Bristol Buckmaster

The Bristol Buckmaster was an advanced British training aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force during the 1950s.

Type 166 Buckmaster
Role Advanced trainer aircraft
Manufacturer Bristol Aeroplane Company
First flight 27 October 1944
Introduction 1945
Primary user Royal Air Force
Produced 1945–1946
Number built 112
Developed from Bristol Buckingham

Design and development

By 1945, there was a serious gap in performance between the so-called advanced trainers in use – such as the Avro Anson, Airspeed Oxford, dual-control Bristol Blenheim and Lockheed Hudson – and the combat aircraft which the pilots would be expected to fly on graduation.

The Bristol response to Air Ministry Specification T.13/43[1] was to make further use of the Buckingham wing, with another new fuselage, in an aircraft developed as the Type 166. The trainee and instructor were seated side by side with a wireless operator seated behind.

The Buckmaster was a propeller-driven, twin-engine mid-wing aircraft. The retractable undercarriage was of conventional (tailwheel) configuration. The radial engines were equipped with four-blade propellers.

Operational history

A total of 65 Buckingham bombers were unfinished on the production line and ended up being rebuilt as the Buckmaster, to add the production series. All were intended to serve as a trainer for the similar Brigand.[1][2] It was considered the "highest performance trainer in the RAF" when introduced. Blind flying instruction and instrument training could be undertaken, the normal crew complement being pilot, instructor and air signaller. The last Training Command Buckmasters served with the No. 238 OCU at Colerne into the mid-fifties; the transfer of one or two to Filton for experimental work[1] marked its retirement in the mid-1950s.[3]

Operators
 United Kingdom

Specifications

Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II[4]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 3 (student pilot, instructor pilot, radio operator)
  • Length: 46 ft 5 in (14.15 m)
  • Wingspan: 72 ft 4 in (22.05 m)
  • Height: 17 ft 5 in (5.31 m)
  • Wing area: 708 sq ft (65.8 m2)
  • Empty weight: 24,627 lb (11,171 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 38,193 lb (17,324 kg)
  • Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Centaurus 57 eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radial engines, 2,585 hp (1,928 kW) each
  • Propellers: 4-bladed Rotol constant-speed propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 352 mph (566 km/h, 306 kn) at 12,000 ft (3,700 m)
  • Cruise speed: 325 mph (523 km/h, 282 kn) at 18,000 ft (5,500 m) (weak mixture)
  • Range: 2,000 mi (3,200 km, 1,700 nmi) [5]
  • Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,100 m)
  • Rate of climb: 2,245 ft/min (11.40 m/s)
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See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Related lists

References
Notes
  1. Mondey 1994, p. 70.
  2. Winchester 2005, p. 94.
  3. Winchester 2005, p. 95.
  4. Bridgeman 1946, pp. 113–113.
  5. Barnes 1964, p. 321.
Bibliography
  • Barnes, C. H. Bristol Aircraft since 1910. London: Putnam, 1964.
  • Bridgeman, Leonard. "The Bristol 166 Buckmaster." Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London: Studio, 1946. ISBN 1-85170-493-0.
  • Mondey, David. The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II. London: Aerospace Publishing Ltd., 1982 (reprint 1994). ISBN 1-85152-668-4.
  • Winchester, Jim. The World's Worst Aircraft: From Pioneering Failures to Multimillion Dollar Disasters. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. ISBN 1-904687-34-2.
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