Air Weapons

Transport (1955)

Blackburn

Beverley

Based on the Hamilcar glider of World War II vintage, the Blackburn Beverley was undoubtedly one of the most ungainly transports ever created thanks to its deep and narrow fuselage, single tailplane boom with twin tails and long protruding fixed undercarriage. The lumberng Beverley (the largest RAF aircraft at the time) was built to carry large bulk loads and to land them on rough unprepared runways, often just dirt strips: much of its success in this role was due to its innovative reverse-pitch propellers which allowed it to reverse under its own power. Its interior cargo area was split into two levels and accessed through large clamshell rear opening doors, its cargo usually consisted in passengers (carried in the fright bay and tail boom), paratroopers (dropped from a hatch in the base of the tail boom), freight cargo, or vehicles including helicopters, artillery, and missiles. The Beverley performed admirably with a total of 5 RAF squadrons until retired in 1967.

First flight of the B.101 took place on 20 June 1950 as the GAL.60, a designation reflecting its design by the General Aircraft company. This was followed by the GA.65 before the first production Beverley C.1 appeared. No other further variants of this superb yet little known aircraft were built.

Preceded by:

None

Succeeded by:

None

Datafile

DesignBeverley C.1
TypeTransport
Year1955
Crew4
Dimensions
Length30.30 m
Height11.811 m
Wing Span49.38 m
Wing Arean/a
Weight
Empty35,940 kg
Maximum64,864 kg
Wing Loading239.4 kg/m²
Performance
Speed383 km/h
Ceiling4,877 m
Range5,938 km
Powerplant
Engine4 x Centaurus Mk. 173
Bristol
2,125 kW
Thrust/Weight0.29
Armament
Guns-
Payload20,412 kg
Production
Built47
Total49