Richard Harold Barnwell

  General Notes:

The Flying Barnwell Brothers

In a subsequent trip to America, they met the famous Wright brothers and when the Barnwells returned to their new home in Bridge of Allan, their innovative work began in earnest. Having encountered trouble with their initial monoplane design, they opted for the concept of a biplane and on 27th July 1909 Harold flew a prototype powered by a Humber car engine. It travelled 80 yards before nose-diving into a field when Harold over-compensated on the joystick. At this stage, of course, the aviation "trailblazers" were not only learning to design aircraft but also to pilot their designs.

Two years later, a monoplane piloted by Frank reached a height of 50 feet and flew for 600 yards before incurring a similar nose-over landing.
Harold joined Vickers, the centre of aircraft design in Britain, and, in 1912, became chief instructor and test pilot. He helped to design the FB5 "Gun Bus", mainstay of the Royal Flying Corps in the first year of the First World War, and the "Barnwell Bullet" which saw service in Macedonia and Palestine, as well as on the Western Front.

He grew increasingly impatient with the "powers that be" and, after an illness, while test-flying the "Vampire" FB26, which he had helped to design, a newspaper of the time reported that "the aircraft dived into the ground killing him instantly". He was 38 years of age.

When Harold had gone to Vickers, Frank enlisted his services with the British Colonial Aircraft Company at Bristol. While working as a draughtsman, he designed a small biplane in a "penny exercise book" in 1913. This Bristol Scout "D" became known as the "Bristol Bullet" and was considered to be the best single-seater fighter of the Great War.


The Vickers ES1

The Vickers ES1 (Experimental Scout) was modified by Rex Pierson from a Harold Barnwell design & completed in August 1915. A single bay biplane with equal span wings it was fitted with a monosoupape engine which influenced the wide circular fuselage. Further modifications were made & the ES1 was tested by Barnwell in November 1915. Problems arose in that the cowling tended to retain petrol increasing the risk & causing engine fires . The wide fuselage also allowed the pilot no view downwards unless the plane was tilted. Later fitted with a clerget engine its flying characteristics were described as unstable, tail heavy & tiring to fly. Six were produced , some flown operationally, still in use in 1917 but with all those crosses against it the ES1 seemed to be something of a lame duck.


Fifty Squadron (excerpt)

By June 1916, the squadron began what was to be a common occurrence throughout its history, the conversion from one aircraft type to another. In this case it saw their BE2C and BE12's exchanged for Vickers ES1's. Designed under the direction of Harold Barnwell, these single engined, single seat, biplanes were considered as tractor scout aircraft and were nicknamed of "The Barnwell Bullet." With only a top speed of 114 mph at 5,000 feet, the aircraft was only a slight improvement over the roughly 100 mph at 3,100 feet of the BE2C and BE12's.


Honour for Scotland's answer to the Wright Brothers

By Laura Roberts

The brothers who made Scotland's first powered flight almost a century ago are to be commemorated for the first time next week.

Harold and Frank Barnwell, from Stirling, were Britain's answer to the Wright brothers. They made some of the most significant developments in aeronautical history.

They achieved the first powered flight in Scotland in 1909, when they travelled 80 metres over a field in the shadow of the Wallace Monument.

A sculpture of their award-winning biplane will be unveiled next Wednesday to mark their achievements. The silver granite sculpture - with a one-metre wingspan - will be on permanent display at Causewayhead, Stirling, yards from the site of the Grampian Motor and Engineering Company, which the brothers ran to fund their aviation work.

Stirling historian Craig Mair said yesterday: "If the Americans had the Wright brothers, Scotland had Harold and Frank Barnwell. They built an aircraft hangar in Stirling and put together their first full-sized aeroplane in 1908, though the engine was not powerful enough for it to take off."

"Then, on Wednesday 28 July, 1909, their next design made its first flight, Harold piloting the plane more than 80 metres at an altitude of about four metres over a field in Stirling. It crashed nose-first into the ground, but Harold was delighted."

"The following year, the brothers' next design managed around 600 metres, this time with Frank piloting.

"The flight was such a success that in January 1911 Harold took the same plane out again to attempt a flight over Bridge of Allan. He turned too sharply and crashed into a field but he had already created a new record as the first Scottish plane to fly more than a mile."

The Barnwell brothers' impact on the development of aviation extended to the Second World War, when the Blenheim and Beaufort bombers Frank Barnwell designed helped win vital victories over Germany.

Both brothers died in separate flying accidents, in machines of their own design.

Frank Barnwell is still widely regarded as one of the most innovative aircraft designers of all time. During the First World War he was charged with designing an answer to Germany's deadly Fokker E-type aircraft, which was destroying Britain's cumbersome BE2s on the Western Front.

He designed the Scout biplane, produced from 1915 in Bristol, an economical aircraft that weighed only 950lb, including the pilot and three hours worth of fuel.

He also designed the high-speed "Britain First" bomber in 1933, predecessor to the Blenheim bomber.

