Friday 10 October 2014

Polish Bristol F2B fighter





I am grateful to Tad Dippel once again for pointing me in the direction of the Polish Military Aviation museum in Krakow. From their site comes these images of a restored Bristol F2B in a colour scheme from the 1920 Polish / Russian war. Restored by Vintage Aviator Ltd. (TVAL) in New Zealand, this aircraft is in a Polish colour scheme as the centre piece of an exhibition about the use of the Bristol Fighter in Poland. A total of 106 Bristol Fighters were purchased by Poland.

translation from the Polish Aviation Museum site:

The plane is preserved in about 60% of the original design of the First World War and has undergone extensive reconstruction to restore it to its original state. It is equipped with a functioning Hispano-Suiza engine with 300 hp and in accordance with the assurances of the New Zealand side of the plane has the ability to self taxi.
A copy will be presented in the Polish Aviation Museum in the original Polish painting from the period of the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920. Exhibit will be open to the public in the Main Building of the Museum until the end of October., As a key element of the temporary exhibition, dedicated to the service of the Bristol Fighter aircraft in Poland. F.2B Bristol Fighter is a two-seater fighter plane, introduced into British service in 1917. Served as a machine hunting and assault. Production continued after the war and more than 4.000 were manufactured, which saw service service world-wide. One of the leading users of the type was Poland, which in 1920 purchased 106 examples, which were used until 1932.