Harold Barnwell
Encyclopedia
Harold Barnwell (1878–1917) was an aircraft
pioneer. He was born in Lewisham, Kent, the son of Richard Barnwell
, a director of the Clyde
shipbuilder, Fairfields. Barnwell was brought up at Elcho House in Balfron
, Stirlingshire
, and educated Fettes College
in Edinburgh
. He had a younger brother, Frank
.
Frank and Harold Barnwell built their first glider
in 1905, in Balfron, and, later, at least one powered aircraft
. They attempted to fly them in the nearby fields but were initially unsuccessful. The Barnwell brothers visited the Wright Brothers
in America and returned to their new family home in Bridge of Allan
. They then opened the Grampian Engineering and Motor Company in 1906 at Causewayhead in Stirling
. From their garage they produced three flying machines between 1908 and 1910, gaining confidence and skill with each. It was there that they built their biplane
which was successfully flown from a field in Causewayhead under the Wallace Monument
on 28 July 1909.
Piloted by Harold, it only flew 80 yards at an altitude of about four metres before it crashed, but it is still recognised as Scotland
’s first powered flight
.
Next the brothers built a monoplane
which, with Frank piloting, flew around 600 metres, winning a prize of £50 offered by the Scottish Aeronautical Society. In January 1911 a monoplane designed by the pair became the first Scottish plane to fly for more than a mile.
In 1911 both brothers moved to England
, and in 1912 Harold joined the staff of the new Vickers School of Flying at Brooklands
in Surrey. Frank soon specialised in aircraft design and joined the Bristol Aeroplane Company
at Filton
near Bristol where after a brief period with the Royal Flying Corps
in World War One (during which he qualified as a pilot with the Military Flying School at Brooklands), he became chief designer and was subsequently responsible for new aeroplanes such as the Bristol Scout
, the Bristol Bulldog
and later the Bristol Blenheim
.
In late 1914, Harold Barnwell, now chief test pilot
with Vickers Limited
, designed a single seat "scout" or fast reconnaissance aircraft, and had it built without the knowledge or approval of his employers, "borrowing" a Gnome Monosoupape
rotary engine
from Vickers' stores to power the aircraft. Barnwell attempted a first flight of his design, named the "Barnwell Bullet" in early 1915, but the aircraft crashed and was wrecked, possibly due to a miscalculated centre of gravity.
Harold Barnwell died on 25th August 1917, while test flying the prototype Vickers FB26 Vampire night fighter (fitted with a 200hp Hispano Suiza engine) at Joyce Green, Kent. Webster states that he may have been taken ill while at the controls. The aeroplane was destroyed, no more were built and Harold was buried in St Mary's Churchyard, Byfleet, Surrey. The grave is marked by an unusual obelisk type of memorial with a simple inscription recording the date and location of his death and that the monument was funded by his brothers and sisters.
Frank S Barnwell, OBE, AFC, was killed testing his own light aeroplane design, the Barnwell BSW.1, when it crashed at Whitchurch Airport, Bristol on 2nd August 1938.
A silver granite sculpture, with a 3 ft wingspan, set atop a 10 ft cairn
at Causewayhead in Stirling, yards from the site of the Grampian Motor and Engineering Company, commemorates their pioneering flights. A plaque, commemoration the centenary of the first flight has been erected in Balfron. Some artefacts from the Barnwells' days were uncovered before the Grampian Engineering and Motor Company closed. An original wing strut is on display at the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum.
Burge, C G (S/Ldr) (1935) ‘Complete Book of Aviation – Daily Mail Edition (Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd) – brief biography of Frank Barnwell, p.625
Gardner, Charles (1956) ‘Fifty Years of Brooklands’ (Heinemann)
Goodall, Mike H (1995) ‘Flying Start – Flying Schools and Clubs at Brooklands 1910-1939’ (Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd, Weybridge, Surrey)
Smith, Ron (2005) ‘British Built Aircraft Volume 5 – Northern England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’ (Tempus Publishing Ltd, Stroud, Gloucs.)
Webster, Jack (1994) ‘The Flying Scots – A Century of Aviation in Scotland’ (The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, ISBN 0-9522174-2-2)
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
pioneer. He was born in Lewisham, Kent, the son of Richard Barnwell
Richard Barnwell
Richard Michael Barnwell is an English professional footballer, who plays in Estonian Meistriliiga, for JK Nõmme Kalju. He plays the position of midfielder. His former clubs include FC Levadia Tallinn, JK Kalev Tallinn, FC Concordia Audentes Tallinn and Íþróttabandalag Akraness. Barnwell also...
, a director of the Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
shipbuilder, Fairfields. Barnwell was brought up at Elcho House in Balfron
Balfron
Balfron, is a village in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It is situated near Endrick Water on the A875 road, 18 miles west of Stirling and 16 miles north of Glasgow. Although a rural settlement, it lies within commuting distance of Glasgow, and serves as a dormitory town.-History:The name...
, Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling is a registration county of Scotland, based around Stirling, the former county town. It borders Perthshire to the north, Clackmannanshire and West Lothian to the east, Lanarkshire to the south, and Dunbartonshire to the south-west.Until 1975 it was a county...
, and educated Fettes College
Fettes College
Fettes College is an independent school for boarding and day pupils in Edinburgh, Scotland with over two thirds of its pupils in residence on campus...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. He had a younger brother, Frank
Frank Barnwell
Captain Frank Sowter Barnwell OBE AFC FRAeS BSc was an aeronautical engineer, who performed the first powered flight in Scotland and later went on to a career as an aircraft designer.-History:...
.
