Bristol Belvedere

Encyclopedia : B : BR : BRI : Bristol Belvedere

The Bristol Type 192 Belvedere twin-blade helicopter

The Bristol Type 192 Belvedere is a British twin-engined, tandem rotor military helicopter built by the Bristol Aeroplane CompanyIt was designed for a variety of transport roles including troop transport, supply dropping and casualty evacuation. and was operated by the Royal Air Force from 1961 to 1969.

Contents

1 History
2 Service
3 Operators
4 Specifications (HC.1)
5 Preserved examples
6 Sources
7 See also

History

The design was based on the Bristol Type 173 10-seat (later 16-seat) civil helicopter which first flew on 3 January 1952. The 173 project was cancelled in 1956 and Bristol spent time on the Type 190 and 193 to Royal Navy and Canadian specifications. The RAF expressed an interest in the aircraft and the Type 192 Belvedere was created. The first Type 192 prototype (XG447) flew on 5 July 1958 with tandem wooden rotor blades, a completely manual control system and a castored, fixed quadricycle undercarriage. From the fifth prototype, the rotors fitted were all-metal, 4 bladed units. Production model controls and instruments allowed night operations.

26 Belvederes were built entering service as the Belvedere HC Mark 1 The Belvederes were originally designed for naval use but were later adapted to carry eighteen fully equipped troops with a total load capacity of 6,000 lb. The two rotors were synchronised through a shaft allowing the aircraft to operate through only one engine in the event of an emergency.

Service

The first prototype Belvedere went on to join 66 Sqn in 1961 and saw service in Europe, Africa, South Arabia and Borneo. XG447 was broken up at Boscombe Down on 7 August 1966.

The type was used by the RAF until 1969, despite engine starter problems which caused trouble early on. Belvederes were used by 26, 66 and 72 Sqns.