Bristol 223
Encyclopedia
The Bristol Aeroplane Company
Type 223 was an early design for a supersonic transport
. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the company studied a number of models as part of a large British
inter-company effort funded by the government. These models eventually culminated in the Type 223, a transatlantic transport for about 100 passengers at a speed around Mach 2
. At about the same time Sud Aviation
in France
was developing the similar Super-Caravelle
design, and in November 1962 the efforts were merged to create the Concorde
project.
met all of its demanding performance requirements, but proved to be a commercial failure because airlines felt the transatlantic market wasn't big enough to justify buying such a large and expensive aircraft. The de Havilland Comet
suffered from a series of mysterious and deadly accidents which cast a pall over the market for the aircraft, which as the world's first jet airliner represented an area where the British technological lead might have proved decisive. The metal fatigue problems encountered in the Comet led to prolonged testing of other promising designs such as the Bristol Britannia
, which were so delayed that their production was eclipsed by US
designs when they finally reached service. The leading US contender, the Boeing 707
series, gained much from the KC-135 Stratotanker
project.
Throughout this period, the industry had been producing a series of advanced test aircraft, and had extensively studied the problems of sustained high-speed flight. By the mid 1950s, two designs had been shown to have a lift-to-drag ratio
suitable for supersonic cruise, a sharply swept "M-wing" pioneered at Armstrong-Whitworth for slightly-supersonic flight, and very slender delta wing
s suitable for a wide range of speeds. Higher speeds up to Mach 3 had been considered and found to be possible, but it appeared that a practical upper limit was Mach 2.2, above this speed the duralumin
used for most aircraft construction would start to go soft due to the heat of friction, and some new material would have to be used instead.
to investigate the creation of a supersonic transport. Through the late 1950s, Bristol, Handley Page and Hawker Siddeley all conducted a series of studies into various delta wing
designs under STAC.
At Bristol, Archibald Russell
studied a number of variations under the generic Type 198 label. Using RAE
wind tunnel data, he concluded that a Mach 2 transatlantic machine was the only one worth building; at shorter ranges the added cost and complexity of supersonic flight would not reduce the flight times enough to be worthwhile. By 1958, the Type 198 had evolved into an eight-engined shoulder-wing delta of around 150 seats and a Mach 2 speed. In 1959, they received an additional £
350,000 study contract to continue work on the design, and by the end of the year the 198 had evolved into a 136-seat aircraft cruising at Mach 1.8.
At the same time Russell started a parallel study on a similar sized but higher speed design built of stainless steel
as Type 213. However this proved uneconomical when their own Bristol 188
design started into production that year. Although much of the problem can likely be traced to the novelty of the 188's steel construction, it cost many times more than conventional designs, and appeared to be impractical. From then on Russell was interested only in designs of Mach 2.2 or less, the upper limit for aluminium
construction.
In March 1959, STAC recommended the UK build two supersonic designs, a long-range 150-seat aircraft to cruise at Mach 2 for the London
to New York
route, and a shorter-range aircraft to cruise at Mach 1.2 for use in Europe. On January 1, 1960, several British aerospace companies merged to form the British Aircraft Corporation
, or BAC. Hawker Siddeley had also been working on the transatlantic version of the STAC designs, but the Bristol design was considered clearly superior.
However Russell soon started having second thoughts about the 150-seat sized version, and in 1961 started parallel work on a smaller design known as Type 223, of about 110-seats and with four engines, but otherwise similar to the low-wing version of the Type 198.
In 1961, Sud Aviation revealed their plans for the Super-Caravelle
at the Paris Air Show
. By this point STAC was looking at producing the Type 223, but the cost was going to be enormous. Throughout 1962 the two companies and their respective governments talked about forming a consortium to share development and production costs on similar parts. On November 29, 1962 an agreement was signed, and the Concorde
project started. Originally two versions of the same basic design were going to be offered, a larger transatlantic version with a size about that of the Type 223, and a smaller short/medium range version similar to the Super Caravelle. However as the group started talking to prospective customers, it soon became clear that the smaller version was not commercially interesting, and it was eventually dropped. The Bristol Olympus
engine Mark No. designed for the cancelled short/medium range version was subsequently developed for use in the BAC TSR-2
strike aircraft.
Bristol Aeroplane Company
The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aero engines...
Type 223 was an early design for a supersonic transport
Supersonic transport
A supersonic transport is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. The only SSTs to see regular service to date have been Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in June 1978 with its last ever...
. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the company studied a number of models as part of a large British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
inter-company effort funded by the government. These models eventually culminated in the Type 223, a transatlantic transport for about 100 passengers at a speed around Mach 2
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
. At about the same time Sud Aviation
Sud Aviation
Sud-Aviation was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating from the merger of Sud-Est and Sud-Ouest on March 1, 1957...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
was developing the similar Super-Caravelle
Sud Aviation Super-Caravelle
The Sud Aviation Super-Caravelle was an early design for a supersonic transport. Unlike most competing designs which envisioned larger trans-Atlantic aircraft and led to the likes of the Boeing 2707, the Super-Caravelle was a much smaller, shorter range design intended to replace their earlier and...
design, and in November 1962 the efforts were merged to create the Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
project.
Background
During the 1950s, the British lead in aircraft design was continually eroded by a series of technical and commercial disasters. The technically complex Bristol BrabazonBristol Brabazon
The Bristol Type 167 Brabazon was a large propeller-driven airliner, designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to fly transatlantic routes from the United Kingdom to the United States. The prototype was delivered in 1949, only to prove a commercial failure when airlines felt the airliner was too...
met all of its demanding performance requirements, but proved to be a commercial failure because airlines felt the transatlantic market wasn't big enough to justify buying such a large and expensive aircraft. The de Havilland Comet
De Havilland Comet
The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner to reach production. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at the Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom headquarters, it first flew in 1949 and was a landmark in aeronautical design...
suffered from a series of mysterious and deadly accidents which cast a pall over the market for the aircraft, which as the world's first jet airliner represented an area where the British technological lead might have proved decisive. The metal fatigue problems encountered in the Comet led to prolonged testing of other promising designs such as the Bristol Britannia
Bristol Britannia
The Bristol Type 175 Britannia was a British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the British Empire...
, which were so delayed that their production was eclipsed by US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
designs when they finally reached service. The leading US contender, the Boeing 707
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
series, gained much from the KC-135 Stratotanker
KC-135 Stratotanker
The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an aerial refueling military aircraft. It and the Boeing 707 airliner were developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype. The KC-135 was the US Air Force's first jet-powered refueling tanker and replaced the KC-97 Stratotanker...
project.
Throughout this period, the industry had been producing a series of advanced test aircraft, and had extensively studied the problems of sustained high-speed flight. By the mid 1950s, two designs had been shown to have a lift-to-drag ratio
Lift-to-drag ratio
In aerodynamics, the lift-to-drag ratio, or L/D ratio, is the amount of lift generated by a wing or vehicle, divided by the drag it creates by moving through the air...
suitable for supersonic cruise, a sharply swept "M-wing" pioneered at Armstrong-Whitworth for slightly-supersonic flight, and very slender delta wing
Delta wing
The delta wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta .-Delta-shaped stabilizers:...
s suitable for a wide range of speeds. Higher speeds up to Mach 3 had been considered and found to be possible, but it appeared that a practical upper limit was Mach 2.2, above this speed the duralumin
Duralumin
Duralumin is the trade name of one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The main alloying constituents are copper, manganese, and magnesium. A commonly used modern equivalent of this alloy type is AA2024, which contains 4.4% copper, 1.5% magnesium, 0.6% manganese and 93.5%...
used for most aircraft construction would start to go soft due to the heat of friction, and some new material would have to be used instead.
STAC
By 1956 there was enough official interest in this research for the Supersonic Transport Aircraft Committee, or STAC, to be formed under Sir Morien MorganMorien Morgan
Sir Morien Bedford Morgan CB FRS, was a noted Welsh aeronautical engineer, sometimes known as "the Father Of Concorde"...
to investigate the creation of a supersonic transport. Through the late 1950s, Bristol, Handley Page and Hawker Siddeley all conducted a series of studies into various delta wing
Delta wing
The delta wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta .-Delta-shaped stabilizers:...
designs under STAC.
