Bristol Burney

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Burney X.2
Two seat monoplane flying boat devised by Lt. Charles Dennistoun Burney, featuring hydrofoils rather than floats, to provide support when on the water, with the supporting struts for the hydrofoils being termed ‘hydropeds’. It possesed a conventional wing structure with three spars, rigged at a pronounced dihedral angle, and used for wing-warping for lateral control. These were mounted on top of the fuselage, which featured rounded 'boat-like' lower section, planked with mahogany and covered with varnished sailcloth. This acted like a flying boat hull, providing buoyancy until enough speed was achieved for the hydrofoils to provide lift. There were two main hydropeds, angled out from below the leading edge of the wing, each with a water propeller driven by a shaft contained within the leg. Meanwhile, a third hydroped supported the rear fuselage. Power was provided by an 80 h.p. Canton-Unné water-cooled radial engine, which drove the air propeller and, via a pair of Hele-Shaw clutches, used at take-off, mounted at the lower ends of the two forward hydropeds. The water propellers could therefore be disengaged when the aircraft was in flight. Dual controls were fitted in the cockpit, in which the crew sat side-by-side. One 80 h.p. Canton-Unne powerplant.

Burney X.3
Two seat monoplane flying boat similar to, but larger than X.2 in both span and wing area. The hull framework was made at Filton and sent to Cowes for Saunders to cover it with their Consuta sewn plywood. One major change in X.3 was that the water screws were contra-rotating and mounted back-to-back, being driven by a single shaft running in a separate vertical tube located midway between the front hydropeds, so that the thrust-line was central and torque reaction was cancelled out. To counter the tendency for the nose to dip when the airscrew was engaged, a supplementary front-mounted elevator was added. The wings were rigidly braced and lateral control was by inverse-tapered warping ailerons; only a single set of controls was installed in the side-by-side cockpit. One 200 h.p. Canton-Unne powerplant.

Burney X.1
An adaptation of a Bristol G.E.1 biplane with 'hydropeds'. Rejected in favour of a new design.

Burney X.2

C/n	Initial Registration	Notes
1 aircraft built by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, Filton, Bristol, Somerset. One towed flight only September 1912.
92	none
Total Production 1

Burney X.3

C/n	Initial Registration	Notes
1 aircraft built by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, Filton, Bristol, Somerset. Attempted first flight June 1914
159	none	Grounded on a sandbank on attempted first flight. Later scrapped.
Total Production 1

Bristol Aircraft Since 1910, C.H. Barnes (Putnam, 1964, 1970 and 1988)
British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001)

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