Bristol Badger

Bristol Aeroplane Company

Industry	Aircraft manufacturing
Founded	1910 (1910) in Bristol, United Kingdom
Founder	Sir George White
Headquarters	Bristol , United Kingdom
Products	Aircraft, including the Bristol Badger

For the baseball team, the Bristol Badgers, see Bristol Badgers.

The Bristol Badger was developed in response to a British requirement for a two-seat fighter-reconnaissance aircraft during the closing stages of the First World War. Three units were supplied to the Air Board for the purpose of advancing air-cooled radial engine technology, especially focusing on what would later be known as the Bristol Jupiter engine; an additional two Badgers were also constructed.

Development

The origins of the Bristol Badger trace back to the Type 22 F.2C, which was intended as an improved version of the Bristol F.2B, potentially equipped with a 200 hp (150 kW) Salmson radial (Type 22), a 300 hp (220 kW) ABC Dragonfly radial (Type 22A), or a 230 hp (170 kW) Bentley B.R.2 rotary engine (Type 22B). The Type 23 Badger emerged as a fresh design employing the Dragonfly powerplant, conceived late in 1917 to fulfill a two-seat fighter-reconnaissance function and heavily influenced by the Bristol Scout F. It featured a single-bay biplane configuration with pronounced stagger, non-swept wings of unequal span. The crew sat in tandem, with the pilot positioned beneath the upper wing’s trailing edge and the observer behind, armed with a ring-mounted 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun. Initially, the Badger had minimal fixed fin area. Its construction followed typical methods of the period, combining wood framing covered with fabric. The undercarriage consisted of a single axle complemented by a tailskid.

As development proceeded, reliability issues with the Dragonfly engine became apparent, prompting Bristol to consider an alternative nine-cylinder, 400 hp (300 kW) radial engine produced by Brazil Straker, then known as the Cosmos Jupiter. This engine eventually evolved into the Bristol Jupiter.

A contract was awarded to Bristol for three Badgers: two powered by Dragonfly engines and one (the second built) equipped with a Jupiter engine. The initial Badger took flight on 4 February 1919 but suffered a crash on this maiden flight due to fuel supply complications. It was subsequently rebuilt with an enlarged rudder and delivered to the Air Board eleven days later. The second unit, fitted originally with a Jupiter engine, flew on 24 May but was later re-engined with a Dragonfly and acquired by the Air Board in September. This version featured full armament and incorporated a fixed, rounded fin designed to accommodate the heavier Jupiter powerplant. The Badger exhibited issues with lateral stability, specifically adverse yaw caused by aileron drag, leading to rejection of the third aircraft by the Air Board. These three initial machines were classified as Badger I.

Despite stability concerns and without having received a Jupiter-powered model, confidence in this engine’s potential led the Air Board to commission a fourth fully armed Badger equipped with it. Following testing, modifications included fitting a horn-balanced rudder and larger ailerons. This sole example was designated Badger II and was loaned back to Bristol for ongoing development of both the Jupiter engine and its cowling during 1920–1921.

The lateral stability challenges troubled designer Frank Barnwell, particularly because wind tunnel testing of a one-tenth scale model at the NPL had not revealed any problems. The discrepancy arose due to differences in scaling from model to full size; atmospheric pressure wind tunnels at that time achieved much lower Reynolds numbers than those experienced during actual flight. Additionally, flight tunnel experiments often used simplified representations without detailed fuselage modeling. To investigate further, Barnwell repurposed spare Badger wings and tail surfaces onto a new single-seat fuselage featuring flat sides and straightforward plywood construction over wooden framing for a fifth aircraft, named the Badger X. This aircraft first flew on 13 May 1919 and became Bristol’s initial civil-registered plane, initially registered as K110 then G-EABU. Unfortunately, it crashed shortly after on 22 May before providing useful comparative data against wind tunnel models.