Bristol M.1C Bullet 92.5″ Wingspan

Built by Bristol Aircraft Co. during WWI in Great Britain. Chief aircraft designer, Frank Barnwell,   noticed that the German aircraft were faster than the British.  He set out to build the fastest fighter plane in a private venture of the company, without assistance of the British War Office.  Although banned for fighter aircraft by the British War Office, Barnwell chose a monoplane configuration and arrived on a sleek low drag round wood and fabric fuselage.  After initial company trials, the War Office ordered one aircraft for evaluation.  Tests proved the M.1A to be much faster than other contemporary aircraft on both sides. The M.1A passed every trial with flying colors but in that there was a fear of the safety of monoplanes, it was rejected because of poor visibility and too high a landing speed. 

Later in the war, the British assigned squadrons of M.1C to active duty in the Middle East and the Balkins, but not in the European Theater.

M.1C aircraft were sent to Chili instead of ships being built for them by Great Britain, and one flew from Santiago to Venezuela and recorded as the first flight over the Andes mountain chain.