Over 3 years ago Australian aviator, Phillip Cooper commenced building a full-size Bristol Fighter replica to celebrate the History of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) operation of the type. Bristol Fighters are rare, even replicas are very hard to come by. After building a fuselage frame, tail section and undercarriage, Phillip realised he had a long way to go. A number of replica F2Bs had been imported by Aviation publisher and enthusiast Graham Orphan. Graham had been tracking down 7 F2B replicas constructed for film use in the USA in the 1970s however never used in the film. The trail was long and hard but after 30 years of searching Graham located the “Brisfits” a few years ago and secured 4 of the airworthy machines and had them shipped to New Zealand where he undertook refurbishment/restoration of one of the aircraft with at least one other remaining under restoration in NZ. Phillip Cooper had heard of the import of the aircraft into NZ and 18 months ago arranged to purchase wings and the basic fuselage from airframe No. 6 and had the items shipped to Australia.
The aircraft has now made its way to Luskintyre Aircraft Restoration (LAR) under the watchful eye of Matt Webber, owner and Director of LAR. Phillip is an active owner of the aircraft and keen participant in the project spending time on the restoration whenever he is able and some of the components Phillip had built, such as tailplane, tailskid and undercarriage have been incorporated into the new project.
The aircraft was surprisingly accurate and well-built as a film replica however as with all such aircraft some features were done with a view to expediency and ease of use than historical accuracy.
To this end the aircraft was completely dismantled and a full ground up rebuild has begun with a view to building the aircraft as accurately as possible externally to represent an AFC Rolls Royce Falcon V12 engined version of the F2B as operated in the Middle East.
The authentic styled wings have been stripped back and rebuilt as closely as possible to genuine Bristol F2B units which required a huge amount of research and beautiful woodworking skills – they are a sight to behold and it’s almost a shame to cover them again in fabric. The fuselage was originally built from braced timber however the film replicas have a fuselage constructed from welded steel tube and again the shape and dimensions are accurate to the original.
Rolls Royce Falcon V12 engines are very rare and not practical even if one could be sourced. To bring about a satisfactory representation of the engine in the replica Phillip will be using a de Havilland Gipsy Queen 70 series, which provides about the correct size, power and weight distribution whilst allowing a propeller of the correct dimensions to be utilized. Interestingly the exhaust on the inline six-cylinder engine has been configured to look like the original V12 by running exhausts on each side of the fuselage with the positioning and shape of the exhaust pipes being the same as the original Australian F2Bs. This is just one feature of the reconstruction effort designed to be as close to indistinguishable from the original as possible.
On the occasion of our visit one item of equipment on the aircraft that demonstrated the detail being pursued in the search for accuracy was the radiator cowl and shutters. The original replica item was not particularly accurate so a detailed reproduction has been manufactured by LAR from original drawings and photographs and it is a stunning item of metalwork.
Bristol F2B Fighter
One of the most successful of WW1 aircraft operated by the Australian flying Corps (AFC) was the Bristol F2B Fighter, an aircraft that in the hands of an experienced pilot and Gunner/Observer had a reputation as a truly formidable opponent, particularly with the Australians of No 1 Squadron, AFC, operating in the Middle east where they were in use in the later stages of WW1 flown by legendary AFC and RAAF pioneers like Capt. Sir Ross Macpherson Smith who scored a total of 11 victories, all but one in Bristol F2B’s and all in one aircraft (B1229) which is said to have been flown by several Australian AFC pilots and scored a total of 20 “Kills”. At least 7 and possibly 9 Australian Aces flew the Bristol Fighter. The AFC utilized a total of at least 66 Bristol Fighters in No’s 1, 3 and 7 (Training Sqn UK).
At wars end Australia surrendered all its Bristol Fighters and none joined the RAAF in Australia although a number came to Australia as the civil Bristol Tourer passenger aircraft operated by Western Australia Airways. Several F2B’s were sent to Australia for museum display, including its believed B1229 however due to accidental fires and neglect none of the F2Bs survived. Two replica flying Bristol Tourers were constructed for film work in Australia in the 1980s and both survive – one at Oakey Queensland, restored as a F.2B, painted to represent one of the aircraft operated by the Army’s No. 1 Squadron in Palestine – C4623 and one still in Bristol Tourer state in a Western Australian Museum.
Warbirds Online will continue to monitor and report on progress of this beautiful aircraft as it steadily progresses to flight. We thank owner Phillip Cooper and Matt Webber and the team at Luskintyre Aircraft Restoration for granting us access to this fabulous project.
© John Parker 2019
Warbirds Online acknowledges and is grateful for the use of some material in this story from the Australian War Memorial website