British Colonial Aeroplane Company LTD and signed Agreement - England 1913

Beautiful RARE certificate from the British Colonial & Aeroplane Company, Ltd issued in 1913. This historic document was printed by Edward Everard, Bristol and has an ornate block border with a vignette of an early Bristol Boxkite Plane. The certificate is a receipt for flying lessons provided by the company to Richard Crofts Powell, Esq. This item was signed H. White Smith (Sir Henry White Smith ) as the Company's Secretary is over 93 years old.

Also included is the agreement for the flying lessons for Richard Crofts Powell, Esq. The agreement is signed by Richard Crofts Powell, F. Warren Merriem (Famous Instructor), Sir George Stanley White, and J. Stanley Daniel.


Certificate Vignette






Agreement Page 1






Agreement Signatures

The Bristol Aeroplane Company (formerly British and Colonial Aeroplane Company) was a major British aircraft company which, in 1959, merged with several major British aircraft companies, to become the British Aircraft Corporation and later still part of British Aerospace, now BAE Systems

British and Colonial Aeroplane Company began building primitive Bristol Boxkites in a former tram shed at Filton in 1910. A few years later, during WW1, the more advanced Bristol Fighter was in mass production for the RAF.

In 1920 BCAC became The Bristol Aeroplane Company. A major product during the interwar years was the Bristol Bulldog.

Later the Company became famous for the production of the WW2 Blenheim and Beaufighter military aircraft.

By the end of WW2, the Filton site was one of the largest aviation complexes in the World, certainly in Europe.

In 1946, with surplus capacity after WW2, the company started an offshoot, Bristol Cars, using pre-war BMW designs as the basis for a new car, the Bristol 400. The car company became independent in 1960, around the same time as the consolidation the British aircraft industry, but is still based at the Filton site.

Pre-fabricated buildings and composite materials were also early post-war activities, but were eventually sold off.

In 1949, the Brabazon airliner prototype, at the time one of the largest aircraft in the world, first flew, but the project was cancelled in 1953.

Another post-war activity was missile development, culminating in the production of the Bristol Bloodhound anti-aircraft missile. The guided weapons division eventually became part of Matra BAe Dynamics Alenia(MBDA).

The Britannia turboprop powered airliner and the Freighter transport aircraft were produced in quantity during the 1950's.

Belvedere and Sycamore helicopters also went into quantity production, but this work was later transferred to Westland.

In the late 50's the Company undertook supersonic transport (SST) project studies, which were later to culminate in Concorde being built.

In 1959 BAC was forced to merge with English Electric, Hunting Aircraft and Vickers-Armstrongs to form the British Aircraft Corporation, later to become part of British Aerospace, now BAE Systems.

A research aircraft, the Type 188, was constructed in the 1950's to test the feasibilty of stainless steel in a Mach 2.0 airframe. By the time the aircraft flew in 1962, the Company was already part of the British Aircraft Corporation.

Bristol Engine Company The Bristol Engine Company was originally a separate entity, Cosmos Engineering, in turn formed from the pre-WW1 automobile company, Brazil-Straker. In 1917 Cosmos was asked to investigate air-cooled radial engines, producing the Bristol Mercury, a 14 cylinder two-row (helical) radial, which they launched in 1918. This engine saw little use, but a smaller and simpler 9 cylinder version known as the Bristol Jupiter was clearly a winning design.

In the post-war rapid downsizing of military orders the Cosmos Engineering company went bankrupt, and the Air Ministry let it be known that it would be a good idea if the Bristol Aeroplane Company purchased them. The Jupiter competed with the Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar through the 1920s, but Bristol put more effort into their design, and by 1929, the Jupiter was clearly superior. In the 1930s they developed a new line of radials based on the sleeve valve principle, which would develop into some of the most powerful piston engines in the world, and could continue to be sold into the 1950s.

In 1956 the division was renamed Bristol Aero Engines, and then merged with Armstrong Siddeley in 1958 to form Bristol Siddeley as a part of the airframe mergers that formed BAC. In 1966 Bristol Siddeley merged with Rolls-Royce, leaving only one major aero-engine company in England, Rolls-Royce.

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Sir G. Stanley White Bt., (1882 - 1964)

George Stanley White began his love affair with transport as a keen horseman in the 1890's but his 21st birthday present from his father in 1903 was a Panhard Levassor motor car, which he collected from Paris and drove with much drama home to Bristol.

He soon acquired a De Dietrich and many other important cars and his familiarity with the internal combustion engine was considerable by the time he became Managing Director of the aircraft works in 1911. Though his father forbade him to become a pilot, he flew with the celebrated aviators Jullerot, Tétard and Tabuteau, whom his father had brought over from France. A number of early aerial photographs he took have survived, including several of Bulford Camp c.1910, designed to convince the military of their vulnerability from above.

On his father's death in 1916, his uncle Samuel became Chairman, while he remained as Managing Director. As such he guided the Company through the First and Second World Wars, as well as the traumas of the 1920's. He continued to serve until 1955, when he became joint Deputy Chairman. He never retired, continuing to work every day. He died in 1964, aged 82.

