Bristol Buckingham

Infobox Aircraft
name=Type 163 Buckingham


caption=
type=Courier aircraft
manufacturer=Bristol Aeroplane Company
designer=
first flight=4 February 1943
introduced=
retired=
status=Retired
primary user=Royal Air Force
produced=1943-1945
number built=119
unit cost=
variants with their own articles=Bristol BrigandThe Bristol Type 163 Buckingham was a British Second World War medium day bomber for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Overtaken by events, it was built in small numbers, and was used primarily for transport and liaison duties.

Design and development

In 1940, Bristol was working on a project called the Bristol Type 161 Beaumont, essentially a bomber variant of their Beaufighter. The Beaufighter itself had started as a bomber design, the Beaufort. The Beaumont never proceeded beyond the design stage.

In 1941, the new specification B.2/41 called for a replacement for the Bristol Blenheim that could carry 4,000 lb (1.8 t) of bombs on daylight raids over Germany. At the time, the RAF no longer had any medium bomber capable of carrying out daytime missions, and for this role any new design would have to have excellent performance as well as defensive armament. Bristol responded with the Buckingham B. Mk 1, powered by the new very powerful Bristol Centaurus radial engine and mounting gun installations in the nose, dorsal and ventral turrets. Generally conventional in appearance, one unusual feature was that the bomb-aimer was housed in a mid-fuselage ventral gondola. Winchester 2005, p. 95.] The first flight took place on 4 February 1943.

During testing, the Buckingham exhibited poor stability which necessitated the enlargement of the twin tails along with other modifications.

Operational history

By the time the design entered production the requirements had already changed, and this sort of duty generally fell to night missions with the de Havilland Mosquito instead. However the first batch of 119 had already been built, so after the first 54 bombers, the remainder were converted for high-speed courier duties with RAF Transport Command. The gun installations were removed and four seats and windows fitted in the fuselage. The aircraft were then designated Buckingham C. Mk I. Despite its 300 mph speed and superior range to the Mosquito transports, with only room for four passengers, the Buckingham was rarely put to use. A total of 65 Buckingham bombers were unfinished on the production line and ended up re-built as the Buckmaster transport, a close derivative. Winchester 2005, p. 94.] The Buckmaster was also further modified into a conversion trainer aircraft for the similar Bristol Brigand. Considered the "highest performance trainer in the RAF," the Buckmaster continued to serve as a trainer until its eventual retirement in the mid-1950s.

Operators

;UK
*Royal Air Force

pecifications (Buckingham C. Mk I)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Fact|date=April 2008
crew=2
capacity=4 passengers
length main=46 ft 10 in
length alt=14.3 m
span main=71 ft 10 in
span alt=21.9 m
height main=17 ft 6 in
height alt=5.3 m
area main=708 ft²
area alt=65.8 m²
empty weight main=24,042 lb
empty weight alt=10,900 kg
loaded weight main=34,000 lb
loaded weight alt=15,000 kg
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=

engine (prop)=Bristol Centaurus VII
type of prop=air-cooled radial engines
number of props=2
power main=2,520 hp
power alt=1,880 kW

max speed main=336 mph
max speed alt=291 knots, 541 km/h
max speed more=at 12,000 ft (3,700 m)
range main=2,000 nm
range alt=2,300 mi, 3,700 km
ceiling main=28,000 ft
ceiling alt=8,500 m
climb rate main=2,000 ft/min
climb rate alt=10 m/s
loading main=48 lb/ft²
loading alt=230 kg/m²
power/mass main=0.15 hp/lb
power/mass alt=240 W/kg

ee also

aircontent

related=

similar aircraft=

lists=
* List of aircraft of the RAF
* List of bomber aircraft

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Winchester, Jim. "The World's Worst Aircraft: From Pioneering Failures to Multimillion Dollar Disasters". London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. ISBN 1-904687-34-2.

External links

* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=60 British Aircraft Directory]
* [http://www.jaapteeuwen.com/ww2aircraft/html%20pages/BRISTOL%20TYPE%20163%20BUCKINGHAM.htm British Aircraft of World War 2]