Name that plane (thread number 1,000,000)

[mr2mk1g 10]

Ok, so there've been loads of name that plane threads but maybe not a million. They're fun though so what the hell.

Here's one that might tax you. I can give some clues on request. Yes it's a jump plane and no, it's not an AN-2...

[Tonto 1]

Are you sure it's not an AN-2? I see a propeller..

Seriously, it looks like SHORT might have had something to do with the design. There's that unmistakable "want to be a flying boat" combined with horrible langing gear and pure ugliness of the skyvan.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[mr2mk1g 10]

hehe, it does look like a skyvan's pregnant mother... no legitimate blood ties between the two so far as I'm aware however.

[Tonto 1]

Ah. Must be a Blackburn Beverly C1 then.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[mr2mk1g 10]

Got it in two. Fantastically odd plane. Is a double-decker - decks can dump out a jeeps etc or cargo or more jumpers through a rear exit, 36 more jumpers were held in the tail booms and dispatched through a hole near the horizontal stabiliser! STOL and rough field capabilities too. Took 74 jumpers total!

Had the pleasure of being in what I was told was the last surviving example at the Army Transport Museum in Beverly, North Yorkshire a few years back. Pity there are non left flying.

[Tonto 1]

It was a very odd (but capable) bird. There was an early fatality when a crew member fell 20 foot to the ground after the origional clam shell doors were opened while he was in the loo, leaving him "in space" so to speak, as the top of the doors were the floor that let to the toilet.
The kite was then redesigned with the more conventional ramp access.

I think the last ones stopped flying in the 70's.

As for the SHORT heritage, both British designs, both built for the RAF.

That was fun!

t

It's the year of the Pig.