Bristol B.93 Boarhound / Bloodhound

Designed by Wilfrid T Reid to meet Air Ministry Specification 3/22 issued in June 1922 for a two-seat fighter, the Bloodhound was flown for the first time at the end of May 1923. Featuring a welded steel-tube fuselage and wooden wings, and powered by a 425hp Bristol Jupiter IV engine, the Bloodhound carried an armament of two synchronised 7.7mm Vickers machine guns and a 7.7mm Lewis gun on a Scarff mounting on the rear cockpit. Three additional Bloodhounds were built to the order of the Air Ministry, the first of these being of all-metal construction and the others having wooden wings and tail. All three were powered by the Jupiter IV, but the engine of the third aircraft was fitted with an RAE supercharger. The three aircraft were delivered to Martlesham and Farnborough between March and September 1925, but no production was undertaken.

The original prototype was successively fitted with the Jupiter V and VI, and served primarily as an engine test bed.

In 1927 a Mexican purchasing commission placed contracts in the UK for 10 new Hispano-Suiza-engined Bristol Fighters and two Type 93B Boarhound II reconnaissance-fighters.

Boarhound
Engine: 1 x 400hp Bristol Jupiter IV
Take-off weight: 1828 kg / 4030 lb
Empty weight: 1165 kg / 2568 lb
Wingspan: 13.64 m / 44 ft 9 in
Length: 9.60 m / 31 ft 6 in
Height: 3.56 m / 11 ft 8 in
Wing area: 43.11 sq.m / 464.03 sq ft
Max. speed: 206 km/h / 128 mph
Ceiling: 7193 m / 23600 ft
Armament: 2 x 7.7mm machine-guns, 2 x 50kg bombs
Crew: 2

93B Boarhound II

Bloodhound
Take-off weight: 1921 kg / 4235 lb
Empty weight: 1141 kg / 2515 lb
Wingspan: 12.24 m / 40 ft 2 in
Length: 8.08 m / 26 ft 6 in
Height: 3.25 m / 10 ft 8 in
Wing area: 45.89 sq.m / 493.96 sq ft
Max. speed: 209 km/h / 130 mph

Bristol 93 Bloodhound

Bristol Boarhound