Bristol Type 188
| Bristol Type 188 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Experimental airplane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
April 14, 1962 |
| Number of pieces: |
3 (2 for flight tests, 1 for static tests) |
In the Bristol 188 is a British twin-engine aircraft with jet engines , which for research at speeds between Mach was developed. 2 and 3
Development history
To research speeds of over Mach 2, a specification Experimental Requirement 134 was published in 1952 , which required an aircraft that could take off independently from the ground. With this aircraft one wanted to research the expected problems of the heating of aircraft due to the high air friction in this speed range. Several companies were interested in this progressive tender, which was then awarded in February 1953 to the Bristol company with contract number 6 / Acft / 10144.
The Bristol company gave the design number 188, it was the company's first aircraft to have a jet propulsion system, and at the same time it was to be the last aircraft in the company's history. Three aircraft were built on the basis of Contract: No. KC / 2M / 04 / CB.42 (b) of January 4, 1954. One machine was brought to Farnborough for structural testing in May 1960 but never flew. The other two aircraft (c / n 13518 - XF923 and c / n 13519 - XF926) were used for test flights. Three more aircraft were planned: XK429, XK434 and XK436, but later canceled. The first roll-out of the XF932 took place on April 16, 1961. However, the first flight was delayed due to technical problems (including the engine air intakes). With test pilot Godfrey L. Auty at the wheel, the XF932 took off on April 14, 1962.
technology
In order to withstand the heat and the stresses, the outer skin of the aircraft was made of stainless and high-strength steel and was not painted. When machining the steel with argon electrofusion technology, there were problems that led to delays in the construction of the aircraft. The company WG Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft supported Bristol here. The design was originally intended to have two Rolls-Royce RA.24R drives. However, it was decided to use two Bristol-Siddeley Gyron DGJ10R (license builds of the engine of the same name from de Havilland) with 44.52 kN (4540 kp) normal thrust and 62.27 kN (6350 kp) thrust with afterburner .
Research flights
The machine was first publicly presented in September 1962 at the Society of British Aircraft Companies in Farnborough, where it attracted a great deal of attention and was nicknamed the "Flaming Pencil" (Flaming Pencil). The first flight of the second machine (c / n 13519 - XF926) took place on April 29, 1963. The dimensions and the high fuel consumption of the engines meant that the intended maximum speed was not reached, as 70 percent of the kerosene had already been consumed by the intended flight altitude has been reached. There were only flight times between half an hour and 48 minutes (flight in the subsonic range). Shortly before the end of the research program in 1964, the XF926 reached a top speed of Mach 1.88 at an altitude of 11,000 m.
Whereabouts
The Bristol Type 188 XF926 can still be seen today in the Aerospace Museum RAF Cosford near Wolverhampton .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| length | 23.67 m |
| span | 10.69 m |
| height | 3.65 m |
| Wing area | ? m² |
| Empty mass | 12,701 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 17.022 kg |
| Top speed | Do 1.88 at 11,000 m |
| Service ceiling | ? m |
| Range | ? km |
| Engines | 2 × de Havilland Gyron Junior PS 50 with afterburner |
literature
- HF King: Bristol 188. A Versatile Research Airplane. Flight International, May 3, 1962, pp. 695-703, 705. via flightglobal.com.
- Jim Winchester: The World's Worst Aircraft. From Pioneering Failures to Multimillion Dollar Disasters. Amber Books Ltd., London 2005, ISBN 1-904687-34-2 .
