Beardmore Halford Pullinger

Last updated

Beardmore-Halford-Pullinger (BHP) were a series of aircraft engines produced in the United Kingdom between 1916 and 1920. The acronym BHP comes from the surnames of the three key individuals involved in the development and manufacturing of the engines; William Beardmore, Frank Halford and Thomas Pullinger.

Contents

Technician boring out forged conrods for a 230 hp BHP aircraft engine at Galloway Engineering's works in Kirkcudbright, Scotland Technician boring Galloway Adriatic conrods.png
Technician boring out forged conrods for a 230 hp BHP aircraft engine at Galloway Engineering's works in Kirkcudbright, Scotland

Galloway Engineering, a subsidiary of William Beardmore and Company, was formed during 1916 in the Scottish town of Kirkcudbright to produce the BHP engines. BHP's designs were also licensed to Siddeley-Deasy in Coventry who ended up producing the vast majority of the BHP engines. BHP engines were used on many First World War aircraft, including the Airco DH.4 and DH.9.

Formation

The name B.H.P is derived from surnames of three people: [1]

230 hp BHP engine

Beardmore started building aero-engines in 1913 when the group acquired the rights for licensed production of the Austro-Daimler 6. Arrol-Johnson (a Beardmore subsidiary involved in automobile production) produced the Austro-Daimler 90 and 120 hp engines at their facility in Dumfries, Scotland. The 120 hp engine was further developed at the Arrol-Johnson works with inputs from Frank Halford who was assigned to the firm as a liaison officer. Changes included the introduction of twin carburetors and dual ignition. The resulting engine was sold as the Beardmore 160 hp. [4]

Halford and Pullinger then designed a completely new engine to compete with the latest German inline six-cylinder models. A new company, Galloway Engineering Co. Ltd. was set up in Kirkcudbright, near Dumfries, to continue development and production. [3] [4] Galloway Engineering employed a predominantly Female workforce. After World War I, the factory switched to automobile production producing a line of Galloway branded cars which were marketed under the slogan “a car made by ladies for others of their sex". [5]

Although BHP's design was projected to produce 300 hp (224 kW) the engine's output came in below expectations. The original name given to the engine was the 200 hp BHP. The engine's name was later changed to the 230 hp BHP to better reflect its actual output. Finally, the engine's name was changed to the Galloway Adriatic. [6]

The 230 hp engine was also licensed to Siddeley-Deasy, to be assembled at their Parkside works. In addition to building the Adriatic engines, Galloway also supplied components to Siddeley-Deasy. John Siddeley himself worked on the engine and, after making many changes, released the engine as the Siddeley Puma. The Puma was later developed into the ADC Nimbus. [4]

In British military service both Siddeley and Galloway built engines were known as the 230 hp BHP although they had different dimensions and few interchangeable parts. [4] [7]

Relatively few Galloway Adriatic engines were built. At the end of WW1, the RAF had 89 Galloway built engines in service versus 3,255 engines assembled by Siddeley-Deasy. All of the Galloway built engines were fitted to aircraft based in the United Kingdom. [8]

V12 derivatives

See also

Related lists

Related Research Articles

Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arrol-Johnston</span>

Arrol-Johnston was an early Scottish manufacturer of automobiles, which operated from 1895 to 1931 and produced the first automobile manufactured in Britain. The company also developed the world's first "off-road" vehicle for the Egyptian government, and another designed to travel on ice and snow for Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Halford</span> English aircraft engine designer

Major Frank Bernard Halford CBE FRAeS was an English aircraft engine designer. He is best known for the series of de Havilland Gipsy engines, widely used by light aircraft in the 1920s and 30s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siddeley Puma</span> WW1 era inline-6 aircraft engine

The Siddeley Puma is a British aero engine developed towards the end of World War I and produced by Siddeley-Deasy. The first Puma engines left the production lines of Siddeley-Deasy in Coventry in August 1917, production continued until December 1918. In operational service, the engine was unreliable and failed to deliver its rated power. At least 4,288 of the 11,500 ordered engines were delivered, orders were cancelled following the Armistice. Production was continued under the name Armstrong Siddeley Puma when the manufacturer was bought by Armstrong Whitworth and became Armstrong Siddeley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siddeley-Deasy</span> British automobile, aero engine & aircraft company

The Siddeley-Deasy Motor Car Company Limited was a British automobile, aero engine and aircraft company based in Coventry in the early 20th century. It was central to the formation, by merger and buy-out, of the later Armstrong Siddeley Motor and Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Beardmore and Company</span> British engineering and shipbuilding company

William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 people. It was founded and owned by William Beardmore, later Lord Invernairn, after whom the Beardmore Glacier was named.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airco DH.4</span> British bomber used during the First World War

The Airco DH.4 is a British two-seat biplane day bomber of the First World War. It was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland for Airco, and was the first British two-seat light day-bomber capable of defending itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar</span> 1920s British piston aircraft engine

The Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar is an aircraft engine developed by Armstrong Siddeley. The Jaguar was a petrol-fuelled air-cooled 14-cylinder two-row radial engine design. The Jaguar III was first used in 1923, followed in 1925 by the Jaguar IV and in 1927 by the Jaguar VI. In 1925 the Jaguar became the first production aero engine incorporating a geared supercharger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airco DH.9</span> 1917 bomber aircraft family by Airco

The Airco DH.9 – also known after 1920 as the de Havilland DH.9 – is a British single-engined biplane bomber that was developed and deployed during the First World War.

de Havilland Gipsy 1920s British piston aircraft engine

The de Havilland Gipsy is a British air-cooled four-cylinder in-line aircraft engine designed by Frank Halford in 1927 to replace the ADC Cirrus in the de Havilland DH.60 Moth light biplane. Initially developed as an upright 5 litre capacity engine, later versions were designed to run inverted with increased capacity and power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siddeley Tiger</span> 1920s British piston aircraft engine

The Siddeley Tiger was an unsuccessful British aero engine developed shortly after the end of World War I by Siddeley-Deasy. Problems encountered during flight testing caused the project to be cancelled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vickers F.B.14</span> Type of aircraft

The Vickers F.B.14 was a British two-seat fighter/reconnaissance biplane designed and built by Vickers Limited. About 100 were built for the Royal Flying Corps but saw only limited use as it was designed for a larger engine which was not available when production commenced and it did not meet performance expectations.

The ADC Nimbus was a British inline aero engine that first ran in 1926. The Nimbus was developed from the Siddeley Puma aero engine by Frank Halford of the Aircraft Disposal Company, the goal was to develop the Puma to produce its intended power output which Halford eventually achieved. The Nimbus was further developed into an air-cooled version known as the ADC Airsix which did not enter production and was not flown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF 4</span>

The RAF 4 is a British air-cooled, V12 engine developed for aircraft use during World War I. Based on the eight–cylinder RAF 1 it was designed by the Royal Aircraft Factory but produced by the two British companies of Daimler and Siddeley-Deasy. The RAF 5 was a pusher version of the same engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beardmore 160 hp</span>

The Beardmore 160 hp is a British six-cylinder, water-cooled aero engine that first ran in 1916. It was built by Arrol-Johnston and Crossley Motors for William Beardmore and Company as a development of the Beardmore 120 hp, itself a licensed-built version of the Austro-Daimler 6.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothée Pullinger</span> British pioneering automobile engineer and businesswoman

Dorothée Aurélie Marianne Pullinger, MBE was a pioneering automobile engineer and businesswoman.

Thomas Charles Willis Pullinger CBE OBE OBK JP was a British automobile engineer. He began his career working with bicycles before the first cars were built. After working for Sunbeam and Humber, he helped expand the Scottish works of Arrol-Johnston, where he developed structured apprenticeship programmes and an engineering college for women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galloway Adriatic</span> WW1 era inline-6 aircraft engine

The Galloway Adriatic was a WW1 era inline-six aircraft engine. In British military service the engine was known as the 230 hp BHP, a designation it shared with a version of the same engine built by Siddeley-Deasy. Although the Galloway and Siddeley-Deasy versions followed a similar design, they had different dimensions and few interchangeable parts. Siddeley-Deasy developed their version of the 230 hp BHP as the Siddeley Puma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galloway Atlantic</span> British 500 hp V12 aircraft engine built towards the end of WW1 through to the early 1920s

The Galloway Atlantic is a 500 hp V12 aero engine that was ordered into production towards the end of WW1. The Atlantic saw postwar service in Handley Page V/1500 bombers built by Galloway’s parent company, William Beardmore & Co. In contemporary publications the type is often referred to as the Beardmore, or BHP, Atlantic or 500 hp.

References

  1. "The B.H.P. Aero Engine", Flight, vol. XIII, no. 633, p. 88, 3 February 1921, archived from the original on 5 March 2016, retrieved 8 March 2011
  2. 1 2 page 120, The Aeroplane, 2 February 1921
  3. 1 2 Douglas R. Taylor, Boxkite to Jet: The Remarkable Career of Frank B. Halford, Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, 1999.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Lumsden, Alec (2002). British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Airlife Publishing. pp. 81–86. ISBN   1853102946.
  5. Clarsen, Georgine (2008). Eat My Dust: Early Women Motorists. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 46–48. ISBN   9781421405148.
  6. Black, Guy (2019). "Background History of the DH9 Aircraft". DH9: From Ruin to Restoration. United Kingdom: Grub Street Publishing. ISBN   9781911621836.
  7. R.A.F Field Service Pocket Book. April 1918. pp. 10–11.
  8. Bruce, J.M; Noel, Jean (1965). The de Havilland D.H.4. 26. United Kingdom: Profile Publications. ASIN   B0007JXD8K.