Researched 2026-10-11 from the sources listed below. Airframes move between hangars, workshops and loans: check with The Helicopter Museum before travelling to see this one.
The airframe in brief
| Serial / registration | XG452 |
|---|---|
| Type | Bristol Type 192 Belvedere HC.1 |
| Built | Bristol Aircraft, Weston-super-Mare, 1960; c/n 13347 |
| First flew | 26 February 1960 |
| Units / operator | Bristol/Westland trials aircraft (to 1967); RAF instructional airframe, Cosford and Ternhill |
| Record flight | Gatwick–Idris (Libya) in 13 hr 57 min, 14 June 1960 |
| Flying hours | 487 |
| Arrived | 5 November 1974, by road (museum ownership from June 1978) |
| Status | Under restoration |
| Where | The Helicopter Museum, Weston-super-Mare |
The story of XG452
XG452, constructor's number 13347, was the fifth pre-production Belvedere, built by Bristol at Weston-super-Mare. It first flew from Weston Airport on 26 February 1960. After trials at the A&AEE, Boscombe Down, it went to Gatwick in June 1960 for a long-distance flight to Libya.
It left Gatwick at 04:30 on 14 June 1960. It reached Rome after 8 hours 13 minutes, Malta after 12 hours 6 minutes and Idris, near Tripoli, after 13 hours 57 minutes. Trials in Libya and the French Alps followed. It then appeared at the 1960 Farnborough show and returned to Weston.
XG452 stayed at Weston as an experimental aircraft until 1967. It was refurbished for the RAF, flew again in August 1967, and was soon declared surplus. It went by road to RAF Cosford as an instructional airframe, then in 1972 to RAF Ternhill for fire practice.
Elfan ap Rees bought it privately in 1973. It arrived by road at Weston on 5 November 1974, where the Westland Belvedere Preservation Group worked on it at the Oldmixon factory. Missing engines, rotorheads and blades were traced from several places, including Singapore, where most of the fleet was scrapped in 1969.
In June 1978 it was registered G-BRMB and passed to The Helicopter Museum. It logged 487 flying hours. New rotorheads, a spare nose and an engine are held in store for the restoration.
Seeing XG452 today
Under long-term restoration at Weston-super-Mare, the town where it was built. Its sister XG454 is displayed at the same museum.
| Museum | Adult entry | Airframes | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Helicopter MuseumWeston-super-Mare, Somerset | £15 | 108 | G-LYNX, the modified Westland Lynx that took the absolute helicopter world speed record (249.09 mph) in 1986 and holds it still; parked… |
Also known as: G-BRMB · Bristol 192 · Belvedere c/n 13347