His last design, in a career that had helped aviation progress from "stick and string" construction to the powerful all-metal monoplane, was the Beaufort torpedo bomber, which first flew 11 weeks after his death.

The sculpture will be set on a three-metre tall cairn and surrounded by a flower garden and public benches.

The Grampian Motor and Engineering Company closed in 2003 and developers Bett Homes are now building housing on the site. The company has donated £2,000 towards the cost of the memorial.

Iain Sinclair, Causwayhead Community Council's project director, who initiated the sculpture plan, said: "With the closure of the Grampian Engineering Works last year, the last tangible connection between the Barnwells and Causwayhead has gone. "It is important that the part the brothers played in the development of manned flight should be remembered and marked."


List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (pre-1925).

25 August - Sole Vickers F.B.26 Vampire, B1484, piloted by Vickers test pilot Harold Barnwell, crashes at Joyce Green, when he attempts a spin without sufficient altitude for recovery. Pilot KWF.


Byfleet (Wikipedia)

St Mary's Church interior features some very rare wooden crosses (grave markers) recovered from the Continent shortly after World War 1 and among notable graves in the churchyard, are those of Brooklands-based racing driver J G Parry-Thomas who died at Pendine Sands in Wales in 1927 while attacking the world Land Speed Record and Bert le Vack, one of the greatest ever motorcyclists to have raced at Brooklands. Also buried there were Scottish aviation pioneer and Vickers' first test pilot Harold Barnwell who was killed flying a new prototype fighter at Joyce Green Aerodrome near Dartford, Kent, in 1917.


Vickers E.S.1

The Vickers E.S.1 was an early British Fighter aircraft of the First World War. A single engined biplane, only three E.S.1s were built, although at least one was used by a home defence squadron of the Royal Flying Corps.

In late 1914, Harold Barnwell, chief test pilot with Vickers Limited, designed a single seat "scout" or fast reconnaissance aircraft, and had it built without the knowledge or approval of his employers, "borrowing" a Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine from Vickers' stores to power the aircraft. Barnwell attempted a first flight of his design, named the "Barnwell Bullet" in early 1915, but the aircraft crashed and was wrecked, possibly due to a miscalculated Center of gravity. Now aware of Barnwell's design, Vickers instructed their junior designer Rex Pierson to redesign the Bullet.

The redesigned aircraft, the Vickers E.S.1 (Experimental Scout), was a single-engined tractor biplane of fabric covered wooden construction. It had single-bay unstaggered wings with ailerons on both the upper and lower wings. Like the Barnwell Bullet, the E.S.1 was powered by a Monosoupape engine, closely cowled into a circular section fuselage. The pilot's cockpit was situated under the trailing edge of the upper wing, from which the view both downwards and upwards was poor.


Harold Barnwell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Richard) Harold Barnwell (1878\endash 1917) was an aircraft pioneer. He was born in Lewisham, Kent, the son of Richard Barnwell, a director of the Clyde shipbuilder, Fairfields. Barnwell was brought up at Elcho House in Balfron, Stirlingshire, and educated Fettes College in Edinburgh. He had a younger brother, Frank.

Frank and Harold Barnwell built their first glider in 1905, in Balfron, and, later, at least one powered aircraft. They attempted to fly them in the nearby fields but were initially unsuccessful. The Barnwell brothers visited the Wright Brothers in America and returned to their new family home in Bridge of Allan. They then opened the Grampian Engineering and Motor Company in 1906 at Causewayhead in Stirling. From their garage they produced three flying machines between 1908 and 1910, gaining confidence and skill with each. It was there that they built their biplane which was successfully flown from a field in Causewayhead under the Wallace Monument on 28 July 1909.[1]

Piloted by Harold, it only flew 80 yards at an altitude of about four metres before it crashed, but it is still recognised as Scotland's first powered flight.

Next the brothers built a monoplane which, with Frank piloting, flew around 600 metres, winning a prize of £50 offered by the Scottish Aeronautical Society. In January 1911 a monoplane designed by the pair became the first Scottish plane to fly for more than a mile.[2]
In 1911 both brothers moved to England, and in 1912 Harold joined the staff of the new Vickers School of Flying at Brooklands in Surrey. Frank soon specialised in aircraft design and joined the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton near Bristol where after a brief period with the Royal Flying Corps in World War One (during which he qualified as a pilot with the Military Flying School at Brooklands), he became chief designer and was subsequently responsible for new aeroplanes such as the Bristol Scout, the Bristol Bulldog and later the Bristol Blenheim.[3]

In late 1914, Harold Barnwell, now chief test pilot with Vickers Limited, designed a single seat "scout" or fast reconnaissance aircraft, and had it built without the knowledge or approval of his employers, "borrowing" a Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine from Vickers' stores to power the aircraft. Barnwell attempted a first flight of his design, named the "Barnwell Bullet" in early 1915, but the aircraft crashed and was wrecked, possibly due to a miscalculated centre of gravity.[4] [5]
Harold Barnwell died on 25th August 1917, while test flying the prototype Vickers FB26 Vampire night fighter (fitted with a 200hp Hispano Suiza engine) at Joyce Green, Kent. Webster states that he may have been taken ill while at the controls. The aeroplane was destroyed, no more were built and Harold was buried in St Mary's Churchyard, Byfleet, Surrey. The grave is marked by an unusual obelisk type of memorial with a simple inscription recording the date and location of his death and that the monument was funded by his brothers and sisters.

