Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Single-seat fighter

Power Plant:

One 328 kw (440 hp) Bristol Jupiter VIIF nine-cylinder supercharged air-cooled radial engine

Specifications:

Armament:

Two 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Vickers machine guns in fuselage sides ahead of cockpit synchronized
to fire through propeller disc; provision for four 9.07 kg (20 lb) bombs on wing racks

History:

The Bristol Bulldog was designed to specification F.9/26 by Leslie Frise as a private venture. The prototype was flown at Filton in South Gloucestershire by Cyril Uwins on 17 May 1927 and, after a competition with a number of other designs, it was ordered into production in November 1927 as the Bulldog II, this having some refinements from the prototype, the first Bulldog II (J9480 – c/n 7235) flying on 21 January 1928.

The first production machine was delivered on 8 May 1929 to No 4 (F) Squadron, entering service with the RAF during the next few months. It replaced the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin and Gloster Gamecock in service. During the following years re-equipment of RAF squadrons with Bulldogs proceeded at a steady pace, a number being sent to Khartoum in the Sudan for operations during the Abyssinian crisis. A two-seat trainer variant known as the Bulldog TM appeared in 1932.

The Bristol company built a total of 441 Bulldogs for a number of air forces with a variety of engines to meet customer requirements and the type saw some combat, being used to advantage by the air force of Finland when it was invaded by Soviet Forces on 30 November 1939. By March 1940 the Finnish Bulldogs had been retired to the training role, and one (Mk IV – BU-59) has been preserved at the Finnish Air Force Museum. Other operators of the type included Latvia, Siam, Estonia, Sweden, and Denmark. The last Bulldogs in RAF service were replaced by Gloster Gladiators in 1937. Of the total built for the RAF, 312 were fighters and 59 were two-seat trainers.

In 1929 the Australian Government ordered for the RAAF eight Bulldog IIs as fighter replacements for the Imperial Gift of 35 RAF SE.5a scouts.The Bulldogs arrived in Australia in February 1930 on board the vessel ‘SS Fordsdale’. They were assembled at No 1 Aircraft Depot (AD) at Laverton, VIC. However, on 15 May one A12-4 was lost when it suffered a wing failure when the pilot attempted an outside loop. The seven survivors were then attached to fighter units and operated from Point Cook, VIC until 1935.

The Bulldog were very popular, being entered in the Victorian Aerial Derby in 1930, 1931 and 1932, achieving 262 km/h (163 mph) in 1931 when flown by Sqdn Ldr J H Summers; 295 km/h (183 mph) in 1931 when flown by Fl Off C Henry; and 251 km/h (156 mph) in 1932 in A12-3 when flown by Flg Off R M Dalton.

On 14 March 1932 a flight of three Bulldogs and three Westland Wapitis left to fly 6,437 km (4,000 miles) to Darwin, NT to meet and exercise with RAF Supermarine Southampton flying-boats arriving from Singapore. On this flight it was necessary for the pilots to hand-swing their propellers wherever overnight stops were made.

On one occasion Fl Off Len Diprose in A12-6 when starting at Brunette Downs had the aircraft get away and hit an interplane strut on a Qantas De Havilland DH.50, causing the latter to become unserviceable. The mail was subsequently delivered by the Westland Wapitis. On arrival at Birdum, NT Sqdn Ldr Summers ran off the strip and overturned in long grass. The aircraft was thereafter dismantled and conveyed to Darwin by train. It was later shipped from Darwin to Melbourne, VIC for repair on board the Burns Philp vessel ‘Marella’.

On 28 September 1935 three Bulldogs and four Hawker Demons were flown to South Australia for the official opening of a new aerodrome at Bute, the crews of the Bulldogs being Sqdn Ldr Summers, Fl Lt P G Heffernan and Plt Off D R Chapman.

The type suffered its fair share of accidents. A12-2 stalled during an upward roll at low-level on 22 April 1938 and crashed at RAAF Richmond, NSW. A12-4 is noted as having had a wing failure during aerobatics at No 1 FTS at Point Cook on 15 May 1930 and crashed. A12-5 suffered a forced landing at Templestowe, VIC on 3 July 1935 and was not repaired. A12-7 crashed during a flight near Mt Wallace, VIC on 14 December 1936. On this occasion it was being flown by Eric Read on a Meteorological flight. A12-8 crashed into the sea off Point Cook during gunnery exercises on 23 March 1937.

In 1936 the Australian Government proposed the purchase of a further 45 Bristol Bulldogs to be attached to three fighter squadrons planned for the defence of Sydney, NSW, Melbourne, and Perth, WA. In the event the Bristol production line had closed and the plan was not proceeded with.

In 1940 A12-1 became Instructional Airframe No 1 before being converted to components. A12-2 and A12-6 had similar fates, becoming Instructional Airframes Nos 2 and 3. No RAAF Bulldog has survived.

The Bulldog occasionally gave aerobatic displays for the public over or near the Melbourne Showgrounds, sometimes as a flight of three and other times as a single aircraft. They were also used in meteorological flights. Every morning, seven days a week an aircraft of No 1 Squadron Laverton took off and climbed on a ‘met flight’ to about 4,877 m (16,000 ft), the pilot taking a wet and dry thermometer reading every 610 m (2,000 ft), the operation on each occasion taking about an hour and a quarter. The endurance of the aircraft on these flights was about two hours but Sqdn Ldr Summers was in the air during bad weather on one occasion for two hours and 25 mins.

The Bulldogs were eventually allocated to No 2 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron to operate alongside that unit’s Avro Ansons and flew out of Laverton, the aircraft being available for use by pilots of No 21 (City of Melbourne) Squadron during weekends. Records have indicated A12-1, A12-2, A12-3 and A12-8 were with this unit during 1937 and then they were handed over to the newly formed No 2 Squadron.

One Bulldog is known to survive. This machine (Mk IIA – K2227 – G-ABBB – c/n 7446) was registered on 12 June 1930, was the eighth production machine and was the last airworthy Bulldog. Restored to airworthiness for display purposes, it crashed at Farnborough in Hampshire on 13 September 1964 and the wreckage was stored. Skysport Engineering in the United Kingdom located the wreck and rebuilt the machine. It has since been placed on display at the RAF Museum at Hendon in Greater London.