Been reading a little book entitled “British Fighter Planes” By C.G.Grey Faber & Faber 1944…
Theres a section on the Bristol Blenheim Fighter amongst which is a mention of a Frank Barnwell design built in 1923…
See highlighted scans
Any one have more info or photo’s?
By: Papa Lima - 11th June 2006 at 23:18
I believe the first flight was in July 1922, piloted by Cyril Uwins. The construction number was 6148, all according to my records – any corrections would be gratefully received!
By: MrBlueSky - 11th June 2006 at 23:09
Thank you for that info FiltonFlyer… 😉
The Barrel Racer eh… The name is… descriptive, but not exactly complementary to the design.
By: FiltonFlyer - 11th June 2006 at 22:44
Sounds to me like the Bristol Type 72 Racer. It was indeed a revolutionary aircraft, but unfortunately had some problems on the initial test flights. On the second flight, the spinner came off an ripped the fabric off the port wing. Subsequent flights were without a spinner, but this caused excessive drag. 7 flights were made in all, and it was abandoned because of the effort required to fix the spinner problem. It was an exceptional aircraft, ahead of its time.
Click here for a picture of the Racer – http://www.transportarchive.org.uk/getsingleobject.php?rnum=G1126
Andy A.
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June 11, 2006 at 9:52 pm