Bristol Aeroplane Company

The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was one of the first and most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines at Filton, near Bristol. Its notable aircraft included the Boxkite, the Bristol Fighter, the Bulldog, the Blenheim, the Beaufighter and the Britannia, and much of the preliminary work behind Concorde was done there. In 1956 its operations split into Bristol Aircraft and Bristol Aero Engines; Bristol Aircraft merged into the British Aircraft Corporation in 1959, and the engine business joined Armstrong Siddeley to form Bristol Siddeley, bought by Rolls-Royce in 1966.