Bristol Brownie
| Type 91 Brownie | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Role | Sports aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Bristol Aeroplane Company |
| Designer | Frank Barnwell |
| First flight | 6 August 1924 |
| Number built | 3 |
The Bristol Type 91 Brownie was a light sports aircraft produced in the United Kingdom by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1924. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane aircraft of conventional configuration with fixed tailskid undercarriage. The pilot and passenger sat in tandem open cockpits. It won the £1,000 pound prize for second place at the Lympne light aircraft trials in October 1924.
Bristol had not built an aircraft to compete in the 1923 Lympne light aircraft trials, which had been for aircraft with engines of 750 cc or less, making use of Bristol's Cherub engine impossible. The rules were changed for the 1924 trials, permitting engines of up to 1,100 cc to be used, and accordingly Frank Barnwell started design work on a competitor early in 1924. He produced studies for alternative wood and metal aircraft, and after consideration of these the Board of Bristol Aircraft authorised the production of two aircraft on 4 February, adding a third on 5 May. All three aircraft had a similar fuselage, made of wire-braced high-tensile steel tubing, but for experimental purposes three different wing designs were produced: a 34 ft 7in (10.54m) span wooden wing and two different metal wings, one of 36 ft 7 in (11.15 m) span of all-steel construction, the other, intended for high-speed use, of 30 ft 7 in (9.32 m) span with combined steel and duralumin construction. To satisfy the rules of the competition the wings had to be readily detachable and the aircraft fitted with dual controls.
The three aircraft were registered G-EBJK, G-EBJL and G-EBJM on 14 July, and immediately named Jack, Jill and Jim. G-EBJK, fitted with the wooden wings, was the first flown, on 6 Aug piloted by Cyril Uwins. It performed and handled so well that a second flight was immediately made by Frank Barnwell, followed by a third by Uwins and Barnwell together. G-EBJL, which had the large metal wings fitted, first flew on 22 September and G-EBJM, completed as a single-seater with a long-range tank and the smaller metal wings, followed on 4 September.
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