The Bristol Bloodhound was a British two-seat reconnaissance/fighter aircraft designed and built as a possible replacement for the Bristol F.2 Fighter for the Royal Air Force.
It was unsuccessful, only four prototypes being built.
After the failure of the two-seat version of the Bristol Bullfinch, the requirement remained for an aircraft for the Royal Air Force to replace the Bristol F.2 Fighter.
The Air Ministry therefore issued Specification 3/22 in 1922 for a two-seat fighter powered by a supercharged engine.
Bristol’s chief designer, Wilfred Reid (who had replaced Frank Barnwell when Barnwell emigrated to Australia), designed the Bristol Type 84 Bloodhound to meet this requirement, with Bristol deciding to build a prototype as a private venture.
The Bloodhound was a two-seat biplane with swept two-bay wings, powered by a Bristol Jupiter IV radial engine.
It first flew at the end of May 1923.
It was redesigned with a lengthened fuselage and revised wings when Frank Barnwell returned from Australia to resume his role as chief designer.
The Air Ministry placed an order for three Bloodhounds to a revised specification (22/22), of which one was of all-metal construction and the other two fitted with wooden wings, the first of these flying on 4 February 1925.
After evaluation by the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Martlesham Heath and Farnborough, it was clear that the Bloodhound was not adequate for the role of replacing the F.2.
The other aircraft being evaluated against the specification to replace the F.2 in the reconnaissance role, the Hawker Duiker, Armstrong Whitworth Wolf and de Havilland D.H.42 Dormouse, were also found lacking.
The first prototype was fitted with a new Jupiter V engine and received a civil certificate of airworthiness before being flown in the 1925 King’s Cup air race.
It was then fitted with a Jupiter VI engine and long-range fuel tanks as an engine testbed, proving the reliability of the Jupiter for Imperial Airways before finally being scrapped in 1931.
