Bristol Tourer

Bristol Aeroplane Company · United Kingdom · first flew 1919 · airliner

The Bristol Tourer was a British civil utility biplane of the years after the First World War, using as much as possible of the Bristol Fighter design. Many had a canopy over the one or two passenger seats in the rear cockpit, giving the original name Coupé.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, straight
E — Engines	1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	7.95 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Bristol Fighter-derived civil biplane
Single nose-mounted engine
Canopy over the rear passenger cockpit, open pilot's cockpit

A single-engined biplane closely resembling the Bristol Fighter, with an open pilot's cockpit and, on many examples, a canopy over the rear passenger cockpit.

Specifications

The Bristol Tourer has a length of 7.95 m (26 ft).
It has a wingspan of 12.01 m (39 ft).
Its maximum speed is 193 km/h (120 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

First flown in January 1919, the Tourer was delivered with a variety of engines, including the Rolls-Royce Falcon, Siddeley Puma, Hispano-Suiza 8 and Wolseley Viper. Tourers of Western Australian Airways flew Australia's first scheduled airline services, between Perth and Geraldton, from 4 December 1921.

Variants

Variants included the Falcon-engined Type 27, the Puma-engined Type 29, the ski-equipped Scandinavian Tourer, the Type 48 floatplane, the Type 81 Puma Trainer, the armed Type 86 Greek Tourer and the Viper-engined Type 88 for the Bulgarian Post Office.

Where you'll see it

Used by Western Australian Airways, and by operators including the Bulgarian Air Force, the Bulgarian Post Office and the Chilean Air Force.

Related aircraft

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