Bristol Bagshot The Bristol Bagshot , also known as the Type 95 was a prototype for a heavily - armed British fighter of the 1920s built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company . Development . The Bristol type 95 Bagshot was built to Air Ministry Specification F . 4 / 24 in December 1924 . This called for a large twin - engined fighter aircraft with a crew of pilot and two gunners , a maximum speed of 125 mph and a landing speed of 50 mph . Initially the details of the required armament were not specified . Frank Barnwell ' s design to meet this requirement , the Bagshot , was a high wing all - metal monoplane with an unusual triangular - section fabric - covered steel - tube fuselage with two upper longerons and a single lower member . The pilot sat in line with the wing ' s leading edge , with one gun position in the nose and another just behind the wing . The two - spar wing had a steel primary structure and duralumin nose ribs and end - members , and was a semi - cantilever , being braced by a pair of diagonal struts on each side . The legs of the fixed undercarriage met the wing at the same place as the struts and had an axle fairing of aerofoil section , contributing some lift . Power was provided by two wing - mounted Bristol Jupiter VI engines . In September 1925 the Air Ministry amended the specification , calling for supercharged engines , increased fuel load and a higher top speed at altitude . Barnwell attended a design conference to discuss these new demands and was told that the purpose of the aircraft was to carry a pair of Coventry Ordnance Works 37mm ( 1 . 460 in ) cannon , generally called COW guns . When he subsequently received full details of the required equipment , calling for two Lewis guns in addition to the main armament , Barnwell realised that the aircraft would be overweight and have a landing speed of , and suggested making an alternative fuselage of rolled steel strip in order to save weight . If load testing of this proved unsatisfactory , he recommended abandoning the project as a waste of time . However , the Air Ministry declined to cancel the contract and the Bagshot was completed , being provisionally accepted by the Air Ministry on 12 May 1927 and being assigned the number J7767 . Operational history . The Bagshot was first flown without any armament at Filton on 15 July 1927 by Cyril Uwins , Bristol ' s chief test pilot . This first flight was short : ' Always a bad sign ' remarks Archibald Russell ( later Sir Archibald ) , who at that time was working in the stress calculations office at Filton . Uwins reported that control in the roll axis was poor . A second flight , during which Uwins pushed the speed up to 100 mph , revealed that the problem became worse as the speed increased . Uwins was unable to observe the wing ' s behaviour ( He had a damaged neck thanks to an aircraft accident ) . It was decided that the aircraft was safe enough to carry an observer if the speed was kept down , and Russell , who had recently been working on measuring the deflection of the aircraft ' s wing spars under load , was given the job . The rear gun position gave an excellent view of the wing . Uwins and Russell agreed a simple system of hand signals in order to communicate . By the time the aircraft reached the agreed speed and height for the trials Russell was already very concerned . But although the ' writhing movements ' of the wing were ' large and alarming ' he had no signal to tell Uwins that enough was enough , and so the whole planned flight program was flown . It was concluded that control reversal resulting from twisting of the wing when the ailerons were applied was the cause of the problems . It was not feasible to modify the Bagshot ' s wing so as to achieve the necessary stiffness , so it was grounded and shortly afterwards broken up .