Bristol Bombay

Infobox Aircraft
name= Type 130 Bombay


caption= Prototype Bombay in flight.
type= Medium bomber & transport aircraft
manufacturer= Bristol Aeroplane Company
designer=
first flight= 1935-06-23
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user= Royal Air Force
more users= Royal Australian Air Force
produced= 1939
number built= 50
unit cost=
variants with their own articles=

The Bristol Bombay was a British medium bomber and troop transport aircraft flown by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II.

Development

The Bombay was built to Air Ministry Specification C.26/31 for a monoplane aircraft capable of carrying bombs or 24 troops. Bristol's early experience with monoplanes was dismal — both the 1922 racer prototype and the 1927 Bristol Bagshot fighter suffered from lack of torsional rigidity in the wings. Based on this experience, Bristol over-engineered the Bombay's wing to include no less than seven spars made from high-strength steel. Not surprisingly, the end product was a very heavy aeroplane.

The prototype Type 130 first flew on 23 June 1935 Cite book |author=Mason, Francis K |title=The British Bomber since 1914 |publisher=Putnam Aeronautical Books |year=1994 |id= ISBN 0 85177 861 5 and an order for 80 was placed as the Bombay. As Bristol's Filton factory was busy building the more urgent Bristol Blenheim, the production aircraft were built by Short & Harland of Belfast. However, the complex nature of the Bombay's wing delayed production at Belfast, with the first Bombay not being delivered until 1939, and the last 30 being cancelled.

The Hele-Shaw controllable pitch propellers used on the Bombay were the first product of a Bristol-Rolls-Royce joint venture called Rotol, which would later go on to great success supplying propellers for fighter aircraft.

Operational history

Despite the all-metal, monoplane construction, the Bombay retained some features which were outdated at the time, such as its fixed undercarriage. Although it was outclassed for the European theatre, it saw some service ferrying supplies to the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940. In June 1940 French pilot Jean-Francois Demozay borrowed an abandoned Bombay to ferry himself and 15 troops from France to England, after which he became an ace with the RAF. Cite book |author=Ketley, Barry|title=French Aces of WWII|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=1999 |id= ISBN 1-85532-898-4 Its main service was in the Middle East, replacing the Vickers Type 264 Valentia. The Bombay was capable of dropping 250 lb (113 kg) bombs held on external racks, and was also used to drop 20 lb (9 kg) anti-personnel mines, which were armed and thrown out of the cargo door by hand. The aircraft flew bombing sorties in Abyssinia, Italian Somaliland, Iraq, and Benghazi. Obsolete as a bomber by European standards, the Bombays were predominately used as transports, ferrying supplies and evacuating the wounded. One Bombay crew was credited with flying out 6,000 wounded troops.cite book|last=Gunston|first=B.|year=1995|title=Classic World War II Aircraft Cutaways|publisher=Osprey|id=ISBN 1-85532-526-8] On 2 May 1941 Bombays of No. 216 Squadron RAF evacuated the Greek Royal Family from Crete to Egypt.cite book|last=Barnes|first=C.H.|year=1964|title=Bristol Aircraft Since 1910|publisher=Putnam|isbn=0 370 00015 3]

Five Bombay bombers were used by the fledgling SAS in their first official operation in the Middle East, a raid on five forward German aerodromes.cite book|last=Cowles|first=V.|year=1958|title=The Phantom Major|publisher=Collins|id=ISBN 0-7861-2148-3]

Lieutenant-General "Strafer" Gott, the highest ranking British Officer killed in the war, died when the Bombay in which he had hitched a ride was shot down in the Western African Desert. He was about to assume command from General Auckinleck. His death opened the way for General Montgomery to take over.

Variants

* Type 130 : Prototype.
* Type 130A Bombay Mk I : Twin-engined medium-bomber and troop transport aircraft. Original designation Type 130 Mark II.
* Type 137 Proposed civil transport version. Unbuilt
* Type 144 Unbuilt development with retractable undercarriage proposed for Specification B.4/34 (won by Handley Page Harrow)

Operators

;AUS
*Royal Australian Air Force
**No. 1 Air Ambulance Unit RAAF;UK
*Royal Air Force
**No. 117 Squadron RAF
**No. 216 Squadron RAF
**No. 267 Squadron RAF
**No. 271 Squadron RAF

pecifications (Bombay Mk.I)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

ref=The British Bomber since 1914
crew=3-4
capacity=24 armed troops or 10 stretchers
length main=69 ft 3 in
length alt=21.1 m
span main=95 ft 9 in
span alt=29.2 m
height main=19 ft 11 in
height alt=6.1 m
area main=1,340 ft²
area alt=124.5 m²
empty weight main=13,800 lb
empty weight alt=6,260 kg
loaded weight main=20,180 lb
loaded weight alt=9,173 kg
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
engine (prop)=Bristol Pegasus XXII
type of prop=radial engines
number of props=2
power main=1,010 hp
power alt=755 kW
max speed main=167 knots
max speed alt=192 mph, 309 km/h
max speed more=at 6,500 ft (2,000 m)
cruise speed main= 139 knots
cruise speed alt=160 mph, 268 km/h
cruise speed more=at 10,000 ft (3,050 m)
range main=1,940 nm
range alt=2,230 mi, 3,560 km
range more=(overload fuel)
ceiling main=24,850 ft
ceiling alt=7,600 m
climb rate main=750 ft/min
climb rate alt=3.8 m/s
loading main=14.9 lb/ft²
loading alt=72.9 kg/m²
power/mass main=0.10 hp/lb
power/mass alt=170 W/kg
guns=2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine guns in powered nose and tail turrets
bombs=2,000 lb (900 kg) (eight 250 lb bombs) on underfuselage racks

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Bristol Type 170 Freighter — the first air ferry. (The Bristol Freighter's wing was based on that of the Type 130.)
similar aircraft=*Handley Page Harrow

*Armstrong Whitworth AW.23
*Dornier Do 23
lists=
* List of aircraft of the RAF
* List of bomber aircraft
see also=

References

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