Bristol Type 192 Belvedere: The Overlooked Tandem Rotor Helicopter

The Bristol Type 192 Belvedere… Yea… And you thought the Chinook was the first to do it.

First taking flight on the 5th of July, 1958, the Bristol Belvedere was a tandem rotor helicopter originally developed for use by the Royal Navy. Bristol had initially intended the Belvedere to be an anti-submarine warfare platform, to be used off carriers, but the Royal Navy didn’t show much interest in the helicopter.

Adaptation for the Royal Air Force

Bristol, though, was not ready to give up on the Belvedere and, after some tweaking, they offered it as a utility/transport helicopter for the Royal Air Force. To be fair, the Belvedere was not a terrible helicopter. It entered service with the RAF in 1961 and saw combat in Southeast Asia (Borneo, Malaysia) and the Middle East. However, it was not without its flaws.

Operational Challenges

One of the major issues with the Belvedere was that, unlike the American Chinook, it was not an easy aircraft to get in or out of. The doors of the aircraft were located 4 feet off the ground, creating a significant challenge for troops needing to exit the helicopter in a combat situation.

Service History and Legacy

But still, it wasn’t a bad helicopter performance-wise, and it had a decent service history. Eventually, the Belvedere was retired from service in 1969 and replaced by the Westland Wessex. Ironically, the Westland Wessex is a variant of the Sikorsky H-34, which had originally beaten the Belvedere out for the ASW contract for the Royal Navy.

~NC