Bristol Coanda Monoplanes

For a description of the format and data included in Production Tables, see here.

Contents

Type Description

• School Monoplane
• Two seat training monoplane with tandem cockpits derived from the Prier-Dickson. The wings were structurally Similar to Prier's, having two tubular steel spars filled with wood, on to which the ribs were threaded and located by clips so that they were free to rotate round the spars for warping. In Prier's design the front spars were always longer than the rear, giving a forward rake to the tip, but this somewhat restricted the range of warping movement available. Coanda's wings had their tips raked the opposite way, with the rear spar longer than the front, which resulted in a longer flexible trailing edge. The wings were braced above and below to steel tube pylons, the control pulleys being enclosed in streamline fairings at the apex of each pylon. It had a semicircular fixed tailplane and a one-piece elevator, with a balanced rudder above with no fin. Foot pressure on the rudder-bar operated the band-brakes with which the undercarriage was equipped - an advanced feature at the time. The passenger occupied the front seat, which was placed over the centre of gravity so that the balance was not disturbed when the machine was flown solo. The rectangular section fuselage consisted of four ash longerons connected by struts and cross members of spruce, With diagonal wire cross bracing. A turtle back which gradually flattens out towards the tail. The airframe was fabric-covered, except for the fore-part of the box section fuselage, which received metal panels. The engine was surrounded by a circular cowling, which prevented oil from being thrown back to the cockpits. The cockpits were furnished with wicker seats and had non-inflammable celluloid windows in the fuselage sides. The undercarriage had steel-tube skids of the type originated by Grandseigne, and was fitted with an additional small wheel at the forward end of each of the skids. As such, when on the ground, the aircraft stood on four wheels, with the fuselage have a distinctive raked up attitude. One 50 h.p. Gnome powerplant.

• Coanda Side-by-Side
  Monoplane
• Two seat training monoplane, a development of the School Monoplane with side by side seating and dual controls. One 50 h.p. Gnome powerplant.

• Competition Monoplane
• Similar to the School Monoplane with improved drag reduction. the usual pyramids of steel struts were replaced by a pair of vertical steel pylons on the fuselage centre-line carefully faired with wood. The passenger's cockpit was between these pylons and the pilot's just behind. The wings were of the same type as the School Monoplane and their cables had quick release clips for easy dismantling. The cockpit sides had celluloid windows and the trailing edges were cut back at the wing roots to improve the pilot's view. One 80 h.p. Gnome powerplant.

• Daimler Monoplane
• Similar to the Competition Monoplane with a welded steel-tube landing gear featuring a central skid; the shock absorbers were telescopic struts containing coil springs and the half-axles could be moved by a tiller-bar for ground steering. One 70 h.p. Daimler-Mercedes powerplant.

• Military Monoplane
• Improved development of Competition Monoplane with increased wingspan, extra fuel and oil tanks and an enlarged rudder. One 80 h.p. Gnome powerplant.

• Type S.B.5
• Single seat monoplane, a smaller version of the Military Monoplane. Powerplant unknown, but the designation S.B.5 probably stood for Single-seat Bristol 50 h.p., so one may conjecture that it was designed for a 50 h.p. Gnome.

Production Tables Index

Coanda Monoplanes - Bristol Production
Coanda Monoplanes - Italian Production
S.B.5

Notes

1. Following structural failures, the Coanda Military monoplanes had their wings strengthened, but this proved to be too heavy. Eventually several were converted to more successful biplanes - see TB.8.
2. Barnes [1] gives 2 built, Goodall and Tagg [2] give one. The Italian Government cancelled the Bristol contract and after a prolonged dispute which lasted until January 1918, when the Caproni-Bristol licence was cancelled.

Production References

1. Bristol Aircraft Since 1910, C.H. Barnes (Putnam, 1964, 1970 and 1988)
2. British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001)
3. The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps, J.M. Bruce (Putnam, 1982)