance this letter of Sir Henry White-Smith, secretary, to the Ministry. It is dated April 1918, when theorganization was still the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company: — ". . . we would state that whilst being desirous of falling in withyour system of indicating machines by the use of a nickname, we must ask you to meet our wishes that all machines of our design are formallydescribed as 'Bristol.' "We have always used the word 'Bristol' to describe our machinesand it has become, in fact, a Trade Mark, and we regard it as being of importance that it should continue to always be associated with ourdesigns." Sir George was very alive to the value of sound and sustainedpublicity, and when the company was founded—the exact date was February 19, 1910—an announcement appeared in the verynext issue of Flight. Until quite recently the back cover of this journal always carried a Bristol advertisement, and the namewill still be found in almost every issue. The young company was an enterprise of experienced and hard-headed businessmen: this was no story of struggling enthusiasts —enthusiasm yes, and much courage, but it was built on soundcommercial lines and it began with money. £25,000 is a small capital by today's standards, but it was a substantial sum forthose days and certainly an astonishing amount for so crazy an idea as an aircraft industry. It is worth noting the company'sgrowth over the years, as indicated by this table of the issued capital: -— 1910 ... 1911 ... 1912 ... 1920 ... £25.000 75,000 100,000 553,000 1935 . 1936 . 1938 .1953 . 1954 £1,200,000 1,800,000 ... 3,900,0005,880,000 8,190,000 Sir Henry White-Smith F. S. Barnwell came out in quick profusion with die designs of Grandseigne,Graham Gilmour, Challenger, Tetard, Tabuteau, Prier, Gordon- England and Coanda. By 1914 some 200 aircraft had been built,and the Boxkite, in several variants, must have been one of the earliest production efforts on record. Some 70 Boxkites were made,and this was the company's first design. But the directors realized that manufacture was not enough,and that, with so few pilots in the country, they must also engage in training. This they did with such conspicuous success diatthere were no fewer than 307 "Bristol" pilots in the total of 664 who had qualified for the Royal Aero Club certificate in the fouryears between August 1910 and September 1914. Of the pilots available for service in 1914, no less than 80 per cent had beentrained on Bristol aircraft. The Bristol Flying Schools at Brooklands and' Salisbury Plainwere household words in their day, and the tradition of thorough training has continued through the years. (Between the warsFilton was the company centre as a flying school for the Royal Air Force, sharing the aerodrome and air space with No 501Squadron, AAF, and the company later managed No 2 AONS at Yatesbury.) Aircraft must not only be built and pilots trained, but theproduct must be sold. Activity was widespread, and sales areas included Russia, Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Rumania, Bulgaria.Special missions went to India, Australia, New Zealand and else- where. A Bristol was the first aircraft seen in many parts of theworld, as often as not the fine old Boxkite. This had the French Gnome engine, and the company later procured the British salesagency, thus further increasing their activities and perhaps show- ing the first signs of dissatisfaction that they had no engine oftheir own. In later years they made good the omission to such purpose that Gnome et Le Rhone procured a manufacturinglicence from Bristol, to their mutual profit. Sir George had early realized his ambition—there was indeedan industry, and Bristol was a name in the world. But it was an industry, in spite of the early reluctance of the militarists, thatlent itself to war purposes: and Bristol has a military associa- tion that has covered the whole of its 50 years. Its existence hasbeen bound up with the early Military Trials, the beginnings of die Central Flying School at Upavon, the Royal Flying Corpsand with the Royal and Commonweahh Air Forces in every Command and in every theatre of war the world over. Bristol,too, has formed a part of many foreign air forces, and there can be very few airmen of this half century who have not praised orcursed the name of Bristol—but who will certainly have been very much aware of it. Yet it has not been the whole story, andin present days the "Whispering Giant" has followed on the "Whispering Death." The first excursion into the military field was from their depoton Salisbury Plain, when in September 1910 it was arranged that Bristol would co-operate. Capt Dickson and Robert Loraine (theLondon actor and first pilot to cross the Irish Channel) were given a Bristol each, the universal Boxkite. Not only was this the firstBritish military trial, but the first British attempt to transmit wireless messages—to a portable station at Larkhill. Robert The works at Filton expanded rapidly, as experimental aircraft Coanda Military Monoplane Loraine carried on with the experiment and achieved a range ofover a mile. As a result of the trials, Maj Sir A. Bannerman was givencommand of the Balloon Section, RE, at Farnborough "to enlarge the scope of the work hitherto carried out at the Balloon School... by affording opportunities for aeroplaning. . . ." And thus the third Service of the British Empire came to life.
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