Frank S Barnwell, OBE, AFC, was killed testing his own light aeroplane design, the Barnwell BSW.1, when it crashed at Whitchurch Airport, Bristol on 2nd August 1938.

A silver granite sculpture, with a 3 ft wingspan, set atop a 10 ft cairn at Causewayhead in Stirling, yards from the site of the Grampian Motor and Engineering Company, commemorates their pioneering flights.[6] A plaque, commemoration the centenary of the first flight has been erected in Balfron.[7] Some artefacts from the Barnwells' days were uncovered before the Grampian Engineering and Motor Company closed. An original wing strut is on display at the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum.[8]

References

1. Pilcher to the Planets', Cameron, Galbraith and Thomson
2. The Scottish War Memorials Project
3. Pilcher to the Planets', Cameron, Galbraith and Thomson
4. War Planes of the First World War: Volume Three, Fighters, Bruce, J.M.
5. Vickers Aircraft since 1908, Andrews, C.F. and Morgan, E.B.
6. The Scottish War Memorials Project
7. Pilcher to the Planets', Cameron, Galbraith and Thomson
8. The Scottish War Memorials Project

Further Reading

Andrews, Charles F (1960) 'Vickers Aircraft Since 1912' (Putnam).
Burge, C G (S/Ldr) (1935) 'Complete Book of Aviation \endash Daily Mail Edition (Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd) \endash brief biography of Frank Barnwell, p.625
Gardner, Charles (1956) 'Fifty Years of Brooklands' (Heinemann)
Goodall, Mike H (1995) 'Flying Start \endash Flying Schools and Clubs at Brooklands 1910-1939' (Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd, Weybridge, Surrey)
Smith, Ron (2005) 'British Built Aircraft Volume 5 \endash Northern England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland' (Tempus Publishing Ltd, Stroud, Gloucs.)
Webster, Jack (1994) 'The Flying Scots \endash A Century of Aviation in Scotland' (The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, ISBN 0-9522174-2-2)


The Sopwith Tabloid (see picture)

A specially modified Sopwith Tablid was the winner of the Schneider Trophy race, in 1914. alterations consisted of the addition of two floats and a more powerful engine. On April 20, 1914. at Monaco, Howard Pixton flew an average of 86.9 mph (39.6 kph). In two extra laps, he reached 92 mph (148 kph). establishing a new seaplane speed record. Thus the Sopwith biplane had its revenge on the Deperdussin monoplane and gave Great Britain its first major international success in aviation.

The special version of this plane prepared for Britain's first appearance at the Schneider Trophy was not substantially different from the model that had appeared the previous autumn. The land version of the Tabloid was designed by T. O. M. Sopwith and F. Sigrist. as a demonstration and
racing aircraft. It was built in great secrecy, and preliminary tests were made at Brooklands in autumn 1913. These were followed by the official evaluation tests, and the plane immediately demonstrated its speed and manoeuvrability.

At the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough, where the tests were conducted, the Tabloid reached a top speed of 92 mph (148 kph) in horizontal flight and showed a rate of climb in the order of 1,200 feet per minute (365.75 metres per minute). The same day, November 29, test pilot Harry Hawker flew the plane to Hendon, where one of the popular Saturday air meetings was being held. The new Sopwith was seen by more than 50,000 spectators, and flew two low-altitude laps round the course at more than 87 mph (140 kph). After that, the plane was ordered in large numbers by the army and the navy as a single-seater reconnaissance aircraft.

Then the Sopwith company readied one of its single-seaters for the upcoming Schneider Trophy race. Since the race was restricted to seaplanes, the aircraft had to be modified. The landing gear was removed, and a large central float was installed in its place. The 100-hp Gnome engine was also modified for the occasion. The single float did not stand up to tests, the plane capsizing. There was very little time left before the race, so the Sopwith designers decided to slice the original float in half to make two new ones. This time flight and landing tests on the Thames were successful, and the Tabloid was sent off to Monaco on April 8, 1914. The final modification before the race was the installation of a better propeller. The rest is history.

Back in England after the race, the floats were removed at Sopwith's factory at Kingston-on-Thames, and a V strut landing gear was installed. Now the plane was ready for R. H. Barnwell to fly at the 1914 Aerial Derby. But because of poor visibility the plane did not complete the race. That was the end of the Tabloid's racing career. War broke out, and the Tabloid served as a reconnaissance plane during the first months of the conflict, when its speed and general handiness became very useful military assets indeed.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Census, 3 Apr 1878, 11 Darnly Road, Gravesend, Kent. Listed as: Age 2.