Bristol 191 helicopter?

Don’t get me wrong SLL, I think the 173 was a looker as a Heli bus, and the final Belvedere looked good, especially in camo.
It Just dosen’t look right as a serious shipbourne ASW platform.

Nice set of photos.

Can’t help thinking it would have taken quite a time to stow the rotor blades and that framework to hold them might need a crane? Still it was a prototype.

Roger Smith.

Correct me if I am wrong but I believe that they are wooden blades, it may be the case that with metal blades (as the Belvedere had in service) such structures to support them may not have been required?:confused:

Nice set of photos.

Can’t help thinking it would have taken quite a time to stow the rotor blades and that framework to hold them might need a crane? Still it was a prototype.

Roger Smith.

There was an old British adage, ‘if dosen’t look right…’. That dosen’t look right! Cracking pictures mind.
The Whirlwind / Wessex must have been more attractive in that they took up less of the valuable deck and hanger space, and were tried and tested (even if slightly unreliable in early forms).

I always thought that there was something elegant about the 173 family, especially in the polished metal form of the prototypes, although from some angles it does look ‘too long’.

There was an old British adage, ‘if dosen’t look right…’. That dosen’t look right! Cracking pictures mind.
The Whirlwind / Wessex must have been more attractive in that they took up less of the valuable deck and hanger space, and were tried and tested (even if slightly unreliable in early forms).

Thanks for the replies everyone, especially the pictures, the 173 looks smaller on a carrier than I had expected it to!

Here are a few photos of the prototype 173 (now in the Bristol Aero Collection) on board HMS Eagle for deck trials.

These images are taken from http://www.aviationarchive.org.uk, a great source of images of Bristol aircraft. I am sure I have a photo somewhere of a development 191, I’ll have to dig around though.

Andy

Your sources are M.Uttley, Westland & Br Heli’ Industry, Cass,2001, 071465194X, and R.G.Bedford,RAF Rotors, SFB,1996, 190063600X.
A shunt, double-Sycamore was funded as T.173. In 1951 RN was thrust to NATO’s fore, convoy protection/ASW. Light Fleets to become ASW platforms for Gannet AS.1/4. RNVR onshore to man Seamew AS.1, and RAFVR, MR.2 in Coastal Command, whose Regulars would have long-loiter Nomad/Avro 716 and Short PD.2 flying boat. FAA twin-engine helos close-in at sea: Bell 61 HSL-1 under MSP. Fails; T.191/Napier Gazelle instead. RCN interest in T.193; and RAF, T.192 as first foray in Army support.

Bristol drift. ASW rethink. Delete most of the above, and odd airborne underwater weapons like Nozzle. Rotary ASW, sought since Hoverfly trials, is made nearly real by (W)S.55. USN funds ASW S.58; licenced as Wessex, single Gazelle, with a (modest) load. RN sketches hunter-killer helo-pairs; hopes for access to US Mk.101 Lulu nuclear depth charge. Outcomes are Wasp on the back of some vessels, trialled even with WE.177(NDB)!; Wessex HAS.1/3 on larger ones and the carriers. RAF was stuck with Bristol drift, containing the pain to just 26, in Service Sept.’61 (ITP,1947!) and enjoying >3 decades of Wessex HC.2. Announced reason for dumping T.191 was cross-operation USN (and French Navy). But it was an inflammatory monstrosity: see RAF Rotors for engine start procedure – the right front seat as a commode for a pot of AVPIN. See blow back. See double-dumping.

Guess you know this already…
http://www.filton.flyer.co.uk/bristol/prod191.html

‘Serial XG354 was allocated to an airframe used as a ground test-rig. Three series 3 aircraft were ordered with the Leonides Major driving four-bladed rotors and with a taller rear pylon. They were XE286-8 (G-AMYF-H) but only the first had begun ground running in November 1956 when work on the type was stopped. The RAF remained interested in the design and this led to the Type 192 Belvedere.’
http://www.vicflintham.co.uk/post-war-research-aircraft-and-prototypes/Helicopters.html

‘A Mark 3 prototype – XE286 – built at Weston Super Mare first flew on 9 November 1956. This featured 850 hp Alvis Leonides engines, taller rear pylon, shorter fuselage and longer stroke landing gear – anticipating a Royal Navy order for what was to be known as the Bristol Type 191.’
http://glostransporthistory.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/Rotors.htm

I have seen pictures of one of the Bristol twin rotarys (believe a 173) aboard a British carrier (again unsure which). could this have been in relation to the above mentioned trials.

The helicopter wasn’t an immediate success as a carrierborne ASW platform, which is why 814 Sqn had to carry on operating Gannet AS.4s for a while longer than planned.

edit, It was a 173, on HMS Eagle