Blackburn Beverley
If there ever was a cartoon airplane, this is it. It looks even more ridiculous in flight because the landing gear does not retract. The Beverley was designed as a heavy lift transport for the RAF and first flew in 1950. Despite its size and ungainly appearance, it worked well. There were 50 built before production ended, the last aircraft was retired in 1967.
Yea, the Brits had a thing for that configuration.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britten-Norman_BN-2_Islander
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-54220436
ReplyDeleteThe last surviving Beverley was sold last week (19th Sep) for £21000 after the museum looking after it closed down. A previous example was actually scrapped by the RAF Museum at Hendon!
http://www.beverley-association.org.uk/html/124/124.htm
We have a sad record for looking after our heritage, this is but one of many examples I could give.
Some of those designers settled in Canada, we got the deHavilland Twin Otter with fixed gear.
ReplyDeleteMy impression is that the British do much better than most on preserving heritage machinery. And they keep them operable! But big awkward planes are expensive and difficult to maintain! If they got the Beverley flyable, I think people would pay to fly in such a silly looking plane!