I
n the spring of 1916 casualties among
Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air
Service (RFC and RNAS) aircrew were
mounting to unacceptable levels as the
aircraft they were using were no match for
the Fokker monoplanes used by the Ger-
mans. Better fighting machines were des-
perately needed, and the requirements of
what we now know as fighters (then called
‘scouts’) were becoming clearer.
Captain Frank S. BarnwelI had been sec-
onded from the military to work back at the
Bristol Aeroplane Company as Chief Design-
er, and he designed a new single-seat mono-
plane incorporating much of the experience
gained from earlier machines, the perceived
performance of the Fokker E.1 Eindekker,
and the rapidly developing state of combat
experience. The new design included the
large, bowl-shaped spinner first used exper-
imentally on the Bristol Scout D, streamlin-
ing a 110 hp (82 kW) Clerget 9Z rotary en-
gine, all on the front of a reversed bullet
shaped fuselage supported by a clean, thick
(for the period) monoplane wing and con-
ventional empennage. As well as having less
drag with only a single set of wings, the rig-
ging and the struts still required in the
cockpit cabane area, were also minimised.
The prototype, designated the Bristol M.1A
first flew on 14 July 1916 and was a private
venture design.BELOW LEFT: A Bristol was flown in the 1919 Arial Derby
flown by Maj. C. H. C. Smith. [Via Author]BELOW RIGHT: The Bristol’s 110 hp le Rhone engine with
the cowling removed. [James Kightly]BOTTOM: This enigmatic image shows an otherwise
undocumented American Bristol M.1C fitted with a radial
engine, and to be flown by Lieutenant G.S. Haberle. [Via Author]A Bristol being operated in the middle east.
[RAAF Museum Archive, Rutherford Album]FLIGHTPATH | 51