At Bristol, Archibald Russell
Archibald Russell
Archibald George Blomefield Russell, CVO, FSA was an English art historian and a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.-Early life:...
studied a number of variations under the generic Type 198 label. Using RAE
RAE
RAE can stand for:*Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior, Argentina's shortwave international broadcaster*RAE Bedford, Royal Aircraft Establishment *RAE tube, a type of Endotracheal tube used in anaesthesia...
wind tunnel data, he concluded that a Mach 2 transatlantic machine was the only one worth building; at shorter ranges the added cost and complexity of supersonic flight would not reduce the flight times enough to be worthwhile. By 1958, the Type 198 had evolved into an eight-engined shoulder-wing delta of around 150 seats and a Mach 2 speed. In 1959, they received an additional £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
350,000 study contract to continue work on the design, and by the end of the year the 198 had evolved into a 136-seat aircraft cruising at Mach 1.8.
At the same time Russell started a parallel study on a similar sized but higher speed design built of stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
as Type 213. However this proved uneconomical when their own Bristol 188
Bristol 188
The Bristol 188 was a British supersonic research aircraft built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in the 1950s. Its length, slender cross-section and intended purpose led to its being nicknamed the "Flaming Pencil".-Design and development:...
design started into production that year. Although much of the problem can likely be traced to the novelty of the 188's steel construction, it cost many times more than conventional designs, and appeared to be impractical. From then on Russell was interested only in designs of Mach 2.2 or less, the upper limit for aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
construction.
In March 1959, STAC recommended the UK build two supersonic designs, a long-range 150-seat aircraft to cruise at Mach 2 for the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
route, and a shorter-range aircraft to cruise at Mach 1.2 for use in Europe. On January 1, 1960, several British aerospace companies merged to form the British Aircraft Corporation
British Aircraft Corporation
The British Aircraft Corporation was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs , the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Hunting Aircraft in 1960. Bristol, English Electric and Vickers became "parents" of BAC with...
, or BAC. Hawker Siddeley had also been working on the transatlantic version of the STAC designs, but the Bristol design was considered clearly superior.
However Russell soon started having second thoughts about the 150-seat sized version, and in 1961 started parallel work on a smaller design known as Type 223, of about 110-seats and with four engines, but otherwise similar to the low-wing version of the Type 198.
In 1961, Sud Aviation revealed their plans for the Super-Caravelle
Sud Aviation Super-Caravelle
The Sud Aviation Super-Caravelle was an early design for a supersonic transport. Unlike most competing designs which envisioned larger trans-Atlantic aircraft and led to the likes of the Boeing 2707, the Super-Caravelle was a much smaller, shorter range design intended to replace their earlier and...
at the Paris Air Show
Paris Air Show
The Paris Air Show is the world's oldest and largest air show. Established in 1909, it is currently held every odd year at Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France...
. By this point STAC was looking at producing the Type 223, but the cost was going to be enormous. Throughout 1962 the two companies and their respective governments talked about forming a consortium to share development and production costs on similar parts. On November 29, 1962 an agreement was signed, and the Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
project started. Originally two versions of the same basic design were going to be offered, a larger transatlantic version with a size about that of the Type 223, and a smaller short/medium range version similar to the Super Caravelle. However as the group started talking to prospective customers, it soon became clear that the smaller version was not commercially interesting, and it was eventually dropped. The Bristol Olympus
Rolls-Royce Olympus
The Rolls-Royce Olympus was one of the world's first two-spool axial-flow turbojet aircraft engines, originally developed and produced by Bristol Aero Engines. First running in 1950, its initial use was as the powerplant of the Avro Vulcan V Bomber...
engine Mark No. designed for the cancelled short/medium range version was subsequently developed for use in the BAC TSR-2
BAC TSR-2
The British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2 was a cancelled Cold War strike and reconnaissance aircraft developed by the British Aircraft Corporation for the Royal Air Force in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
strike aircraft.