Bristol Freighter
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| Type 170 Freighter / Wayfarer | |
|---|---|
.jpg/300px-Bristol_Freighter_(WCAM).jpg) Bristol Frieghter in Norcanair colours at the Western Canada Aviation Museum c. 2007 |
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| Type | Cargo aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Bristol Aeroplane Company |
| Maiden flight | December 1945 |
| Introduced | 1946 |
| Primary user | Silver City Airways |
| Number built | 214 |
| Variants | Bristol Superfreighter |
The Bristol Type 170 Freighter was a British twin-engined piston engined aircraft designed and built by Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner, although its best known use is as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively short distances.
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[edit] Design and development
The Bristol Type 170 was designed originally as a rugged heavy duty transport to operate from unimproved airstrips. After the end of the Second World War the design was adapted by the Bristol Chief Designer A.E. Russell and his design team as a rugged heavy duty aircraft. It was an all-metal, twin-engined high-wing monoplane and built without the use of expensive alloys and with a minimum of machined parts. The square-sectioned fuselage was designed to be clear of internal obstructions. The flight deck was high in the fuselage nose, accessed via a ladder.
The Freighter is a somewhat bulbous and cumbersome-looking aircraft. Like the more slender prewar Bristol Bombay, it is a high-wing monoplane with fixed undercarriage (landing gear), the main gear legs supported by substantial vertical struts beneath the Bristol Hercules radial engines and horizontally from the lower edge of the (slab-sided) fuselage. The cockpit sits atop the forward fuselage with two large clam shell doors at the nose, making the unpressurised fuselage somewhat breezy; one Kiwi pilot claimed his charge was "40 thousand rivets flying in close formation."
The prototype, registered G-AGPV, first flew at Filton on 2 December 1945, it was an empty shell without nose doors.
[edit] Operational history
The second prototype and the first 34-seat Wayfarer, registered G-AGVB, first flew on 30 April 1946. The second prototype began proving flights in the colours of Channel Islands Airways. It carried over 10,000 passengers in under six months. The third aircraft, registered G-AGVC, was the first Freighter I and had fully operating nose doors. After a number of demonstration flights around world the Bristol 170 entered full production. One of the first sales was to the Argentine Air Force which ordered 15 aircraft.
The managing director of Silver City Airways was Wing Commander "Taffy" Grimth James Powell, who realised that he could adapt the Bristol Freighter to fly passengers with their cars from Britain to Continental Europe and Jersey. This "air ferry" would allow Britishers on holiday to avoid lengthy waits for the sea ferries. On the 14 July 1948, the airline made the first flight with a car, from Lydd Airport in Kent to Le Touquet on the northern coast of France.
In 1953, production of the freighter was moved to Weston-super-Mare and an elongated version to carry three cars, the Freighter 32 entered service. Silver City Airways dubbed these variants Superfreighters.
The last two freighters of the 214 built were delivered in 1958, one to New Zealand in February and the last aircraft to Dan-Air in March 1958. The New Zealand aircraft was delivered to SAFE who eventually operated one of the largest fleets of Freighters. One of the elongated aircraft, registered G-AMWA, had 60 seats fitted and was known as a Super Wayfarer.
[edit] Other civil uses
In New Zealand SAFE Air (Straits Air Freight Express) moved rail freight from Wellington (the North Island) to Blenheim (the South Island) and back, using Bristol Freighters reconfigured to accept palletised cargo loaded on patented cargons. This was a first anywhere in the aviation world.
Cargons were loaded near the rail yards and their load was calculated and arranged to remain within the aircraft's load and centre of gravity limits. They were then trucked to the airport and mechanically loaded as a unit from devices that were electric-motor powered via screw-jacks. The loader accepted pallets from horizontal-tray road vehicles and then raised them to allow loading into the nose of the tail-wheeled aircraft. Other adaptations allowed the carrying of horses and other high-value large animals.
Freighters were the major link between the Chatham Islands and the rest of the world until Armstrong Whitworth Argosys replaced them. SAFE Air developed a pressurised 'container' for the half of the aircraft given over to passengers on these flights.
[edit] Military users
In military service Bristol Freighters were operated by the air forces of Argentina, Australia, Burma, Canada, Iraq, Pakistan and New Zealand. Bristol Freighters were operated briefly by the Pakistan Air Force. Some of their aircraft were bought by SAFE Air and used in New Zealand.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force ordered 12 Freighters in the late 1940s. RNZAF Freighters ranged as far as supplying the New Zealand Army in Malaya, the British High Commissioners (and others) in the Maldives, Ceylon, India and Nepal, performing FEAF tasks in Malaya (often when other aircraft types were unservicable due to maintenance problems) and Hong Kong. They ran a highly reliable military shuttle service for allies in Thailand during the Vietnam War and served several other roles, being adapted for — amongst other things — aerial top dressing, although to avoid competition with private enterprise, the NZ government did not to use them in that role.
[edit] Final days
The New Zealand Freighters were retired from military use when replaced by Hawker Siddeley Andovers in the 1970s. After retirement a number of smaller local operators briefly flew Freighters. Some were exported to Canada. A SAFE Air Freighter is preserved at Blenheim and another at the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum in Christchurch. A third is being restored at Ardmore near Auckland. Other Freighter airframes around New Zealand now serve as novelty tea-rooms and backpacker hostels.
One Freighter was in service in turn with British Ministry of Supply (G-AIMI then WB482), the RAAF (A81-1) and subsequently went into commercial use in Australia until 1978 after which it went on to become a museum exhibit and was given over to the RAAF museum at Point Cook, Victoria, Australia in 1988.
