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 company was taken over by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1920.
Company origins
In 1918 the Anglo-American company Cosmos bought Straker-Squire (also known as Brazil Straker), a car and bus manufacturing firm which had branched out into aircraft engine repair and manufacture, 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 Jupiter.
Aero-engine range
In 1919 the range consisted of the 450hp Jupiter, the 300hp Mercury and the smaller 100hp Lucifer. On 9 April 1919 a Bristol Scout F fitted with a Mercury engine set two British records at Farnborough achieving the time to 10,000ft and 20,000ft records.[1]
Car production
Despite selling off the engineering side of Brazil Straker[2], which continued to successfully build cars, Cosmos Engineering also produced a small number of Fedden-designed cars. The Cosmos 10.5 of 1919, featured an air cooled 3cyl radial layout 994cc engine of 16hp and was significantly innovative for its time[3]. Only a limited number were made, and it was followed up by the larger 10.5 CAR which never got beyond prototype stage.
Fate
Soon afterwards the company went into liquidation and was 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.
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Bartlett, John Images of England, Fishponds Tempus 2004 ISBN 0-7524-3315-6
- Culshaw, David & Horrobin, Peter The Complete Catalogue of British Cars Veloce 1997 ISBN 0-9541-0639-3
- Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6.
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