The Connection ROYAL AIR FORCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 2 The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the contributors concerned and are not necessarily those held by the Royal Air Force Historical Society. Copyright 2011: Royal Air Force Historical Society First published in the UK in 2011 by the Royal Air Force Historical Society All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. ISBN 978-0-,010120-2-1 Printed by 3indrush 4roup 3indrush House Avenue Two Station 5ane 3itney O72. 273 1 ROYAL AIR FORCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY President 8arshal of the Royal Air Force Sir 8ichael Beetham 4CB CBE DFC AFC Vice-President Air 8arshal Sir Frederick Sowrey KCB CBE AFC Committee Chairman Air Vice-8arshal N B Baldwin CB CBE FRAeS Vice-Chairman 4roup Captain J D Heron OBE Secretary 4roup Captain K J Dearman 8embership Secretary Dr Jack Dunham PhD CPsychol A8RAeS Treasurer J Boyes TD CA 8embers Air Commodore 4 R Pitchfork 8BE BA FRAes 3ing Commander C Cummings *J S Cox Esq BA 8A *AV8 P Dye OBE BSc(Eng) CEng AC4I 8RAeS *4roup Captain A J Byford 8A 8A RAF *3ing Commander C Hunter 88DS RAF Editor A Publications 3ing Commander C 4 Jefford 8BE BA 8anager *Ex Officio 2 CONTENTS THE BE4INNIN4 B THE 3HITE FA8I5C by Sir 4eorge 10 3hite BEFORE AND DURIN4 THE FIRST 3OR5D 3AR by Prof 1D Duncan 4reenman THE BRISTO5 F5CIN4 SCHOO5S by Bill 8organ 2, BRISTO5ES PISTON EN4INES AND THE RAF B AN 02 OVERVIE3 by Patrick Hassell AIRFRA8E DESI4N, DEVE5OP8ENT AND D2 PRODUCTION 1,1,-20 by Peter Coombs 8ORNIN4 DISCUSSION PERIOD .1 BRISTO5 AIRCRAFT IN 33 II by Air Cdre 4raham .2 Pitchfork FOCUS ON A B5ENHEI8 SFUADRON by 3g Cdr Jeff 102 Jefford BRISTO5 AND THE RAF IN THE CO5D 3AR B THE 11D CINDERE55A CEARS, 1,2D-D0 by Prof Duncan 4reenman BRISTO5 TO RO55S-ROCCE B THE 4AS TURBINE 112 STORC by 4p Capt Jock Heron THE 5AST OF THE 5INE B THE RAF BRITANNIA by Sqn 122 5dr David Berry CO5D 3AR PROJECTS by Tony Buttler 100 FIFTC CEARS OF THE PE4ASUS by Andrew Dow 1D, In 8emoriam B 4ORDON 5E3IS by Andrew Dow 17D AFTERNOON DISCUSSION PERIOD 177 CHAIR8ANES C5OSIN4 RE8ARKS B Air Chief 8arshal 1.0 Sir Peter Squire 0 ABBREVIATIONS AAP Aircraft Acceptance Park AAAEE Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment AONS Air Observers Navigation School ASR Air-Sea Rescue AST Air Staff Target ATC Air Training Corps BA3A The British Aerospace 3elfare Association CANS Civil Air Navigation School CB GSeabeesE - US Navy Construction Battalions CCF Combined Cadet Force CFI Chief Flying Instructor CFS Central Flying School C/TO5 Conventional Take Off and 5anding DTI Department of Trade and Industry EFA Experimental Fighter Aircraft (aka Typhoon) EFTS Elementary Flying Training School ERFTS Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School Gmbh Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (ie GCo 5tdE) Hp High pressure IRB8 Intermediate Range Ballistic 8issile ITP Industria de Turbo Propulsores 54 5anding 4round 8oD(PE) 8inistry of Defence (Procurement Executive) 8TU Motoren- und Turbinen- nion GmbH OCU Operational Conversion Unit OTU Operational Training Unit RAE Royal Aircraft Establishment RAeC Royal Aero Club RAeS Royal Aeronautical Society RAFO Reserve of Air Force Officers R54 Relief 5anding 4round RBS Royal Bank of Scotland RFS Reserve Flying School STOV5 Short Take Off and 5anding TTTE Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment UAS University Air Squadron D THE CONNECTION BAWA, FILTON, 21 OCTOBER 2010 WELCOME ADDRESS BY THE SOCIETY S CHAIRMAN Air Vice-Marshal Nigel Baldwin 4ood morning ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to see so many members of the Society here but others too who have been attracted by the subIect. If you, our visitors, like what you see, I do hope you will be tempted to Ioin the Society B not least so that you will then receive a Ghard backEcopy of the Iournal which we will produce recording the essence of the day. Not for the first time at a seminar spent here at the BA3A, we have been given some financial help to mount the day by BAE Systems and by Rolls Royce. That help means that we will be able to cope with the extra expense of producing the Iournal in hardback. 