A gleaming silver horse piloted by the most capable and daring young men Britain could muster, the Bristol Bulldog was one of the most important British aircraft of the interwar period, when powerful biplane fighters undoubtedly ruled the skies. Originally developed as a private venture by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, the Bulldog was the brainchild of experienced aircraft designer Frank Barnwell, the man who had designed the successful Bristol F2B fighter of the Great War, and was a lightweight, all-metal, fabric-covered fighter. , powered by a 440 hp Bristol Jupiter engine.
What the Bulldog did do was help the British aircraft industry move towards producing sleek monoplane fighters that would compete in the Second World War, as it highlighted the fact that biplane designs were rapidly approaching their zenith. Perhaps the most famous incident involving a Bristol Bulldog was quite embarrassing when an experienced but rather brazen Royal Air Force pilot performed unauthorized aerobatics at low altitude for a group of spectators and a private civilian airfield in Berkshire.
