Bristol Aeroplane Company's
Brigand was a British
anti-shipping/ground
attack/dive bomber attack aircraft
developed as a replacement for the Beaufighter. A total of 147 were
built, and they served with the Royal
Air Force in Malaya
during the Malayan
Emergency and Kenya
until
replaced by the de Havilland
Hornet in Malaya and the English Electric Canberra jet
bomber elsewhere.
Design and development
The
Bristol Type 164 was the outcome of the 1942
Air Ministry specification
H.7/42 calling for a faster edition of the
Beaufighter for long-range
torpedo work and anti-shipping strikes.
Bristol design team under Leslie J. Frise used the wings, tail and
undercarriage of the
Buckingham with a new
fuselage of oval cross-section. The three crew -
pilot, navigator/bomb aimer and radio-operator/gunner were grouped
together in the forward cockpit. In spite of the official change in
its role to a
bomber, the first 11 Brigands
off the production line were completed as
torpedo bombers. These initial aircraft
served with the RAF Coastal Command from 1946–1947 before being
converted to bombers.
Operational history
The first
unit to convert from Beaufighters to the Brigand was 45 Squadron, then based at RAF Station Tengah
on the Island of Singapore
and flying operations in support of British forces
against the Communist Guerrillas then engaged in an insurgency in Malaya. The first Brigand
was flown to Tengah from
RAF St Athan
in November 1949, a 16-day trip. After test flights, the first
combat operation was conducted by this single Brigand, piloted by
Flight Lieutenant Dalton Golding
and crewed by radio/radar operator Peter Weston, together with four
Beaufighters of No.
45 Squadron against CT targets in jungle west
of Kluang, Malaya
on 19
December 1949. On this flight, the Brigand carried three
rockets, one 500 lb (230 kg) and two 1,000 lb
(450 kg) bombs. The operation was successful, and No. 45
Squadron soon completed its transition to the Brigand as more
aircraft arrived.
Thereafter, Brigands of 45 Squadron and, soon thereafter,
84 Squadron were routinely engaged in
strikes against Communist Insurgent targets throughout Malaya, both
direct and in
close support of
ground forces, as well as providing air cover as needed to convoys
on the ground against possible ambushes.
Problems with the Brigand became apparent during its operations in
Malaya. The first problem to arise were undercarriages failing to
lower. This was traced to rubber seals in the
hydraulic jacks gradually breaking up because of
the hot, humid climatic conditions, for which they weren't
suitable. Just as this problem was being resolved another problem
arose, more serious because it led to fatalities; a propensity for
aircraft damage and loss during strafing runs employing the four
20 mm cannon. It was ascertained that a build up of gases in
the long cannon blast tubes, which ran under the cockpit, were
igniting through use of high-explosive shells. This in turn severed
hydraulic lines, which would burn. In effect, the Brigands were
shooting themselves down. This was cured by drastically reducing
the ammunition loads and using only ball rounds. The Brigand also
had a propensity to shed one propeller blade leading to complete
propeller failure, which in turn would lead to the engine being
wrenched off the wing, and an inevitable crash. This was found to
be caused by corrosion in the propeller locking rings. More
frequent maintenance helped alleviate this problem.When everything
was working properly the Brigand was considered to be a good
aircraft to fly by its pilots:
- "The Brigand was pleasant to fly, having nicely balanced flying
controls and a wide range of power in the two Bristol Centaurus engines. These features
made the aircraft splendid for formation flying, which was
important to our method of operation. The aircraft also had
sufficient range to reach targets all over Malaya from the
Squadron's new base at Tengah, on Singapore Island."
As the Brigand became hedged in with more restrictions both unit
commanders had serious doubts about continued use of the aircraft.
It was decided to keep on operating them - as long as thorough
maintenance was carried out it was felt that nothing else could go
wrong.
Unfortunately, another design flaw did arise in the
leather bellows used to deploy
air brake during dives. In the tropical
climate in which the Brigand found itself in Malaya, the leather
would rot away, causing the brakes to fail. This led to Brigands
losing wings in dives due to excessive airspeed or rotation as only
one brake deployed. When this problem was discovered, the air
brakes of all Brigands were wired shut, decreasing the aircraft's
dive bombing capabilities.No. 45 Squadron converted to
de Havilland Hornets in January 1952
while 84 Squadron was disbanded in February 1953. Soon after this,
the Brigands were grounded and withdrawn from service.
Brigands
were also used operationally over Aden
by 8 Squadron from 1950 through to
1952. In 1952, after it was found that the Brigand's
mainspars were suspect the Brigands were replaced by
de Havilland Vampires.
Variants
The first to be built was the Brigand I or
Brigand TF
1 and these entered service with
RAF Coastal Command No. 36
Squadron and
No. 42 Squadron). They were subsequently
rebuilt to become the
Brigand B 1, notable as both
the first purpose-built multi-role strike aircraft built for the
RAF, and its last piston-engined bomber. It could carry either a
22 in (560 mm)
torpedo under the
fuselage with two 500 lb (230 kg) bombs beneath the
wings, one 2,000 lb (910 kg) or two 1,000 lb
(450 kg) bombs beneath the fuselage and had under-wing racks
for 16
RP-3 60 lb (30 kg) rocket
projectiles.
- Brigand Met 3 was a meteorological reconnaissance aircraft of which 16 aircraft
were built.
- Brigand T 4 trainer version, which was used to train
airborne interception (AI) radar operators. Nine were built
- Brigand T 5 was an improved training version,
which like the T 4 before it, was used to train airborne
interception (AI) radar operators.
Operators
Specifications (Brigand)
See also
References
Notes
- Taylor 1969, p. 335.
- Blyth 1977
- Group
Captain (Squadron Leader at the time) A.C. Blyth
DFC, commander
45 Squadron.
- Mulvagh 1995, pp. 16–19.
Bibliography
- Blyth, A.C. (Group Captain). "Brigands over Malaya".
Aeroplane Monthly Volume 5, Number 5, May 1977.
- Mulvagh, Brendon. "Brigands over Aden". Aeroplane
Monthly Volume 23, Number 9, September 1995.
- Taylor, John W.R. "Bristol Brigand." Combat Aircraft of the
World from 1909 to the present. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons,
1969. ISBN 0-425-03633-2.
- Trimble, Robert L. "Bristol's Multi-mission Bomber." Air
Classics, Vol. 18, no. 8, August 1982.
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