3e are most grateful to the two companies for their support. This is the fourth time in our 22-year history as a Society that we have been welcomed here at the BA3A. 3e are, of course, extremely grateful to Jim Bishop, the Chairman, and his colleagues for allowing us to use their facilities. It is a splendid place that you can be very proud of and we are delighted to take advantage not least so that members who live a long way from our usual venue, the RAF 8useum at Hendon, have a chance to attend one of our meetings. Our Chairman today, Air Chief 8arshal Sir Peter Squire, Ioined the Royal Air Force as a Cranwell flight cadet in 1,D1. His operational flying included tours on the Hunter, Harrier and Tornado. He commanded No 1 SqnEs Harriers during the Falklands 3ar in 1,.2, (where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross), the Tri- National Tornado Training Establishment at RAF Cottesmore, Nos 1. and 1 4roups, and was then Air Officer Commanding in Chief of Strike Command. 3ith much experience in the 8inistry Defence too, he was appointed Chief of the Air Staff in April 2000 and retired at the end of July 2001. He is now the Chairman of Trustees of The Imperial 3ar 8useum and was Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth 3ar 4raves Commission from 2000 to 200.. 7 Having spent, like me, much of his flying career being kept airborne by Bristol and Rolls Royce engines, he is well placed to keep us on track today. Sir Peter B you have control A couple of war-winning classics – fashion. The Bristol Fighter of WW I and the Beaufighter of WW II. OPENING REMARKS BY SEMINAR CHAIRMAN Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter S-.ire GCB DFC AFC DSc FRAes 4ood 8orning everyone, and may I add my own words of welcome to those of the SocietyEs Chairman. It is a great pleasure to have been invited to chair this seminar, entitled GThe Bristol ConnectionE. As we all know, this year marks the centenary of the creation of the British and Colonial Aircraft Company, founded here at Filton on 1, February 1,10 by Sir 4eorge 3hite, the owner of the Bristol Tramways. At 5arkhill on 21 September that year Captain Bertram Dickson flew his Bristol Boxkite to recce Army manoeuvres on the plain and report their dispositions. That was the first recorded use in 4reat Britain of a powered aircraft to conduct military operations. By 1,11 the company employed some 200 staff. They operated a number of flying schools and trained half of the nationEs aviators and we shall hear more of that later. Suffice to say, acquiring an aviatorEs certificate in those days cost J70. In 1,20 the links to Bristol city were formalised by renaming the firm the Bristol Aeroplane Company and by 1,1. Filton was the worldEs largest aerospace manufacturing facility. It is now the only site with an unbroken history of more than 100 years of development and production. That said, there have been many structural changes along the way. In 1,0D the company split into Bristol Aircraft and Bristol Aero Engines but with the subsequent merging of the aircraft companies it became part of the British Aircraft Corporation, while the engines side merged with Armstrong Siddeley to form Bristol Siddeley which was, in turn, purchased by Rolls-Royce in 1,DD. Today we shall hear many famous names, from both stables B Bulldog, Blenheim, Beaufighter, Brabazon, Britannia and Belvedere, to mention Iust a few, and on the engine side B Jupiter, 8ercury, Hercules, Centaurus, Orpheus, Olympus and Pegasus. I finish with Pegasus because, although today is Trafalgar Day, 21 October also marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first hover flight by the P.1127. So the Pegasus has now been a Bristol proIect for fifty years and, in that connection, it was a great sadness to learn of 4ordon 5ewisE death earlier this month. 4ordon was the brains behind the Pegasus. He should have been here today and I am sure that he would have been as , disappointed as any of us at the news that the Harrier is to be withdrawn from service in the near future. He was a quiet, unassuming man but with a great sense of humour as I learned to my benefit when he took me on a trip to the United States in 1,.1 to talk about the effectiveness of the Harrier/Pegasus combination in the South Atlantic in 1,.2. His contribution had been enormous because, apart from the Pegasus, he had been responsible for the development of the Olympus, the RB1,, for the Tornado and the early development of the EJ200 for Typhoon. He was made a CBE on retirement in 1,.D and, very rightly, recognised by the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust with their 5ife Time Achievement Award and I am sure that you would wish to Ioin me in saluting an outstanding aero engineer. (Spontaneous applause) 3e have a very busy programme today so I do urge everyone to keep to time and resist the temptation to go off piste and ad lib.