Cutaway Bristol Hercules engine at the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune, Scotland
Type
Piston aircraft engine
National origin
United Kingdom
Manufacturer
Bristol Aeroplane Company
First run
January 1936
Major applications
Bristol Beaufighter Short Stirling Handley Page Halifax
Number built
57,400
Developed from
Bristol Perseus
Developed into
Bristol Centaurus
The Bristol Hercules is a 14-cylinder two-row radial aircraft engine designed by Sir Roy Fedden and produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1939. It was the most numerous of their single sleeve valve (Burt-McCollum, or Argyll, type) designs, powering many aircraft in the mid-World War II timeframe.
The Hercules powered a number of aircraft types, including Bristol's own Beaufighter heavy fighter design, although it was more commonly used on bombers. The Hercules also saw use in civilian designs, culminating in the 735 and 737 engines for such as the Handley Page Hastings C1 and C3 and Bristol Freighter. The design was also licensed for production in France by SNECMA.
The BristolHercules is a 14-cylinder two-row radial aircraft engine designed by Sir Roy Fedden and produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in...
Bristol suggested that they equip the aircraft with a pair of its new Hercules engines, capable of around 1,500 hp, in place of the 1,000 hp Bristol Taurus...
(160 kW). Bristol maintained the Centaurus from type-testing in 1938, but production did not start until 1942, owing to the need to get the Hercules into production...
bomber, powered by BristolHercules XVI engines. Stirling IV Para-dropping and glider towing assault transport, powered by BristolHercules XVI engines. Stirling...
Related development BristolHerculesBristol Centaurus Related lists List of aircraft engines Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bristol Perseus. Lumsden...
to 35,000 lb (14,000 to 16,000 kg) and to adopt the more powerful BristolHercules engine to power the Freighter. It was also considered that there would...
were used on variants of the aircraft, which included models of the BristolHercules and the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. Recognisable characteristics of...
engines, using the Rolls-Royce Vulture, Napier Sabre, Fairey P.24 or BristolHercules engines. All of these engines were under development and while four-engined...
the design was revised as the Nord 2501, powered by the SNECMA-built BristolHercules 738/9 engines instead, which was found acceptable. Accordingly, the...
and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one of the versions, BristolHercules engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as...
provisions for the use of BristolHercules as an alternative powerplant. In June 1938, mock-ups of both the AW.41 and Bristol 155 were examined, while...
Coventry, England, run by Standard Motor Company and dedicated to making BristolHercules aero engines. The war-surplus plant was taken over by Standard in 1946...
team in 1943, which initially worked on a smaller proposal powered by BristolHercules radial engines; this was quickly superseded by a larger-capacity design...
in British aircraft engines of the 1940s, such as the Napier Sabre, BristolHercules, Centaurus, and the promising but never mass-produced Rolls-Royce Crecy...
model was furnished with a tricycle undercarriage and powered by four BristolHercules radial engines, each capable of generating up to 2,100 hp (1,570 kW)...
various turboprop-powered designs, including the Bristol Britannia and the American-built Lockheed Hercules. Amid the latter years of the Second World War...
control circuit. The engines on the second prototype were changed to BristolHercules radials and the aircraft became the prototype Tudor 7, which did not...
key aircraft being developed by the Air Ministry, as well as BristolHercules engine. Bristol Aeroplane would not allow shadow factories to build complete...
flying boat of aluminium construction. Power was provided by four BristolHercules engines. The aircraft could be fitted for 24 passengers with day and...
engines originally took place at Rover's satellite factory (and ex-BristolHercules engine plant) at Acocks Green in Birmingham: vehicle assembly took...
four BristolHercules radial engines was also examined. Fixed freight compartments were also present. An enlarged design, powered by four Bristol Centaurus...
claimed; other engine layouts considered included the use of two BristolHercules or Bristol Centaurus radial engines. The Handley Page HP.56, always intended...
The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British...
Bristol engines or "junkhead" within Rolls-Royce White, Graham (1995). "BristolHercules". Allied Aircraft Piston Engines of World War II. Airlife. pp. 136–137...
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