Cosmos Engineering

Cosmos Engineering was a company that manufactured aeroengines in a factory in Fishponds, Bristol during World War I. Sir Roy Fedden, the company's principal designer, developed the 14-cylinder radial Mercury engine during this period.

The Bristol Jupiter engine designed by Roy Fedden whilst at Cosmos

The company was formed in around 1900 as Brazil Straker by the Irish Engineer J.P. Brazil and the London motor agent Syndey Straker. Up until 1914, the firm built cars and buses including the Fedden-designed Brazil Straker Shamrock. When the World War I started Fedden convinced the company to take on aircraft engine repair, and soon afterwards the company was building Rolls-Royce Hawk and Falcon engines and major components for the Eagle engine. The company was one of the first to be brought under Admiralty control, and Fedden and his draughtsman Leonard Butler designed two engines during the war; the Mercury and the larger 400hp Jupiter.

In 1918 the Anglo-American company Cosmos bought the firm, but went into liquadation soon afterwards. The Company was then taken over by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1920. Operations then moved to a former flying school located on the northern edge of Filton Aerodrome. The factory on Lodge Causeway was subsequently taken over by Parnall & Sons for shop and ship fitting and aircraft component manufacturing.