Bristol Scout 1264: Rebuilding Granddad’s Aircraft

by David Bremner

In 1913, Frank Barnwell designed the Bristol Scout, which was the fastest and most manoeuvrable warplane for the first eighteen months of the First World War, and became the prototype single-seat fighter from which all later fighters were derived. As a result Barnwell became one of the seminal figures in the development of aircraft design. In 1916, Flt Sub Lt F. D. H. Bremner RNAS flew Bristol Scouts for No. 2 Wing in the eastern Mediterranean.¶In 1983, his grandson David discovered three aircraft parts from Scout no. 1264 in his late grandfather’s workshop and twenty years later he, together with his friend Theo Willford, researched the possibility of rebuilding her from these three parts.¶This book interweaves the previously unpublished early life of Barnwell and his brother Harold, the operational and technical history of his creation the Bristol Scout, Bremner’s flying career, and the challenges faced by Theo together with David and his brother Rick in recreating 1264 and getting her back in the air. Neither Frank Barnwell nor the Bristol Scout have received the acclaim due to them in the history of military aviation and this lavishly illustrated book attempts to put the record straight.

224 pages, Hardcover

Published April 11, 2019