Frank Barnwell and his
brother Harold founded Grampian Motors in Stirling, Scotland. Their aircraft was used for the first power
airplane flight in Scotland, at Causewayhead in 1909. Barnwell went on to become the chief
designer at Bristol aircraft. He developed a variety of craft used by the RFC
and the RAF including the F2 (a single-engine biplane fighter) and the
innovative Blenheim, a twin-engine
bomber and long-range fighter which incorporated such innovations as an
all-metal stressed skin, retractable landing gear, and a motorized gun turret
(nearly 4,500 Blenheims were built).
Despite his genius as an engineer (though it should be
noted that his craft often exhibited tricky flight characteristics), Barnwell
was something of a menace as a pilot.
Bristol Corporation banned their 55-year-old chief engineer from flying
any Bristol test aircraft. On August 31,
1938, Barnwell crashed an experimental light aircraft near Whitechurch, England
and died of his injuries.
