The Inverness is the Rohrbach RoIV all-metal flying boat designed by Adolf Rohrbach. The first aircraft (N183)was built in the Rohrbach factory in Denmark from parts manufactured in Berlin before being sent to Beardmore. The second aircraft (N184) was built by Beardmore.Both aircraft had short lives and were scrapped in 1925.
The Inverness was equipped with two large masts and sails to get it home in the event of a forced water landing.
The Inflexible was designed by Adolf Rohrbach as the Rohrbach Ro VI. The Beardmore Company (mainly shipbuilders by the 1920s) developed the Inflexible to demonstrate the then-innovative stressed-skin metal construction. Unusually for 1928 it was also a mid-wing monoplane at a time when most large aircraft were still wood and fabric biplanes. With a wingspan of 158 ft it was the biggest aircraft of it’s day. Before being allowed to make the attempt to fly it had to be fitted with support cables from the wing roots to nearly the wingtips. It was also decided that it would need more than the length of the existing airfield at Martlesham Heath to take off and an extra 400 yards of heath was cleared for the initial flight.
The extra 400 yards was not nearly needed and the Inflexible took off well before the end of the existing runway, no strain was evident on the cables and according to those on board, the flight was uneventful and the aircraft flew well.
The Inflexible’s maiden flight proved it was too heavy for its three Rolls Royce Condor engines.
Within two years its flying career was over and it was dismantled to save space, ending its days in experiments to investigate airframe corrosion.
Engines: 3 x Rolls-Royce Condor, 650 hp.
Take-off weight: 16783 kg / 37000 lb
Wingspan: 48.01 m / 157 ft 6 in
Length: 23.01 m / 75 ft 6 in
Height: 6.40 m / 20 ft 12 in
Max. speed: 175 km/h / 109 mph
Crew: 2
The Beardmore W.B.XXIV Wee Bee I was the company’s winning entrant to the Lympne Aerodrome light aeroplane trials of 1924. The competition rules were framed to encourage more robust designs than those that had competed as “motor-gliders” at Lympne the previous year; they were to be single engined two seaters, with engine capacities up to 1,1000 cc allowed. The total prize money was £3,600; the first prize £2,000.
The Wee Bee was a high wing monoplane designed by W.S.Shackleton, its aerodynamically thick wing divided at the centre and braced, close to the fuselage, by pairs of parallel struts to the lower longerons. The wings were of two spar construction with plywood skinning between the two spars out as far as the bracing; outboard, only the leading edges were plywood covered, with fabric elsewhere. The outboard ailerons were mounted on false spars (stringers). In plan, the wings were almost rectangular, with an aspect ratio of about 5.5.
The fuselage was built up on six spruce longerons, with bulkheads (formers) of spruce and three-ply. The Wee Bee’s decking was concave as it reached the flat fuselage sides, making for a better view from the two tandem cockpits. These were positioned at the leading edge and just behind mid-chord, fitted with dual controls. Both cockpits were semi-enclosed and faired into the upper fuselage/ wing surface. The front one was entered by lifting up a small hinged part of the leading edge, which was locked down for flight; this gave excellent visibility with the help of the “hollow ground” decking. The aft cockpit had a roof hatch with a transparent celluloid window in the upper wings, with good views though openings in the sides below the wing. The 32 hp (24 kW) Bristol Cherub flat twin engine was hung from a duralumin sheet bracket fixed to the engine bulkhead and positioned below with a pair of duralumin tubes, themselves braced to the lower longerons with steel tubes. It was enclosed in a smooth, streamlined cowling, with the upper cylinder heads protruding for cooling.
The fin and tailplane were both integral with the fuselage and narrow in chord, carrying wider control surfaces. Both horizontal and vertical surfaces were rectangular, but the rudder had a noticeable horn balance. The main undercarriage was very simple, with two wheels mounted on a bent chrome-nickel alloy tube which passed through the fuselage bottom. This placed the wheels well clear of the fuselage horizontally (the track was 3 ft 9 in / 1.14 m) but left the Wee Bee sitting close to the ground. Landing loads were absorbed by elastic axle bending.
