Uppercu-Burnelli UB-20
| Uppercu-Burnelli UB-20 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Passenger plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Uppercu-Burnelli |
| First flight: |
1930 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Uppercu-Burnelli UB-20 was a passenger aircraft made by the US manufacturer Aeromarine-Klemm Corp., Vincent Burnelli was the company's designer and vice-president, while Inglis Uppercu acted as president and investor. The aim of the company, which was founded in 1929, was, in addition to the license production of Klemm light aircraft, the further development of the lift fuselage ( lifting fuselage ) aircraft designed by Burnelli . The UB-20 was very similar to the earlier built CB-16 .
construction
The UB-20 was a braced high-wing aircraft with a fixed tail wheel landing gear . It is considered to be the first American construction to feature a load-bearing fuselage skin covered with smooth sheet metal .
The fuselage construction consisted of seven transverse ribs and four T-longitudinal members made of duralumin as well as stringers with a U-cross section. The planking was 0.8 mm thick and was riveted to the substructure.
The wings had a structure consisting of two metal box spars with special drawn T-shaped angle connections. The sheet metal planking was 0.5 mm thick. The tanks were in the wing root. The chassis and engine mounts were made of welded chrome-molybdenum steel tubing.
The UB-20 had the same wingspan as the CB-16 at 27.45 m (90 ft) , but was shorter (15.90 m (52 ft)) and stood 15 cm (6 in) higher. The 20-seat passenger cabin measured 5.19 m by 3.66 m (17 ft by 12 ft) and was 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) high. This enabled bulky loads to be transported instead of passengers. The passenger cabin was very comfortably furnished for this time. There were reclining seats, a washroom, and bunks for night flights.
As with most other Burnelli aircraft, the engines were accessible in flight. The machine also had very good single-engine flight characteristics, so the flight altitude could still be maintained even when fully loaded. Similar to the Remington-Burnelli RB-2 , which carried an automobile in the fuselage for promotional purposes, the UB-20 did so in 1934 by transporting a Ford automobile under the fuselage between the landing gear legs on behalf of the Sun Oil Company .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 20th |
| length | 15.90 m (52 ft) |
| span | 27.45 m (90 ft) |
| height | 3.97 m (13 ft) |
| Engines | 2 × Packard (water-cooled) with 750 PS each (approx. 550 kW) |
See also
literature
- Howard Levy, Richard Riding: Burnelli's Lifting Fuselages. Airplane Monthly, April 1980, p. 172 ff.
Web links
- Photos of the machine (accessed on January 31, 2009)
- Description of all Vincent Burnelli's constructions (accessed on January 31, 2009; PDF, 979 kB)