Bristol Boxkite
The
Bristol Boxkite is an improved version of a
Henri Farman biplane, built in 1910 the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the
Bristol Aeroplane Company).
Developed in
1910 in Britians first aircraft factory in
Filton,
Bristol [http://voxx.demon.co.uk/eccent/eccentd.php?filename=00000077.txt], it was designed on the
box kite principles developed by
Lawrence Hargrave. The aircraft first flew on the
29 July 1910 and went on to become Bristol's first successful aeroplane. At least 78 were produced in the years building up to WW1 at the Filton factory, which was set up within a tramworks.
Being such an early aeroplane, it holds a number of "first" records:
* First plane to fly into
RAF Bicester* Australia's first passenger flight took place in 1911, when John Hammond took his wife for a flight in
Melbourne * First plane to fly into
RAAF Williams, in
Point Cook, Victoria [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/29/1077989433755.html]* First aeroplane to fly into
Perth Airport* No's 27/28/29 were sold by visiting Belgian Joseph Christiaens to the South African Army
[http://rapidttp.com/milhist/vol056dt.html]Flight Lieutenant Pizey
(born 1 April 1883 Clevedon, Bristol; died 11 June 1915 Athens, Greece) was one of the early pioneers of British flying, having gained his certificate No 61 in a Bristol Box-Kite on
Salisbury Plain on 14th February 1911 - he also took place in the
Daily Mail Air Race that year
[http://www.clevedon-civic-society.org.uk/worldwar1casualties.htm]It was also the first aeroplane to land upside down in Brooklands Sewerage farm - flight lieutenant Frederick Warren Merriam was the first to enact the scene from the film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3324579.stm]No original Bristol Box Kites aeroplanes survive today, although three replica's were created for the film
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. One was sent to
Australia, one to the
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, and one to the
Shuttleworth Collection in
Bedfordshire*Wingspan: 34.5ft
*Length: 38.5ft
*Powerplant: single 50 hp Gnome rotary, air cooled, engine
*Maximum Speed: approximately 40mph
* Australia, Bulgaria, Russia, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom (Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service).
*
Japanese Kite history, including Box Kites*
Bristol City Council catalog - Box Kite entry*
short video showing a Boxkite replica in flight
