Beverley Woes
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Beverley Woes
They have tried to offer it free to any museum, but a lack of interest is possibly dooming it to its fate.
film in link
https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/20...being-scrapped
film in link
https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/20...being-scrapped
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6th Apr 2024, 14:51
THE BEVERLEY – ANOTHER THOROUGHBRED
A famous aircraft designer saw a Dutch Barn blow past in a gale. The basic idea of the Beverley was born at that moment.
The original design of the machine was intended to fulfil a single-seat fighter specification, but as full power was required to taxi the aircraft forward at a slow walking pace, another engine was added. The resulting increase in all-up weight necessitated the addition of two further engines to enable it to move at all. This had increased the general dimensions somewhat, and work was often delayed for several days at a time while the aircraft was utilised as a spare hangar for visiting aircraft.
This state of affairs continued for so long that by the time the prototype was ready for flight all other new types of aircraft were jet powered. This rather embarrassed the designer. Fearing to appear behind the times, he had the propellers placed much higher than he had originally intended in the hope that they would not be noticed. This entailed raising the mainplane and fuselage sides. Subsequently the Production Manager raised the roof – which accounts for the immense height of the machine.
As no adequate runway was available, the undercarriage was adapted to take locomotive wheels and its first take-off was from both tracks of the Brough – Hull railway line. It was in fact airborne by the time it reached Beverley – hence its name. A conversion kit for this purpose is still in existence. While the aircraft is in use in this role, the flight deck should at all times be referred to as the ‘Driver’s Cab’ and the V.H.F. should be re-crystallised to include the frequencies of Crew Signal Box and the Head Office of the National Union of Railwaymen.
Spinning the aircraft is not recommended, as the torque reaction involved causes the Earth to rotate in the opposite direction to the spin, to the accompaniment of terse notes from Greenwich Observatory. The aircraft is, however, extremely versatile, and may be employed in many roles, particularly those that do not include flying or movement of any kind.
It is extremely amenable to modification: for example wind-tunnel tests have shown that the wings could be placed at the bottom and the wheels at the top without any appreciable drop in performance.
Taken in all, the Beverley is an ideal aircraft for a civilian enthusiast with a million pounds, a private oil-well, and a complete abhorrence of the rules of flying.
Anon, from RAF Abingdon, Berkshire, UK (where some of these aircraft were based), circa 1963.
A famous aircraft designer saw a Dutch Barn blow past in a gale. The basic idea of the Beverley was born at that moment.
The original design of the machine was intended to fulfil a single-seat fighter specification, but as full power was required to taxi the aircraft forward at a slow walking pace, another engine was added. The resulting increase in all-up weight necessitated the addition of two further engines to enable it to move at all. This had increased the general dimensions somewhat, and work was often delayed for several days at a time while the aircraft was utilised as a spare hangar for visiting aircraft.
This state of affairs continued for so long that by the time the prototype was ready for flight all other new types of aircraft were jet powered. This rather embarrassed the designer. Fearing to appear behind the times, he had the propellers placed much higher than he had originally intended in the hope that they would not be noticed. This entailed raising the mainplane and fuselage sides. Subsequently the Production Manager raised the roof – which accounts for the immense height of the machine.
As no adequate runway was available, the undercarriage was adapted to take locomotive wheels and its first take-off was from both tracks of the Brough – Hull railway line. It was in fact airborne by the time it reached Beverley – hence its name. A conversion kit for this purpose is still in existence. While the aircraft is in use in this role, the flight deck should at all times be referred to as the ‘Driver’s Cab’ and the V.H.F. should be re-crystallised to include the frequencies of Crew Signal Box and the Head Office of the National Union of Railwaymen.
Spinning the aircraft is not recommended, as the torque reaction involved causes the Earth to rotate in the opposite direction to the spin, to the accompaniment of terse notes from Greenwich Observatory. The aircraft is, however, extremely versatile, and may be employed in many roles, particularly those that do not include flying or movement of any kind.
It is extremely amenable to modification: for example wind-tunnel tests have shown that the wings could be placed at the bottom and the wheels at the top without any appreciable drop in performance.
Taken in all, the Beverley is an ideal aircraft for a civilian enthusiast with a million pounds, a private oil-well, and a complete abhorrence of the rules of flying.
Anon, from RAF Abingdon, Berkshire, UK (where some of these aircraft were based), circa 1963.
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They have tried to offer it free to any museum, but a lack of interest is possibly dooming it to its fate.
film in link
https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/20...being-scrapped
film in link
https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/20...being-scrapped
Not forgetting the current condition, corrosion doesn't take any prisoners after all, and the cost of dismantling / transport / re-assembly in the current financial crisis would almost certainly be another prohibitive factor
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Lots of Bev memories starting in '58 (some tragic) but It was never appreciated (or operated) in its intended role and that's not likely to change now. Like its similarly 'odd' transporter, the 'Belslow' it will be remembered photographically because it's too big to make for easy storage. Shame, but there's little or no profit to be made in nostalgia ! 
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And the VC10, when I visited the landing lights in the nose were full of water, the simple expediency of either resealing the covers or drilling a hole in the bottom of the perspex lens would allow it to drain.. the wing tanks were open as well underneath, and no mesh had been put over the holes allowing birds to get in and moisture too. I remember the ones at Abingdon where the spars were in their own swimming pool and wonder how long 808 will last.
Really they all want some external roof putting over them.... and don't get me started on what was an immaculate Catalina dragged outside to make way for a corporate events area.... to drive revenue for aircraft restoration.. that will be needed in the future, due to the aircraft being shoved outside, a sort of self licking lolipop.
Really they all want some external roof putting over them.... and don't get me started on what was an immaculate Catalina dragged outside to make way for a corporate events area.... to drive revenue for aircraft restoration.. that will be needed in the future, due to the aircraft being shoved outside, a sort of self licking lolipop.
