The Phoenix was an experimental version of the

Bristol Aeroplane Company The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable ...

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

engine, adapted to run on the

Diesel cycle The Diesel cycle is a combustion process of a reciprocating internal combustion engine. In it, fuel is ignited by heat generated during the compression of air in the combustion chamber, into which fuel is then injected. This is in contrast to ig ...

. Only a few were built between 1928 and 1932, although samples fitted to a Westland Wapiti held the altitude record for diesel-powered aircraft at 27,453 ft (8,368 m) from 11 May 1934 until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.Gunston 1989, p.32. The primary advantage of the Phoenix was better

fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency (or fuel economy) is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical energy, chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or Mechanical work, w ...

at cruise, by up to 35%.

Variants

* Phoenix I: Diesel version of the Pegasus IF, 380 hp. * Phoenix IIM: Medium-supercharged diesel version of Pegasus IM, 470 hp.

Applications

* Westland Wapiti

Specifications (Phoenix I)

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Gunston, Bill. ''World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines''. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. *Lumsden, Alec. ''British Piston Engines and their Aircraft''. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. .

External links

Bristol Phoenix and Westland Wapiti - ''Flight'', May 1934
{{BristolAeroengines Aircraft air-cooled radial piston engines Aircraft radial diesel engines Phoenix 1920s aircraft piston engines