Blackburn B-101 Beverley

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Contents

Type Description

• GAL.60 Universal Freighter Mk.1
• Six crew heavy transport to Specification C.3/46 to meet the requirements of OR.161. The aircraft was a high-wing cantilever monoplane with a fixed undercarriage. The large, rounded, fuselage had a tailboom and tailplane with twin fins. Access to the load bay was via opening doors below the boom and a hand-powered hydraulic ramp.It featured a single nosewheel and large single wheel main landing gear units. Four 2,020 h.p. Bristol Hercules powerplants.

• GAL.65 Universal Freighter Mk.2
• Second prototype. The squarer fuselage was an all metal light alloy structure in four sections: nose; main freight compartment with a 40 ft cargo bay together with clamshell doors replacing the previous door and ramp arrangement; crew compartment, laid out for a crew of four - two pilots, radio operator and navigator; tailboom, modified from the GAL.60 to became a passenger carrying area capable of taking 36 troops or 30 paratroopers. The main freight and nose structures featured built up frames with longitudinal stringers, while the crew and tailboom structures used lighter frames and stringers. The two-spar, all-metal wings were in four sections, two inner and two outer, and feature Warren girder built up ribs. NACA slotted trailing edge flaps were fitted on the inner wings, while the outer wings were fitted with modified Frise ailerons. The two spar cantilever monoplane tailplane featured outboard fins and rudders. The fixed nosewheel landing gear featured four-wheel main bogie units, the shock absorber units of which attached the the underside of the wings just outboard of the inner engine nacells, and were braced to the fuselage frames by light alloy sponsons. Four 2,840 h.p. Bristol Centaurus 171 powerplants with reverse-pitch propellers, a feature that gave it a short landing distance and the ability to reverse under its own power.

• B-100
• Blackburn designation for the GAL.65 Universal Freighter Mk.2.

• B-101 Beverley C.Mk.1
• Production aircraft. 2,850 h.p. Bristol Centaurus 173 powerplants.

Projected Variants

• (none)
• Civil version of B-101 for cross-channel car ferry role. Two decks of cars plus passengers in tail boom.

• (none)
• Civil version of B-101 with Napier Nomads powerplants.

• Blackburn Beverley Stage 1
• (a.k.a. Beverley C.Mk.2) As Beverley C.Mk.1 fitted with four 3,150 h.p. Bristol Centaurus 373 powerplants.

• Blackburn Beverley Stage 2
• As Beverley C.Mk.1 fitted with four 3,765 h.p. Napier Eland 4 turboprops.

• Blackburn Beverley Stage 2
• Beverley fitted with retractable undercarriage and new rear fuselage Four Napier Eland 5 or Rolls-Royce Tyne turboprops.

• B-107
• Development of B-101 Stage 3, retaining Beverley wing and tail but with completely new rounded fuselage with a larger unobstructed freight hold. Rolls-Royce Tyne turboprop powerplants. Accomodation for 75 paras or 108 troops.

• B-107A
• As B-107 but with main loading doors in the nose, rear doors for para-dropping only and relocated flight deck.

• B-107B
• Civil variant of B-107A.

Production Details

Notes

1. C/n for the GAL.60 was in the General Aircraft series and all B-100/B-101 that was given a c/n followed that same sequence.

Production References

1. Blackburn Aircraft Since 1909, A.J. Jackson (Putnam, 1968 and 1989)
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft XA100-XZ999, RAF Aircraft Register Series (Air-Britain Publications, 2001)
3. Aeromilitaria, 2002/2 (Air-Britain Publications)