The only Wee Bee first flew in the late summer of 1924, ready for the Lympne competition. The preliminary trial for this were held at the weekend of 27-8 September, where only seven of the initial nineteen entrants did enough to go to the competition proper. As well as the Wee Bee, the other competitors were the Bristol Brownie, two Hawker Cygnets, the Parnall Pixie, the Cranwell CLA2 and the Westland Woodpigeon. The Wee Bee was flown by Maurice Pearcy.
The aircraft were given marks for four tasks: speed over two sets of five laps, slow speed flying and take off and landing distances. Only the Wee Bee and the Brownie, both Cherub engined, had the reliability to complete the speed tests, in which the Wee Bee achieved 70.1 mph (112.8 km/h), about 5 mph faster than the Bristol. It flew at just under 40 mph (64 km/h) and took off to clear a 6 ft (1.83 m) barrier with a run of 705 ft (215 m). Given the Wee Bee’s clean aerodynamics it was not surprising to find it took to greatest distance to pull up at landing; wheel brakes were not fitted. Despite the long landing, the Wee Bee ended the competition well ahead in marks of the Brownie, its nearest rival, winning the Air Ministry first prize of £2,000.
At Lympne in 1924 the Wee Bee flew as no.4, but at the Royal Aero Club meeting of August 1925, also held at Lympne, it appeared as G-EBJJ. At that meeting, with an aluminium front cockpit hatch in place of the earlier wooden one, it won the light two seater race and came fourth in the Grosvenor Cup, both times piloted by A.N Kingswill. In December 1933 it was sold to Percy Parker of Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia, where it was registered as VH-URJ. Mr. Parker sold it prior to 1939. It flew until 1939 and was then stored, but probably flew again a few years after the end of World War II, though exact dates are uncertain.
Engine: 1 × Bristol Cherub I air cooled flat twin, 32 hp (24 kW)
Length: 22 ft 2 in (6.76 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft 0 in (11.58 m)
Height: 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
Wing area: including ailerons 208.5 sq.ft (19.37 sq.m)
Empty weight: 465 lb (211 kg)
Gross weight: 840 lb (381 kg)
Maximum speed: 87 mph (140 km/h)
Crew: 2
The Beachner V-8 Special is a homebuilt circa 1983 powered by a 215 cu.in aluminium Buick V-8. Construction is steel tube and wood with foam for shape. The aircraft is a retractable undercarriage two-seater.
Lincoln Beachey and his brother Hillery started experimenting with monoplane aircraft construction after the January 1910 Los Angeles meeting. He was present at the Wright team’s inaugural meeting at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in June 1910, but he didn’t make any flights in his monoplane. Two weeks later, perhaps hoping to learn by studying aeroplanes up close, Beachey secured a position as “chief assistant” to Charles Willard. In that capacity, he brought his monoplane to the Curtiss team’s meeting at Minneapolis in late June 1910. He made some short flights there, but the machine reportedly never got more than three feet off the ground. On June 24th he damaged the machine by crashing into a fence, and after that it seems to have lost interest in it.
Designed and built by S. Y. Beach and C. F. Willard in the USA.
Span: 39’3″
Length: 36′
Weight: 750 lb gross
The Freedom Jet, now known as SMART-1, was available only for military shows in conjunction with test and evaluation activities. These aircraft are experimental — research and development category, and were not available for sale to the general public.
Renamed as the Small Manned Aerial Radar Target, Model 1 (SMART-1), the tiny jet aircraft that have been performing air shows for the last quarter century have been “drafted” by the military. Its small size, maneuverability, and manned features, plus dependability and economy make the aircraft a threat representative and support system for new system research, design and development.
The aircraft is equipped with long range fuel tank, UHF data transmission antenna, TSPI data transmission and recording, and is transportable by road or air cargo.
Thrust – 300 lbs.
