Bristol Engine Co

Bristol Jupiter VIIF engine. Exhibit at the Shuttleworth Collection.

Bristol Mercury Mk. VIII. Exhibit at the Shuttleworth Collection.

The Bristol Engine Company manufactured aeroengines.

General

The company was originally a separate entity called Cosmos Engineering which in turn formed from the pre-First World War automobile company, Brazil-Straker.

• In 1917 Cosmos was asked to investigate air-cooled radial engines, producing what would become the Bristol Mercury, a 14 cylinder two-row (helical) radial, which they launched in 1918. This engine saw little use, but a smaller and simpler 9 cylinder version known as the Bristol Jupiter was clearly a winning design.

• With the post-war rapid contraction of military orders Cosmos Engineering went bankrupt, and the Air Ministry let it be known that it would be a good idea if the Bristol Aeroplane Co purchased them.

• The Jupiter competed with the Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar through the 1920s, but Bristol put more effort into their design, and by 1929, the Jupiter was clearly superior.

• In the 1930s they developed a new line of radials based on the sleeve valve principle, which would develop into some of the most powerful piston engines in the world, and could continue to be sold into the 1960s.

• In 1956 the division was renamed Bristol Aero Engines

• 1958 It then merged with Armstrong Siddeley to form Bristol Siddeley as a counterpart of the airframe-producing company mergers that formed BAC.

• In 1966 Bristol Siddeley was purchased by Rolls-Royce, leaving the latter as the only major aero-engine company in Britain.

• Rolls-Royce continues to produce aircraft engines as Rolls-Royce plc. A number of Bristol Siddeley engines of Bristol heritage continued to be developed by Rolls-Royce; notably the Olympus turbojet and the Pegasus. The classical names favoured by Bristol indicated their heritage in a Rolls-Royce lineup named after British Rivers

List of Models

• Aquila (1934-)
• Centaurus (1942)
• Cherub
• Draco
• Hercules (1939-)
• Hydra
• Jupiter (1918-30)
• Lucifer (1920s)
• Mercury (1930-40s)
• Pegasus (1930-40s)
• Perseus (1932)
• Phoenix (1928-32)

|bgcolor=#F0F0F0 valign=top align=right| Few |bgcolor=#F0F0F0 valign=top| The Phoenix was a version Pegasus engine, adapted to run on the Diesel cycle. . . . More Information

|- |bgcolor=#F0F0F0 valign=top| Taurus |bgcolor=#F0F0F0 valign=top| 1936- |bgcolor=#F0F0F0 valign=top align=right| |bgcolor=#F0F0F0 valign=top| The Taurus was a 14-cylinder two-row radial aircraft engine. It was developed by adding cylinders to the existing Aquila design, creating a design that produced just over 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) with very low weight. . . . Taurus

|- |bgcolor=#F0F0F0 valign=top| Titan |bgcolor=#F0F0F0 valign=top| 1927 |bgcolor=#F0F0F0 valign=top align=right| - |bgcolor=#F0F0F0 valign=top| The Bristol Titan was a five cylinder air cooled radial engine. It had the same size cylinders as the earlier Bristol Mercury engine, 5.75 in x 6.5 in and produced between 200-240hp. . . . More Information

|- |colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=#7EC0EE|Bristol Engine Company Engines |}

Sources of Information

[1] Wikipedia