Blackburn Beverley

Beverley
Blackburn Beverley XB287 photographed in 1964.
Role	Military transport aircraft
Manufacturer	Blackburn Aircraft
Design group	General Aircraft
First flight	20 June 1950
Introduction	1955
Retired	1967
Primary user	Royal Air Force
Produced	1950–1958
Number built	49

The Blackburn B-101 Beverley was a 1950s British heavy transport aircraft built by Blackburn and General Aircraft and flown by squadrons of the Royal Air Force Transport Command from 1957 until 1967.

Designed and built by General Aircraft as the GAL.60 Universal Freighter, the first aircraft was dismantled at the Feltham, Middlesex factory and transported to Brough in Yorkshire to have its maiden flight on 20 June 1950. This was followed by a second, the GAL.65, which was modified from the original. Clamshell doors replaced a combination of a door and ramp, and the tailplane boom received seating for 36 passengers. The Bristol Hercules engines became Bristol Centaurus with reverse-pitch propellers, a feature that gave it a short landing length and the ability to reverse under its own power. The takeoff run at full load was given as 790 yards, the landing run at full load, 310 yards.

The RAF placed an order on 1 October 1952 for 20 aircraft as the Beverley C.1 (Beverley, Cargo Mark 1). Further orders were placed on 30 July 1954 for nine, 2 January 1956 for eight and another ten on 24 September 1956, a total order of 47 aircraft. All Beverleys would be built at Brough.

The aircraft was a high-wing cantilever monoplane with a fixed undercarriage. The large fuselage had a tailboom fitted with a tailplane with twin fins. The tailboom allowed access to the rear of the fuselage through removable clamshell doors. A 36 ft (11 m) main fuselage space was supplemented by passenger accommodation in the tailboom. The main cargo hold could accommodate 94 troops, with another 36 in the tailboom. In operation, it was regarded as "ungainly but highly effective" and was described by Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Freer as "like something out of the Ark, but it was a superb supply dropper."

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