Bristol Type 200

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Use British English|date=December 2016}}  {{Infobox aircraft | name = Bristol Type 200 | logo = | logo_size = | image = Bristol type 200 3-view.jpg | alt = | caption = Bristol Type 200 Concept | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Airliner | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = | manufacturer = Bristol Aeroplane Company | design_group = | designer = | builder = | issuer = | status = Project cancelled | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }}

The '''Bristol Type 200''' was a proposal for a short-range aircraft by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1956. Although it was designed in response to a specification issued by British European Airways (BEA), the Type 200 was larger than the airline's requirements and was closer to the Boeing 727 in size and range. The project was cancelled when BEA selected the Hawker Siddeley Trident instead. The Trident went on to have a production run of 117, while the 727 had a production run of over 1800. Along with the Vickers V-1000, it is seen by some as one of the great "what ifs" of British aviation, although it never got beyond the drawing board.<ref name="farrar">{{cite book|title=BAe & BAC Retired Management Staff Association NEWSLETTER No. 38 Summer 1995|first=David|last=Farrar|year=1995}}</ref>

==Development==

In 1955 BEA issued a specification for an aircraft to replace its Vickers Viscount and Vickers Vanguard turboprop airliners. The airline's requirements were for an aeroplane that could carry a payload of 100 passengers over a range of {{convert|1000|mi|km}}.<ref name="farrar"/> Along with the Bristol Aeroplane Company, de Havilland, Avro and Vickers proposed designs based around BEA's specification, but the B200 was the only Trijet proposal and it won the competition. De Havilland, however, were in trouble after the Comet disaster but Bristols had a full workload.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}} The British government asked Bristol to share the B200 work with DH and, in return, were promised the government's support on their Type 188 Mach 2 fighter project. The two companies worked together unhappily for about six months and it was obvious that they were not compatible.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}} The government then required DH to form another company large enough to continue the development without Bristol's involvement. Accordingly, "Airco" was formed by DH.

A number of European and American airlines became interested in the aircraft and Boeing were aware of this.

BEA then decided that after all the B200 design was over-large for its needs and requested that the aircraft be scaled down and this smaller version became known as the Trident. Boeing saw this scaling-down as a mistake and took the initiative of developing the Boeing 727 as almost a B200 replica.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}} History recalls that BEA and DH subsequently realised that the scaling-down had been a costly mistake and DH hurriedly set about a "scaling up" exercise to form Tridents 2 and 3 derivatives.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}} But the market had by then been lost to DH and captured by Boeing with large sales for its 727.

The design of the Type 200 was marginally larger than the specifications that were issued by BEA. This reflected the opinion of Archibald Russell (chief designer at Bristol) and his team, who believed that a larger aircraft had better potential in the international market.<ref name="farrar"/> The Type 200 was close to the Boeing 727 in size and range. The project attracted interest from various European and American airlines, including Pan Am, who invited senior members of the design team to a meeting in the US.<ref name="FI1958">{{Cite journal|title=B.E.A.'s Jet: Cards on the Table|journal=Flight|volume=73|issue=2559|pages=167|date=7 February 1958|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1958/1958%20-%200161.html|access-date=5 August 2011}}</ref> Under pressure from the British government to merge with other aerospace companies, Bristol collaborated with Hawker Siddeley on the Type 200, but ultimately in 1958 BEA selected the Trident and the Type 200 was cancelled.<ref name="FI1958"/>

==Design== The design had three engines mounted at the rear of the fuselage, one on either side and one in the fin. The empennage was a T-tail arrangement to keep the horizontal stabiliser above the central engine. The Type 200 was the first design to have this T-tail trijet configuration, which was later used successfully on several aircraft (see Boeing 727, Hawker Siddeley Trident, Tupolev Tu-154).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rpec.co.uk/engineerswalk/ar_walk.html|title=Engineers Walk|work=Retired Professional Engineers Club|accessdate=29 July 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005024912/http://www.rpec.co.uk/engineerswalk/ar_walk.html|archivedate=5 October 2011}}</ref>

There was speculation about several engines that might have been used on the aircraft, including the Bristol Orpheus turbojet,<ref name="archive">{{cite web|url=http://www.aviationarchive.org.uk/Gpages/html/G2198.html|title=Bristol Type 200|work=Aviation Archive|accessdate=29 July 2011}}</ref> The Bristol Olympus,<ref name="200appraisal">{{Cite journal|title=Bristol 200 – A Preliminary Appraisal|journal=Flight International|volume=73|issue=2557|pages=109|date =24 January 1958|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1958/1958%20-%200107.html|accessdate=5 August 2011}}</ref> the Rolls-Royce RB.140/RB.141 (Medway)<ref name="200appraisal"/><ref>"The Aeroplane" ''Volume 94'', 1958.</ref> or even Pratt & Whitney's J57.<ref name="archive"/>

===Further development=== Bristol developed several other concepts based on the Type 200, none of which was ever built. The Type 201 was a long-range version of the aircraft, proposed for BOAC in 1956. The Type 205 was a short-range version with four engines mounted at the rear of the fuselage, similar to the Vickers VC10.<ref name="barnes">{{cite book|title=Bristol Aircraft Since 1910|first=C|last=Barnes|year=1988}}</ref> The Type 200 and its related developments were later used to contribute to the design of the BAC 1-11 (along with the Hunting 107 design).<ref name="barnes"/>

==Specifications==

{{Aircraft specs |ref=Flight International 1958 <ref name="200appraisal"/> |prime units?=imp  |crew=2-3 |capacity=100 seats / {{cvt|21000|lb|0}} payload |length ft=121 |length in=6 |length note= |span ft=91 |span in= |span note= |height ft= |height in= |height note= |wing area sqft= |wing area note= |aspect ratio= |airfoil= |empty weight lb= |empty weight note= |gross weight lb= |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight lb=120000 |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity= |more general=  |eng1 number=3 |eng1 name=Bristol Orpheus |eng1 type=turbojet engines |eng1 lbf=4800 |eng1 note=<ref name="200appraisal"/><br> ::::Alternative engines:-1x Bristol Olympus<ref name="archive"/> / 1x Rolls-Royce RB.140<ref name="200appraisal"/> / 1x Pratt & Whitney J57<ref name="archive"/>  |max speed mph= |max speed note= |max speed mach= |cruise speed mph=600 |cruise speed note=<big>+</big> |stall speed mph= |stall speed note= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed note= |minimum control speed mph= |minimum control speed note= |range miles=1700 |range note= |ferry range miles= |ferry range note= |endurance= |ceiling ft= |ceiling note= |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |time to altitude= |lift to drag= |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note= |fuel consumption lb/mi= |thrust/weight=

|more performance= |avionics= }}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.aviationarchive.org.uk/Gpages/html/G2198.html Artist's impression of the Bristol Type 200 from the Aviation Archive]

Category:Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United Kingdom Type 200 Category:Trijets Category:Low-wing aircraft Category:1950s British civil aircraft Category:T-tail aircraft