British and Colonial Aeroplane Co: Bristol-Coanda Monoplane

Note: This is a sub-section of British and Colonial Aeroplane Co.

1912. Powered by 80 hp Gnome engine.

The Bristol Coanda Monoplanes were a series of monoplane trainers designed by the Romanian designer Henri Coanda for the British company British and Colonial Aeroplane Co.

The Romanian aircraft designer Henri Coandă joined the Bristol Aeroplane Company in January 1912. His first design for Bristol was a two-seat monoplane trainer, a development of the Bristol-Prier Monoplane, controlled by wing warping. The first prototype flew in March 1912. A series of similar aircraft followed with both tandem and side-by-side cockpits, known as the School Monoplane and the Side by Side Monoplane.

A more powerful derivative was built for a competition to provide aircraft for the British War Office. Two aircraft, known as Competition Monoplanes were built and entered into the competition, together with two Bristol Gordon England Biplane. These did well in the competition, which resulted in their being purchased by the War Office for use as trainers by the Royal Flying Corps. These two aircraft formed the basis for a revised military trainer, the Military Monoplane, which had increased wingspan.

The Military Monoplane later formed the basis for the Bristol TB.8, several being rebuilt into TB8s.

The first Tandem and Side by Side monoplanes entered service with flying schools operated by Bristol at Larkhill and Brooklands. One tandem and two side-by-side machines were sold to Italy, with four tandem and three side-by-side aircraft being sold to Romania.

The two Competition Monoplanes were purchased by the War Office after the Military Aircraft Competition, being used as trainers for the RFC. However, on 10 September 1912, one of the Competition Monoplanes crashed, killing both crew. While this was traced to one of the bracing wires becoming detached, it resulted in a five month ban on flying of all monoplanes by the military wing of the RFC.

Despite this ban, Military Monoplanes were purchased by Romania and Italy, with a production license being granted to Caproni (although this license was later cancelled, only two being built by Caproni).

Sources of Information

• [1] Wikipedia