Blackburn Beverley

what is it?

The Blackburn B-101 Beverley is a heavy transport aircraft produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft. It was notably the only land-based transport aeroplane built by Blackburn, a company that otherwise specialised in producing naval fighter aircraft. The Beverley was originally designed by General Aircraft as the GAL.60 Universal Freighter, reflecting its intended use by both military and civil operators.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · shoulder wing · tricycle gear · 49.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 383 km/htop speed
• seats 94passengers
• size 61.2 tmax take-off weight
• built 49made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 76 years ago, in 1950.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 49.4 m: about 11 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 10 African elephants (~6 t each).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1950-06-20

introduced

1956

retired

1967

status

retired

number built

49

role

military transport aircraft

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Blackburn Aircraft

engines

4× Bristol Centaurus 173

crew

4

passengers

94

length

30.3 m

wingspan

49.4 m

height

11.8 m

max take-off weight

61.2 t

top speed

383 km/h

cruise speed

278 km/h

range

—

ceiling

4,877 m

wings

shoulder wing

landing gear

tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.