Under his direction, Bristol technology advanced from the Boxkite, made of wood and fabric and capable of 35 miles an hour, to the Bristol 188 of stainless steel, capable of nudging Mach 2. The Fighter, the Bulldog, the Blenheim, the Beaufighter, the Brabazon and the Britannia were among the famous products of his time. The Bristol type 223, which formed the basis of Concorde, also had its roots in his years. The Cherub, the Jupiter, the Mercury, the Pegasus, the Hercules and the Centaurus, were some of the celebrated Bristol engines, produced under his watchful eye. Bristol's other interests included flying schools, the manufacture of high quality cars, pre-fab houses and numerous other related objects both in Britain and abroad.

Stanley White was an intensely private, and modest man. He said very little, which was sometimes misinterpreted. "It would be easier for a newspaper man to go into the presence of the Grand Lama of Tibet, than for a pencil to wag inquisitively beneath the discouraging eye of Sir Stanley White Bart." said the Daily Mail in the 1940's.

When questioned in 1938 about the huge growth of the business under his guidance, he disclaimed any credit for it. " It was my father who founded the business in 1910 " he said "He was the far-seeing man who visualised the great future of aviation and established the firm in the very early days. I merely took over the management of the business from him when he died The growth of the business is largely due to team work... ". The report ended " Sir Stanley is the captain of a fine team--and is a fine captain."

Sir Stanley White was Managing Director from 1911 until 1955 an astonishing period. During that time he oversaw the design of more than 190 different types of aircraft, many of which were built. Few have survived, though more and more are being assembled out of surviving parts. Among them are:

Boxkite (1910 onwards) No original aeroplanes survive, though there are a number of skids and spars in a private collection . 2 replicas exist, made by G. Miles for the film "Those Magnificent Men and their Flying Machines". They were bought by the Board of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. The flying version was presented to the Shuttleworth Trust, Old Warden. The non flying version was presented to the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Queens Rd., Bristol.

Bristol Coanda monoplane (1912), the earliest surviving Bristol airframe is now in the Gianni Caproni Air Museum, Mattarello, Trento, Italy. Actually it was never intended to fly, having been sent from Filton to Caproni as a pattern, when a licence was granted to them in 1912 to build similar aircraft in Italy. It has recently been converted into a complete aeroplane.

Scout (1914 onwards) no original survives, but a fine replica Scout D, built by Leo Opdyke is currently on loan by the White family to the R.N.A.S. Museum, Yeovilton, Somerset. There are other replicas including one apparently owned by the Bristol Heritage Collection in America and another at Duxford.

B.E.2c (1915) Designed by the Royal Aircraft Factory but manufactured by the British & Colonial at Filton, this aircraft is the oldest surviving complete Bristol-built aeroplane. It is now in the Canada Aviation Museum.

M1 monoplane (1916 onwards). An original, known as "The Red Devil" is displayed in the Harry Butler Museum, Minlaton, S. Australia. A replica is displayed in the R.A.F. Museum, Hendon, a flying replica is in the Shuttleworth Trust, Old Warden Bedfordshire.

F2B Fighter. (1916 onwards) An original Fighter in flying condition is kept at the Shuttleworth Trust, Old Warden, another is at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. There are some replicas and a number of others assembled from bits, including a fine example at the R.A.F.Museum, Hendon.

Babe (1919) A replica Babe is kept by the Bristol Aero Collection at Kemble.

Bulldog. (1927 onwards) Arguably the most beautiful and evocative of all Bristol aircraft: two survive. G-ABBB, the Company's demonstrator was presented in 1939 to the Science Museum. It was refurbished at Filton in 1961, but wrecked during a flying display at Farnborough soon after. What was left has recently been brilliantly restored to non-flying condition and is displayed at the R.A.F. Museum, Hendon. BU59, which served in the Russo-Finnish War of 1939 is apparently preserved as a war memorial in the Hallinportti ilmailumuseo, Kuorevesi, Halli, Tampere.

Blenheim. (1937 onwards ) A Blenheim IV was found in the Kufra Oasis in Libya in 1959: it may be still there. A Finnish built aircraft is preserved in Luonetjarvi., but otherwise only Canadian-built examples (known as Bolingbrokes ) survive. Some of these are now being converted into Blenheims for display purposes, including the celebrated flying Blenheim based at Duxford.

Beaufort (1938) A complete Beaufort is kept at the R.A.F. Museum, Hendon.

Beaufighter (1939) Several Beaufighters or bits of Beaufighters survive and there is at least one project (at Duxford) to get a Beaufighter airborn again.

Brabazon No Brabazon survives, but a nose wheel is kept by the Science Museum and a fuselage panel is kept by Bristol Industrial Museum

Freighter. One flying example remains in Canada. Another crashed in Oxfordshire in July 1996 and was written off.

Britannia A static Britannia is displayed at Duxford Aerodrome, a second is in a private collection at Bournemouth, a third is at Cosford, a fourth (in pieces) is at Kemble Aerodrome, together with a fifth which is in taxiing condition.

Sycamore. A number of these exist, including one at Kemble Aerodrome and one in the Bristol Industrial Museum.

Belvedere. A type 173 is stored at the Aerospace Museum at Cosford Airfield, Shropshire, though not displayed.

Type 188 (ordered 1953, first flew 1962). One of these truly beautiful aeroplanes is kept at Cosford Airfield

History from Bristol Aeroplane Company Website and Wikipedia.