Bristol freighter Mk 3 31M G-BISU was operated by Instone Airline at Stansted, Essex, UK, for a number of years. This was an ex-RNZAF aircraft and left Ardmore on 2 March 1981 for its 86-hour ferry flight to the UK, it subsequently flew its first charter flight on 3 August 1981 delivering two racehorses to Deauville. This role of flying livestock was to take up half a year while other work included carriage of oil drilling machinery, car parts, newspapers and mail.
Another Bristol Freighter,C-FDFC (cn 13218) crashed on takeoff with the crew escaping but was essentially a write-off.
The last Freighter in service, which flew for Instone Airline then later returned to New Zealand, was bought from surplus by Hawkair in Terrace, British Columbia, Canada. In 2004, this aircraft undertook its final flight to the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. An example (CF-WAE) is found at the Western Canada Aviation Museum, formerly flown by Norcanair.
[edit] Variants
- Freighter Mk I
- Utility transport Series I or Freighter with a strengthened floor and hydraulically operated nose doors.
- Freighter Mk IA
- Mixed-traffic variant with 16-passenger seats
- Freighter Mk IB
- Variant of Mk I for British European Airways
- Freighter Mk IC
- Variant of Mk IA for British European Airways
- Freighter Mk ID
- Variant of Mk IA for British South American Airways
- Wayfarer Mk II
- Airliner (passenger variant) Series II or Wayfarer. Nose doors were omitted and additional windows were added.
- Wayfarer Mk IIA
- Variant of Mk II with 32 seats
- Wayfarer Mk IIB
- Variant of Mk IIA for British European Airways
- Wayfarer Mk IIC
- Variant of Mk II with 20 seats and baggage hold
- Freighter Mk XI
- Variant of Mk I with 108 ft(32.92m) wing and extra tankage
- Freighter Mk XIA
- Mixed-traffic version of Mk IX
- Freighter Mk 21
- More powerful engined version
- Freighter Mk 21E
- Convertible version of Mk 21 with 32 removable seats
- Freighter Mk 31
- Variant of Mk 21 with larger fin
- Freighter Mk 31E
- Convertible version of Mk 31
- Freighter Mk 31M
- Military version of Mk 31 with provision for supply dropping
- Freighter Mk 32
- Higher capacity version with fuselage lengthend by 5ft (1.52m)
- Type 179 Freighter
- Unbuilt project. Twin-boom version. Not built
- Type 179A Freighter
- Unbuilt project. The aircraft was intended to have an unswept tail and a ramp-loading door.
- Type 216 Freighter
- Unbuilt project. Car ferry version. It was intended to be powered by two Roll-Royce Dart turboprop engines.
[edit] Operators
[edit] Civil operators
- Argentine Civil Aeronautics Board
- Air Express
- Ansett-ANA
- Ansett-MAL
- Australian National Airways
- Brain & Brown Airfreighters
- Jetair Australia
- Trans Australia Airlines
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- Avions Fairey
- SABENA
- REAL Transportes Aereos
- Associated Airways
- Central Northern Airways
- Hawkair
- Lambair
- Maritime Central Airways
- North Canada Air
- Norcanair
- Pacific Western Airlines
- Trans Canada Airlines
- Trans Provincial Airlines
- Wardair
- Shell Company of Ecuador
- Air Atlas
- Air Fret
- Air Outremer
- Cie Air Transport
- Cie des Transportes Aeriens Intercontinentaux
- Corse Air
- Societe Aerienne du Littoral
- Societe Indo Chinoise des Transportes Aeriens
- Transportes Aeriens Reunis
- LTU
- Panavia Ltd
- Bharat Airways
- Dalmia Jain Airways
- Indian National Airways
- Societe Avio Transporti Torino
- Air Laos
- West African Airways Corporation
- Central African Airways
- Aviacion y Comercio
- Iberia
- Trafik-Turist-Transportflyg
- Air Charter
- Air Ferry
- Air Kruise
- Airwork
- Autair
- Aviation Traders
- BKS Air Transport
- Britavia
- British Air Ferries
- British European Airways
- British United Air Ferries
- Channel Air Bridge
- Channel Airways
- Channel Island Airways
- Dan-Air
- Hunting Air Surveys
- Instone Airlines
- Manx Airlines
- Midland Air Cargo
- Ministry of Civil Aviation
- Silver City Airways
- Trans European Aviation
[edit] Military operators
- Royal New Zealand Air Force
- No. 1 Squadron RNZAF
- No. 3 Squadron RNZAF
- No. 41 Squadron RNZAF
- Transport Support Unit RNZAF
- A&AEE Boscombe Down
- Telecommunications Research Establishment
[edit] Specifications (Mk 21E)
General characteristics
- Crew: 3 (Pilot, Co-pilot and signaller/loadmaster)
- Length: 68 ft 4 in (20.82 m)
- Wingspan: 98 ft 0 in (29.87 m)
- Height: 21 ft 8 in (6.60 m)
- Wing area: 1,405 sq ft (130.53 m²)
- Empty weight: 24,000 lb (11,780 kg)
- Loaded weight: 36,500 lb (16,556 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Bristol Hercules 734 14 Cylinder Sleeve Valve Radial De Havilland 4 Bladed Fully Feathering propellers, 3,380 hp (2,518 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 230 mph (370 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 166 mph (267 km/h)
[edit] See also
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
- List of cargo aircraft
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985.
- Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft Since 1919, Volume 1. London: Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10006-9.
[edit] External links
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