Aviation Archive Registration Acknowledgements
BAC 100: 2010. Join in the Celebrations of 100 Years of Aviation in the West of England. Aviation image sequence: Photograph of the Bristol Flying School at Larkhill by T L Fuller © J T Fuller. Mercury engine installation diagram, courtesy of BAC/Rolls-Royce. Selection of old postcards from the collection of Jackie Sims. Photograph of A380 over Clifton Suspension Bridge courtesy of Airbus SAS 2006. Computer generated image of A350 XWB courtesy of Airbus. Artist's impressions of main exhibition by Simon Gurr. Sir George White (Airbus).
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1920s

BAC entered its second decade with the arrival of engine designer Roy Fedden whose Jupiter radial is credited with keeping the company in business at a time when demand for 'Bristol' aircraft had fallen.

The 1920s were partly characterised by the split between the 'bright young things', who had the escaped the war and wanted to enjoy to the full the excesses of the Jazz Age, and those scarred by the horrors they had witnessed at the front who struggled to adjust to the new fast-paced, hedonistic way of life. It was also a decade that saw the US, unhampered by the physical devastation experienced in Europe, surging ahead as a world power with a booming industrial economy. Much of that optimism ended with the shock of the Wall Street Crash in 1929 which heralded the start of the Great Depression.
23 March 1920
British & Colonial Aeroplane Company formally wound up to protect wartime profit. Assets transferred to Bristol Aeroplane Company.
July 1920
Pullman airliner, a variation on the Braemar, shown at Olympia but does not go into production. Cosmos Engineering assets and team, led by Roy Fedden, acquired by BAC to form new engine division at Filton, later expanding to Patchway.

Other UK and world events this year:
First flight with practical retractable undercarriage.
1921
Jupiter air-cooled radial engine starts production.
Other UK and world events this year:
First test sinking of battleship by aerial bombing.
1922
Limited success with the Racer, a one-off high-speed cantilever winged monoplane powered by the Jupiter.
Other UK and world events this year:
Major General Sir Sefton Brancker, who had his first flight in a Bristol Boxkite during the Indian tour of 1911, is appointed UK Director of Civil Aviation. First airliner collision. First airliner night flight.
May 1925
Archibald E Russell joins company, going on to lead the teams which designed the airframes of Brabazon, Freighter, Britannia and Concorde, among other projects. First Jupiters delivered to RAF.
Other UK and world events this year:
First University Air Squadron formed.
17 May 1927
Bulldog's first flight, the most successful 'Bristol' production aircraft of the 1920s.
Other UK and world events this year:
First solo transatlantic flight (Lindbergh).
26 May 1929
Jupiter powers Junkers aircraft to set new world altitude record.
Other UK and world events this year:
First flight of Dornier Do X flying boat.
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Early advertisement for BAC (Bristol Aero Collection).
Early advertisement for BAC (Bristol Aero Collection).

Jupiter on testbed (Bristol Aero Collection).
Jupiter on testbed (Bristol Aero Collection).

Plan drawing of Racer (Bristol Aero Collection).
Plan drawing of Racer (Bristol Aero Collection).

Plan drawing of Bulldog (Bristol Aero Collection).
Plan drawing of Bulldog (Bristol Aero Collection).
Bristol radial engines
Bristol radial engines (Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust).
See Jupiters and other original 'Bristol' radial engines at the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust at Patchway.
Aviation Archive
Search the Aviation Archive for images of West of England aircraft in the 1920s.

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