Editing Bristol Aeroplane Company (section)

=== Post-war ===
When the war ended, Bristol set up a separate helicopter division in the Weston-super-Mare factory, under helicopter pioneer [[Raoul Hafner]]. This facility was taken over by [[Westland Helicopters|Westland]] in 1960.<ref name = "bae heri"/>

Other post-war projects included [[Bristol Cars]], which used pre-war [[BMW]] designs as the basis for the [[Bristol 400]].<ref name = "bae heri"/> Vehicle production was conducted at [[Patchway]], Bristol.<ref name = "bae heri"/>

The engine developed for the Bristol 400 found its way into many successful motor cars manufactured by other companies, such as [[Cooper Car Company|Cooper]], [[Frazer Nash]] and [[AC Cars|AC]] and, in {{24hLM|1954}} and {{24hLM|1955}}, powered the [[Bristol 450]] [[sports car racing|sports prototype]] to class victories in the [[24 Hours of Le Mans]] race. In 1953, S.H. Arnolt, a US car dealer who sold British sports cars, commissioned the Bristol Car Division to build a sports car for the US market, called the '''Arnolt-Bristol'''. It is estimated that about 177 were built before production ceased in 1958.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Nd8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA86 "American Sports Car Has European Origins."] ''Popular Mechanics'', April 1954, p. 86, bottom page.</ref><ref>[https://boc.net/page.php?currPage=cars&sc=9 "Arnolt-Bristol Sports Car."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217052955/https://boc.net/page.php?currPage=cars&sc=9 |date=17 December 2014 }} ''UK Bristol Owners Club'', section 9.</ref>

[[File:britannia.plan.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|left|The Bristol Britannia]]
In 1960, Sir George White was instrumental in preventing the car division being lost during the wider company's merger with BAC.<ref name = "bae heri"/> Accordingly, Bristol Cars Limited was formed, and remained within the Filton complex. Sir George retired in 1973 and [[Tony Crook (racing driver)|Tony Crook]] purchased his share, becoming sole proprietor and managing director.<ref>[https://boc.net/page.php?currPage=cars&sc=12&uid=54 "History of the Bristol Marque."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426125913/https://boc.net/page.php?currPage=cars&sc=12&uid=54 |date=26 April 2012 }} ''UK Bristol Owners Club''.</ref> Pre-fabricated buildings, marine craft and plastic and composite materials were also amongst the company's early post-war activities; these side-ventures were independently sold off.

Bristol was involved in the post-war renaissance of British civilian aircraft, which was largely inspired by the [[Brabazon Committee]] report of 1943–5.<ref name = "bae heri"/> In 1949, the [[Bristol Brabazon|Brabazon]] airliner prototype, at the time one of the largest aircraft in the world, first flew. This project was deemed to be a step in the wrong direction, gaining little interest from military or civilian operators, resulting in the Brabazon being ultimately cancelled in 1953.<ref name = "bae heri"/> At the same time as the termination, Bristol decided to focus on development of a large turboprop-powered airliner, known as the [[Bristol Britannia|Britannia]]. Capable of traversing [[transatlantic flight|transatlantic]] routes, it proved a commercial success; both it and the [[Bristol Freighter|Freighter]] were produced in quantity during the 1950s. However, sales of the Britannia were poor and only 82 were built, primarily due to its protracted development; having been ordered by BOAC on 28 July 1949 and first flown on 16 August 1952, it did not enter service until 1 February 1957.<ref>Barnes 1988, pp. 344-345, 347.</ref> Bristol was also involved in [[helicopter]] development, with the [[Bristol Belvedere|Belvedere]] and [[Bristol Sycamore|Sycamore]] going into quantity production.

Another post-war activity was [[missile]] development, culminating in the production of the [[Bristol Bloodhound|Bloodhound]] anti-aircraft missile. Upon introduction, the Bloodhound was the RAF's only long range transportable surface-to-air missile.<ref name = "bae heri"/> Bristol Aero Engines produced a range of [[rocket motor]]s and [[ramjet]]s for missile propulsion. The guided weapons division eventually became part of Matra BAe Dynamics Alenia ([[MBDA]]).<ref name = "bae heri"/>

[[File:Concorde landing Farnborough Fitzgerald.jpg|thumb|Concorde, originated from the Bristol 223 project study]]
In the late 1950s, the company undertook supersonic transport (SST) project studies, the [[Bristol Type 223|Type 223]], which were later to contribute to [[Concorde]]. A research aircraft, the [[Bristol 188|Type 188]], was constructed in the 1950s to test the feasibility of [[stainless steel]] as a material in a Mach 2.0 airframe. By the time the aircraft flew in 1962, the company was already part of BAC.

In parallel with these supersonic studies, several subsonic designs were schemed in this period, including the [[Bristol Type 200|Type 200]] (a competitor of the [[Hawker Siddeley Trident]]) and its derivatives, the Type 201 and Type 205.<ref>{{cite book |title=Bristol Aircraft Since 1910 |first=C |last=Barnes |year=1988}}</ref> None of these designs were built.