Wing Span – 17 feet
Length – 12 feet
Empty Weight – 465 lbs.
Gross Weight – 1,150 lbs.
Maximum Speed (Sea Level) – 250 knots T.A.S.
Minimum (Stall) Speed at Full Gross Weight – 72 knots
T.O. Distance – 2,500 feet (S.L.)
Maximum Range – 325 n.m. (160 knot economy cruise)
Dash Range – 240 n.m. (250 knots)
Maximum Operating Altitude – 24,000 feet
Single seat single engined high wing monoplane with conventional three axis control. Inverted V tail. Pitch/yaw control by elevon; control inputs through stick for pitch/roll and pedals for yaw. Integrated flaps and ailerons. Wing braced from below by struts; wing profile; NASA high-lift airfoil double surface. Undercar¬riage has three wheels in tricycle formation: spring steel, inflatable tires. Aluminium tube framework, without pod. Engine mounted below wing driving pusher propeller.
Two struts either side of the pilot support the high wing, and there are no rigging wires, the absence of a kingpost making for a very clean design. Wings are foam blanks fitted to aluminum spars and heat-shrink covered with Dacron. The maker says that 3 inch (7.6 cm) square section tubing is used for the structure, which as a result can handle 9 g. It has a single large diameter vertical wing support between pilot and engine.
Engine: Rotax 38 hp
Prop: 52”
Wingspan: 30’.
Wing area: 150 sq.ft.
Empty weight: 243 lbs.
Gross weight: 625 lbs.
Fuel capacity: 5 USG.
Fuel consumption: 1.5 gph.
Load factors: +9, -6 G’s.
Takeoff roll: 100’.
Climb rate: 950 fpm.
Landing roll (full flaps): 60’.
Stall speed: 20 knots.
Max cruise: 63 mph.
Available as: plans and materials; plans and all parts kit or complete flight tested aircraft.
Albert Bazin built a series of gliders from 1904 up to 1907. In 1907 he built this ornithopter with a 12 hp three-cylinder engine. It had no rudder, since the machine “was built to fly straight forward, the shortest distance between one point and another being the straight line”. The area of the different wings could be extended and decreased, thereby achieving lateral control. It was apparently tested suspended from a wire.
In the late 1930s, armies were looking for a way to airlift heavy military units. There were then no cargo aircraft big enough to lift a tank. A solution which was explored during the Second World War was to tow tanks as gliders, and for this wings had to be added. Most designs were based on straight wings with extended empennage and stabilizers. The design of L.E. Baynes in 1941 was for a 100 ft wing-span “Carrier Wing Glider” consisting chiefly of a swept wing with vertical stabilizers on the wing-tips.
A one-third scale prototype was built entirely of wood in 1943 by Slingsby Sailplanes at Kirkbymoorside, and the Baynes Bat made its first flight in July 1943 at the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment at RAF Sherburn-in-Elmet, Yorkshire. Most of the test flights were piloted by Flight Lieutenant Robert Kronfeld.
Tests were successful, but the project was abandoned because a suitable tank was not then available and a decision had been made to develop gliders which could carry heavy equipment within their fuselages.
The one Bat which had been built was the first tailless flapped monoplane to be available for research and it was flown extensively by the Royal Aircraft Establishment to test the stability and control of tailless aircraft. The Bat was last seen in 1958, lying behind a hangar at Croydon Airport.
Wingspan: 33 ft 4 in (10.16 m)
Length: 11 ft 4 in (3.46 m)
Wing area: 160.0 sq ft (14.86 m2)
Aspect ratio: 7
Height: 4 ft 4.8 in (1.340 m)
Empty weight: 763 lb (346.1 kg)
Gross weight: 963 lb (436.8 kg)
Maximum speed: 120 mph; 104 kn (193 km/h)
Cruising speed: 80 mph; 70 kn (129 km/h)
Stall speed: 40 mph; 35 kn (64 km/h)
Wing loading: 6.0 lb/sq ft (29.3 kg/m2)
Crew: 1
