Bristol's Nocturnal Beagle

**Spinners** · December 3, 2021

Bristol Beagle Mk.II - No.29 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1938

After a poor start the Bristol F.2 'Brisfit' reconnaissance-fighter was successfully developed into the robust and manoeuvrable F.2B two-seat fighter - an aircraft capable of holding its own against most single-seat fighters during the latter part of WW1. In the immediate post-war period the aircraft was further developed into the F.2B Mk.II equipped with desert equipment and a tropical cooling system for army co-operation and air policing duties. During the 1920's Bristol developed and introduced numerous variants and derivatives of the aircraft with revised tail units and strengthened undercarriages. Even after production finished in 1927, Bristol enjoyed several years of manufacturing spares and refurbishing the aircraft for continued service into the 1930's.

In late 1927, as a private venture, the board of the Bristol Aeroplane Company asked their chief designer Frank Barnwell to design and develop a multi-role successor to the F.2B for the decade ahead - naturally stipulating that the new aircraft should use an 'in house' Bristol engine. Barnwell was aware that Roy Fedden was working on the nine-cylinder Pegasus radial engine as a follow-on to the successful Jupiter engine but using a shorter stroke to increase the revolutions per minute and including a supercharger for added power. On the expected power output of the Pegasus engine (635h.p.) Barnwell schemed a much larger aircraft than the F.2B with a near doubling of the all-up weight to 5,600lb making the new aircraft suitable for a variety of roles such as light bomber, reconnaissance-fighter, army co-operation and night fighter.

Designated as the Bristol Type 119, Frank Barnwell designed a single-bay biplane with staggered wings braced by wires in the centre section only. The fabric-covered fuselage was of metal construction using members built up from rolled high-tensile steel strips riveted together and essentially similar to the earlier Bristol Bulldog single-seat fighter. The Pegasus engine installation was neatly cowled with a Townend ring. Under the fuselage the strong undercarriage was divided and attached to the fuselage with streamlined legs and struts. The pilot's cockpit was positioned below a shallow cutout in the trailing edge of the upper wing with the observer's cockpit positioned behind the pilot and featuring a twin Lewis Gun installation mounted on a Scarff ring. Bombs could be carried on three external hardpoints under the fuselage and the lower wings carried a pair of podded .303 Browning machine guns that were belt-fed with 400 rounds per gun.

Development moved swiftly and the first prototype took to the air at Filton on January 18th, 1931 piloted by Cyril Uwins. Bristol's bold private venture investment soon paid off with almost immediate Air Ministry interest in the Type 119 during the Spring of 1931 soon followed by an order for 90 Type 119 aircraft to the specially created Air Ministry Specification G.3/31 calling for a two-seat general-purpose light bomber. These were manufactured as the Bristol Beagle Mk.I and entered service with No.35 Squadron at Bircham Newton in April 1933. As an almost parallel programme, Bristol were awarded a contract for 60 aircraft to the new Air Ministry Specification F.6/31 calling for a two-seat general purpose fighter and these were manufactured as the Bristol Beagle Mk.II differing only in the deletion of the three external hardpoints. Entering service with No.29 Squadron in June 1933 the Beagle Mk.II's also served with No.64 Squadron as Home Defence night-fighters and were still in service at the time of the Munich Crisis in September 1938.