A fundraising campaign has been launched by a small museum in Cumbria which wants to provide a permanent home to the world’s last surviving Blackburn Beverley. A project to dismantle and move the giant aircraft from the former military museum at Fort Paull near Hull has stalled and the plane was in danger of being scrapped. Solway Aviation Museum, based at Carlisle Airport, has come to the rescue - but needs to raise £60,000.
The appeal will help fund the lifting and transport costs for the huge sections of aircraft, as well as ground preparation of the new site.
The appeal will help fund the lifting and transport costs for the huge sections of aircraft, as well as ground preparation of the new site.
It is dead easy to get the boom off a Beverley. All you need is a glider, a cross wind and a winch cable.
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I do hope they can pull it off, although a small Museum they do look after their aircraft, the Vulcan being one, it would be nice to see them get it ok. They are based not far from where I was born and spent my misspent youth.. ermmm, grew up.
The Solway Aviation Museum's quest to acquire a historic Blackburn Beverley XB259 aircraft is edging closer to its target. Dougie Kerr, the museum's chairman, confirms that efforts to raise the needed £60,000 have almost reached the £40,000 mark.The museum aims to dismantle and transport the aircraft from Fort Paull, Hull to Carlisle Airport, where it will join the museum's extensive collection of heritage aircraft, which includes the Avro Vulcan XJ823.
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Whenever the Beverley is mentioned it always triggers a memory of two of our entry at RAF Halton who died in the crash of a Beverley in Malaya in 1967. https://www.baaa-acro.com/aircraft/b...b-101-beverley
R I P Brian George and Ernie Trigwell, both Flight Engineers..
R I P Brian George and Ernie Trigwell, both Flight Engineers..
According to their web site :
https://www.solway-aviation-museum.co.uk/
They now have a "just giving" page to rescue and preserve the Beverley.
https://www.solway-aviation-museum.co.uk/
They now have a "just giving" page to rescue and preserve the Beverley.
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They have done it!! 60K raised to move her to my home town... 
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/othe...0dd28d22b&ei=6
Solway Aviation Museum has raised £60,000 and cash and offers of help continue to come in to move the partially dismantled aircraft from Fort Paull, near Hull.
Backers include the Beverley Association and a company near Hull has offered to lend a wagon to transport parts of the world’s last surviving Blackburn Beverley, which will have to be lifted out over the fortress walls.
The last of only 49 ever built at Brough in East Yorkshire, the giant Beverley XP259 was used for troop and cargo transport by the Royal Air Force until 1967.
Previously the plane was on show at Fort Paull until it closed in January 2020.
The wings, engines and tailplane were taken off by engineers working for previous owner Martyn Wiseman, who bought it at auction and whose own rescue mission ran out of steam.
He is donating the aircraft to the museum, next to Carlisle Lake District Airport, for free.
Museum chairman Dougie Kerr said: "People have been so generous, whether donating money or volunteering to come and help us. Last night someone donated £2,000.
"We've had a £990 donation from a guy in New York. At the weekend I did a piece for a magazine in New Zealand.
"People are saying to me you must be mad – but you are brave to do it. We've been contacted by a guy called Mike, who has a transport business from the Hull area and he’s willing to help with a wagon and forklift.
"The money is now there to transport it from Hull to here and when it gets here we will reassemble it and paint it and any parts that are beyond repair we will have to replace or get manufactured."
Backers include the Beverley Association and a company near Hull has offered to lend a wagon to transport parts of the world’s last surviving Blackburn Beverley, which will have to be lifted out over the fortress walls.
The last of only 49 ever built at Brough in East Yorkshire, the giant Beverley XP259 was used for troop and cargo transport by the Royal Air Force until 1967.
Previously the plane was on show at Fort Paull until it closed in January 2020.
The wings, engines and tailplane were taken off by engineers working for previous owner Martyn Wiseman, who bought it at auction and whose own rescue mission ran out of steam.
He is donating the aircraft to the museum, next to Carlisle Lake District Airport, for free.
Museum chairman Dougie Kerr said: "People have been so generous, whether donating money or volunteering to come and help us. Last night someone donated £2,000.
"We've had a £990 donation from a guy in New York. At the weekend I did a piece for a magazine in New Zealand.
"People are saying to me you must be mad – but you are brave to do it. We've been contacted by a guy called Mike, who has a transport business from the Hull area and he’s willing to help with a wagon and forklift.
"The money is now there to transport it from Hull to here and when it gets here we will reassemble it and paint it and any parts that are beyond repair we will have to replace or get manufactured."
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That's great news and something I had been hoping for ever since I watched the RAF Museum hack their example to metal death.
I wonder if she can be dismantled or will she need to be chopped up to facilitate transport?
I wonder if she can be dismantled or will she need to be chopped up to facilitate transport?
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She is partially dismantled now and was dismantled previously for the move to Fort Paull, they are simply dismantling it as before to transport it.
The pictures below are from
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=...25796941443214
The pictures below are from
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=...25796941443214
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Taking the (comparatively) easy bits off is fine, but, presumably they won't be dismantling its tummy....hence the potential for one of the more interesting trucking documentaries covering the move.
Last edited by Krystal n chips; 5th Apr 2024 at 11:11.
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It looks like there is a transportation split running back to the tail so it can all come off, some pictures here showing surviving cockpits appear to show they have been removed at the transportation join.
Oldprops Blackburn Beverley
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I remember being told a story about a Beverley flying up the Rhone Valley into a headwind, and someone looking out the window and seeing the aircraft being overtaken by a train in the valley floor below.
I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the tale.
I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the tale.
Last edited by Biggus; 5th Apr 2024 at 18:17.