Bristol Bulldog II

In 1926 the British Air Ministry began looking for a fighter that could compete with the bombers of the era. It requested a day/night, single seat fighter armed with two Vickers machine guns. The Bristol Type 105 Bulldog was selected, and after a lengthening of the fuselage, entered production as the Bulldog Mk II. Although it did not improve much on the performance of the Sopwith Snipe it replaced, it featured a modern steel tubular structure, and introduced a radio and oxygen support for the first time in RAF history.

The Bulldog did not see combat with the RAF, but fought in the Spanish Civil war with Nationalist forces, and was used by the Finnish in the Winter War against the Soviet Union. The Bulldog was extensively employed by the RAF from 1929 to 1937, with 312 planes equipping 10 squadrons until it was replaced by the Hurricane and Spitfire.

The Bulldog II burns 16.4 gallons per hours at routine usage. A full load of fuel and ammo (excluding bombs) costs $22.

Subassemblies: Recon Fighter chassis +2; Recon Fighter wings with Biplane option +2; 2 fixed wheels +0.

Powertrain: 328-kW HP gasoline engine with 328-kW old prop and 60-gallon fuel tank [Body]; 4,000-kW battery.

Occ.: 1 XCS Body

Cargo: 2 Body

Armor F RL B T U

Body: 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C

Wings: 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C

Wheels: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Weaponry:

2xAircraft LMG/.303 Vickers [Body:F] (500 rounds each).

4x20-lb. bombs [Wings:U].

Equipment:

Body: Limited Life Support (0.25 man-days), medium radio transmitter and receiver. Wings: 2 20-lb. hardpoints under each wing.

Statistics:

Size: 25'x34'x10' Payload: 0.56 tons Lwt.: 1.77 tons

Volume: 96 Maint.: 87 hours Cost: $5,320

HT: 7. HPs: 30 Body, 100 each Wing, 3 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 178 aAccel: 5 aDecel: 20 aMR: 5 aSR: 1

Stall Speed: 47 mph. Take-Off Run: 201 yards. Landing Run: 221 yards.

gSpeed: 218 gAccel: 11 gDecel: 10 gMR: 1.25 gSR: 2

Ground Pressure: Very High. 1/8 Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:

Historical wing area was 306 sf. The weight, cost and HPs of the wings and chassis were doubled to increase design weight; Lwt was further increased 6% to the historical. The fuel capacity is a guess, as no historical value could be located. MG load outs are a guess. Design payload was 720 lbs; the historical value has been substituted. Design aSpeed was 165 mph. Performance calculations were based on historical values for wing area and loaded weight. The Body MGs are synchronized, lowering RoF by 10% (see p. W:MP8).

Variants:

The Bulldog Mk I was the prototype. Its fuselage was lengthened to produce the Mk II production model.

The Mk III consisted of two aircraft with 418-kW engines.

The Mk IVA was the final production version with a strengthened airframe and 477-kW engine. 17 craft of this type were fitted with ski-type landing gear, and used by the Finnish in the Winter War.

The TM was the training version with a second seat and no armament.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS