Bristol Type 172

Overview

The Bristol Type 172 was a proposed British long range four-engined bomber project developed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is closely related to the Type 174 and Type 176 proposals. In response to official interest in the development of increasingly capable strategic bomber in the aftermath of the Second World War, Bristol commenced work during late 1946 on its own new bomber design, which made use of relatively new aviation trends, such as turbojet propulsion and a sweptback wing. The Type 172 quickly garnered the Air Staff's interest and, on 23 July 1947, the Air Ministry issued Specification E.8/47 to Bristol. The firm began work on the comprehensive evaluation of the Type 172 aerodynamic properties and other key performance attributes. To support the project's experimental stage, a half-scale flight-capable model, the Type 174, was devised. This was geometrically similar to the full-scale Type 172, but powered by a single Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engine instead of four units. As the programme developed, it was recognised that the unsuitably high subsonic flow around the wing-body junction would necessitate the redesign of the wing, thus work on the Type 174 was stopped in November 1947 and a revision of the E.8/47 specification was issued on 8 June 1948, which stipulated numerous new design requirements and changes. In response, Bristol designed the Type 176. Work on the Type 176 proceeded further than the prior efforts, reaching the mockup stage in late 1948. However, company management felt that other undertakings by the company, such as the Bristol Britannia turboprop-powered airliner, ought to be prioritised and, due to limited design resources, activity on the Type 176 was abandoned. No aircraft, full-scale or otherwise, were ever completed. Knowledge from the project was harnessed in several of the company's other proposals, including the Type 182, which was also known the Short Range Expendable Bomber.