Frank and Harold Barnwell built their first glider
Glider aircraft
Glider aircraft are heavier-than-air craft that are supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against their lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Mostly these types of aircraft are intended for routine operation without engines, though engine failure can...
in 1905, in Balfron, and, later, at least one powered aircraft
Powered aircraft
A powered aircraft is an aircraft that uses onboard propulsion. This requires a power source, and some method of coupling the power to the air in order to create a forward force or thrust...
. They attempted to fly them in the nearby fields but were initially unsuccessful. The Barnwell brothers visited the Wright Brothers
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
in America and returned to their new family home in Bridge of Allan
Bridge of Allan
Bridge of Allan is a town in Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. It was formerly administered by Stirlingshire and Central Regional Council....
. They then opened the Grampian Engineering and Motor Company in 1906 at Causewayhead in Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
. From their garage they produced three flying machines between 1908 and 1910, gaining confidence and skill with each. It was there that they built their biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
which was successfully flown from a field in Causewayhead under the Wallace Monument
Wallace Monument
The National Wallace Monument is a tower standing on the summit of Abbey Craig, a hilltop near Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, the 13th century Scottish hero....
on 28 July 1909.
Piloted by Harold, it only flew 80 yards at an altitude of about four metres before it crashed, but it is still recognised as Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
’s first powered flight
Powered flight
Powered flight is flight achieved using onboard power to generate propulsive thrust and/or lift. Birds and insects use wings, in a variety of ways, to achieve powered flight. Man has developed several forms of powered aircraft. The term powered flight is also sometimes used excluding the natural...
.
Next the brothers built a monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
which, with Frank piloting, flew around 600 metres, winning a prize of £50 offered by the Scottish Aeronautical Society. In January 1911 a monoplane designed by the pair became the first Scottish plane to fly for more than a mile.
In 1911 both brothers moved to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and in 1912 Harold joined the staff of the new Vickers School of Flying at Brooklands
Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
in Surrey. Frank soon specialised in aircraft design and joined the Bristol Aeroplane Company
Bristol Aeroplane Company
The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aero engines...
at Filton
Filton
Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Bristol, about from the city centre. Filton lies in Bristol postcode areas BS7 and BS34. The town centres upon Filton Church, which dates back to the 12th century and is a grade II listed building...
near Bristol where after a brief period with the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
in World War One (during which he qualified as a pilot with the Military Flying School at Brooklands), he became chief designer and was subsequently responsible for new aeroplanes such as the Bristol Scout
Bristol Scout
The Bristol Scout was a simple, single seat, rotary-engined biplane originally intended as a civilian racing aircraft. Like other similar fast, light aircraft of the period - it was acquired by the RNAS and the RFC as a "scout", or fast reconnaissance type...
, the Bristol Bulldog
Bristol Bulldog
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Andrews, C.F. The Bristol Bulldog . Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1965.* Barnes, C.H. Bristol Aircraft Since 1910. London: Putnam, 1964....
and later the Bristol Blenheim
Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
.
In late 1914, Harold Barnwell, now chief test pilot
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
with Vickers Limited
Vickers Limited
Vickers Limited was a famous British engineering conglomerate that merged into Vickers-Armstrongs in 1927.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
, designed a single seat "scout" or fast reconnaissance aircraft, and had it built without the knowledge or approval of his employers, "borrowing" a Gnome Monosoupape
Gnome Monosoupape
The Monosoupape , was a rotary engine design first introduced in 1913 by Gnome Engine Company...
rotary engine
Rotary engine
The rotary engine was an early type of internal-combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration, in which the crankshaft remained stationary and the entire cylinder block rotated around it...
from Vickers' stores to power the aircraft. Barnwell attempted a first flight of his design, named the "Barnwell Bullet" in early 1915, but the aircraft crashed and was wrecked, possibly due to a miscalculated centre of gravity.
Harold Barnwell died on 25th August 1917, while test flying the prototype Vickers FB26 Vampire night fighter (fitted with a 200hp Hispano Suiza engine) at Joyce Green, Kent. Webster states that he may have been taken ill while at the controls. The aeroplane was destroyed, no more were built and Harold was buried in St Mary's Churchyard, Byfleet, Surrey. The grave is marked by an unusual obelisk type of memorial with a simple inscription recording the date and location of his death and that the monument was funded by his brothers and sisters.
Frank S Barnwell, OBE, AFC, was killed testing his own light aeroplane design, the Barnwell BSW.1, when it crashed at Whitchurch Airport, Bristol on 2nd August 1938.
A silver granite sculpture, with a 3 ft wingspan, set atop a 10 ft cairn
Cairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
at Causewayhead in Stirling, yards from the site of the Grampian Motor and Engineering Company, commemorates their pioneering flights. A plaque, commemoration the centenary of the first flight has been erected in Balfron. Some artefacts from the Barnwells' days were uncovered before the Grampian Engineering and Motor Company closed. An original wing strut is on display at the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum.
Further Reading
Andrews, Charles F (1960) 'Vickers Aircraft Since 1912' (Putnam).Burge, C G (S/Ldr) (1935) ‘Complete Book of Aviation – Daily Mail Edition (Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd) – brief biography of Frank Barnwell, p.625
Gardner, Charles (1956) ‘Fifty Years of Brooklands’ (Heinemann)
Goodall, Mike H (1995) ‘Flying Start – Flying Schools and Clubs at Brooklands 1910-1939’ (Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd, Weybridge, Surrey)
Smith, Ron (2005) ‘British Built Aircraft Volume 5 – Northern England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’ (Tempus Publishing Ltd, Stroud, Gloucs.)
Webster, Jack (1994) ‘The Flying Scots – A Century of Aviation in Scotland’ (The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, ISBN 0-9522174-2-2)