British and Colonial Aeroplane Co: Boxkite
Note: This is a sub-section of British and Colonial Aeroplane Co.
1910. Copy of Henry Farman III plane. Later known as the Bristol School Biplane. Powered by 50 hp Gnome, 60 hp Renaultor 70 horsepower Le Rhone engine. Around ten built by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Co (later to be known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company).
The Boxkite was developed in 1910 at Britain's first aircraft factory in Filton, Bristol. In spite of its name, it owed no more to the box kite principles developed by Lawrence Hargrave than other biplanes. The aircraft first flew on the 29 July 1910 and went on to become Bristol's first successful production aeroplane. 76 were built, 61 of which were the extended military version, in the years building up to the First World War. Four of these planes constituted the first order placed by the British War Office when it was set up in 1911. Production was at the Filton factory, which was set up within a tramworks.
No original Bristol Boxkites aeroplanes survive today, although three authentic flyable reproductions 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 which is still flown during their flying displays whenever the weather permits.
Sources of Information
- [1] Wikipedia