Bristol Type 164 Brigand

Le chapitre de Wikipedia, en anglais, consacré au bimoteur multirôle britannique :

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[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s Brigand was a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] anti-shipping/[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]/[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] attack aircraft developed as a replacement for the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

A total of 147 were built, and they served with the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] during the
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] until replaced by the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in Malaya and the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] jet bomber elsewhere.

Design and development


The Bristol Type 164 was the outcome of the 1942 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] calling for a faster edition of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] for long-range [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] work and anti-shipping strikes.

Bristol design team under Leslie J. Frise used the wings, tail and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] with a new [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 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 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the first 11 Brigands off the production line were completed as [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

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 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], then based at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] on the
Island of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and flying operations in support of British forces against the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] then engaged in an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in Malaya.

The first Brigand was flown to Tengah from [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in November 1949, a 16-day trip.

After test flights, the first combat operation was conducted by this single Brigand, piloted by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 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, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 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, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] were routinely engaged in strikes against Communist Insurgent targets throughout Malaya, both direct and in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 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 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 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 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 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[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] bellows used to deploy [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 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 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 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 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] from 1950 through to 1952.

In 1952, after it was found that the Brigand's mainspars were suspect the Brigands were replaced by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Variants


The first to be built was the Brigand I or Brigand TF 1 and these entered service with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]).

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) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 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 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 60 lb (30 kg) rocket projectiles.

Un Bristol Centaurus

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