Jupiter | |
---|---|
Bristol Jupiter on display at the Royal Air Force Museum London | |
Type | Piston aircraft engine |
Manufacturer | Bristol Aeroplane Company |
Designer | Roy Fedden |
First run | 29 October 1918 |
Major applications | Bristol Bulldog Gloster Gamecock |
Number built | >7,100 |
Developed into | Bristol Mercury |
The Bristol Jupiter is a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine that was built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turned it into one of the finest engines of its era.
The Jupiter was widely used on many aircraft designs during the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of Jupiters of all versions were produced, both by Bristol and abroad under licence.
A turbo-supercharged version of the Jupiter known as the Orion suffered development problems and only a small number were produced. The "Orion" name was later re-used by Bristol for an unrelated turboprop engine.
The Bristol Jupiter was licensed by the Soviet Union as the Shvetsov M-22.