Operational History
The first School and Side by Side monoplanes entered service with flying schools operated by Bristol at Larkhill and Brooklands. One tandem and two side-by-side machines were sold to Italy, with four tandem and three side-by-side aircraft being sold to Romania.
The two Competition Monoplanes were purchased by the War Office after the Military Aircraft Competition, being used as trainers for the RFC. However, on 10 September 1912, one of the Competition Monoplanes crashed, killing Lts. E. Hotchkiss and C.A. Bettington. While this was traced to one of the bracing wires becoming detached, it resulted in a five month ban of flying of all monoplanes by the military wing of the RFC.
Despite this ban, Military Monoplanes were purchased by Romania and Italy, with a production license being granted to Caproni (although this license was later cancelled, only two being built by Caproni).
Read more about this topic: Bristol-Coanda Monoplanes
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