Registration form
BAC 100: 2010. Call for Ideas to Mark the 100th Anniversary of Aviation in the West of England. Animated loop of aviation images. Credited in main text. Sir George White portrait, 1914 (Airbus).
   
 

A remarkable story started in 1910. On 30 July  that year, a Bristol Boxkite, piloted by Frenchman Maurice Edmond and built by the newly formed  British & Colonial Aeroplane Company at Filton,  took off from Larkhill in Wiltshire, home of the company’s first flying school.

Reaching a height of 150 feet, that pioneering flight was the start of a fascinating journey that has seen the West of England become one of the world’s leading centres of aerospace engineering and technology.

The British & Colonial Aeroplane Company and the Bristol Aeroplane Company Ltd, were registered on the same day in 1910, but the business initially only traded under the first name. Its aircraft were universally known as ‘Bristols’ and the firm adopted the latter name in 1920, becoming just ‘the BAC’ for generations of local people. BAC spawned  Bristol Cars Ltd, Bristol Aero Engines Ltd, British Aircraft Corporation, British Aerospace (Filton), Bristol Engines Division of Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and Airbus, among many other ventures.

In 2010 the centenary of the birth of aircraft production in Filton offers
an opportunity to celebrate a century of innovation, risk-taking and adventure, as well as to look to future challenges and aspirations in aviation design, travel and the wider role of technology in creating
prosperity and quality of life in the city-region.

In 2006 Brunel 200 celebrated the bicentenary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel with exhibitions, educational programmes, publications, arts projects, competitions, debates and talks. In 2010 how should we mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the aviation industry in the West of England which has transformed our means of travel in ways Brunel could never have imagined?

Please see the column opposite for current proposals and how you can get involved.

This website will develop into an extensive resource about BAC and the 2010 events. In the meantime visit the Aviation Archive to find out more about this remarkable company.

The Bristol Aero Collection is on display at Kemble. For visitor information, news of activities and links, visit the museum website.

Download the 2008 BAC 100 brochure here in PDF or Word format for further details of the proposals to date. You may need Acrobat Reader to open the PDF. Download here.

BAC 100 is a partnership initiative including:


BAC 100 partnership initiative logos.


   

Current proposals include:

A major exhibition in Bristol on one hundred years of aviation history.
An exhibition in Filton based on the gathering of oral histories.
Mini exhibitions throughout the West of
England on contemporary and future
technology.
A community play devised and performed by the people of Filton.
Bristol Aircraft 100 – a fully illustrated book on the West of England aerospace industry.
Local trail guides.
A BAC 100 graphic-style history of flight.
 
Teaching resources and a programme of school visits to enthuse young people about engineering and technology.
Short stories and writing competitions on an aviation theme.
Scientific and engineering fun-day
‘challenges’.
A flyover, air show or recreation of pioneering flights.
A Bristol Car Club parade and rally.
A Great Reading Adventure based on the mass-reading of a classic of aviation literature.
Debates, talks and conferences.
Making worldwide connections to countries linked to the company.
An extensive education programme (see outline proposal here)


This is just the beginning of planning the celebrations. We would welcome your own ideas and proposals. These will then form the basis for funding applications and approaches for sponsorship.

To be added to the BAC 100 mailing list and to contribute your suggestions please complete the registration form.

We look forward to hearing from you.


Photograph of Sir George White, courtesy of Airbus. Photograph of the Bristol Flying School at Larkhill by T L Fuller (c) J T Fuller. Mercury engine installation diagram, courtesy of BAC/Rolls-Royce. Selection of old postcards from the collection of Jackie Sims. Photograph of A380 over Clifton Suspension Bridge courtesy of Airbus SAS 2006. Photograph of Concorde, c 1974 courtesy of BAC/Rolls-Royce plc. Computer generated image of A350 XWB courtesy of Airbus.