Burnelli CB-16
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
|name=CB-16 |image=Burnelli CB-16.jpg }}{{Infobox aircraft type |type=Passenger aircraft |national origin=United States of America |manufacturer=Burnelli |designer=Vincent Burnelli |first flight=8 January 1929Flight, 1929_03_07 |number built=1AeroFiles }} |
The Burnelli CB-16, also known as the Uppercu-Burnelli CB-300, was a passenger aircraft designed by the American company Burnelli in 1928. It was the first twin-engined aircraft to have retractable landing gear. Only one was built.
Design and development
The CB-16 was built for and financed by Paul W. Chapman, chairman of Sky Lines Inc. in 1928, following the success of the Burnelli RB-2.
The CB-16 was a twin-engined high-wing monoplane, constructed of metal. The slightly tapered wing was braced from the lower fuselage by pairs of parallel struts. The fuselage was 36 ft (11 m) long and 12 ft (3.7 m wide) wide externally, with an airfoil cross section. As with the earlier RB-1 and RB-2, the twin engines were embedded within the leading edge of the fuselage though, unlike them, the rest of this surface was largely filled with radiators. To reduce yaw after an engine failure, the 500 hp (370 kW) water cooled Curtiss Conqueror inline engines were mounted with slight toe out. The internal dimensions of the cabin, which could seat 12-20 passengers, were 18 ft (5.49 m) by 11 ft 4 in (3.45 m) long, with a height of 5 ft 6 in (1.71 m). This provided both seating and lounge space. At the rear of the cabin there was a small kitchen and toilets. The pilots sat in open cockpits placed at the wing leading edge.Flight, 1929_03_28
Earlier Burnelli lifting body designs had fuselages which were rectangular in plan, with the empennage directly attached, but the CB-16's fuselage tapered and the tail unit was mounted beyond the lifting body's trailing edge on a pair of thin panels extending from its sides. The alteration was motivated by the difficulties of pitch and yaw control encountered with the earlier arrangement. The panels swept upwards into a pair of fins and balanced rudders carrying a high set tailplane with three balanced elevators, the rudders working between them. The single wheels of the still novel retracting undercarriage were mounted on V-struts hinged at the lower, outer fuselage, retracting inwards.
The completed aircraft was shipped to Newark, New Jersey. In January 1929 Leigh Wade piloted the aircraft on a 40-minute test flight. Further tests were then conducted at Curtiss Field at Long Island and Bolling Field in Washington. In 1929, during a test, the CB-16 stalled and crashed at takeoff, though the two pilots survived.
Specifications
File:Burnelli_CB-16_3-view_Aero_Digest_February_1929.png
{{Aircraft specs
|prime units?=imp
|genhide=
|crew=2
|capacity=2 pilots, up to 20 passengers
|length ft=47
|length in=0
|length note=
|span ft=90
|span in=0
|span note=
|width m=
|width ft=
|width in=
|width note=
|height m=
|height ft=
|height in=
|height note=
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=1018
|wing area note=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=8700
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=11700
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=1,000 US gal (834 Imp gal, 3,790 L)
|more general=
|eng1 number=2
|eng1 name=Curtiss Conqueror
|eng1 type=V-12 piston engine
|eng1 hp=500
|eng1 note=
|power original=
|thrust original=
|prop blade number=2
|prop name=
|prop dia m=
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|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=145
|max speed note=
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=115
|cruise speed kts=
|cruise speed note=
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed mph=52
|stall speed kts=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|minimum control speed kmh=
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|range km=
|range miles=800
|range nmi=
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|combat range note=
|ferry range km=
|ferry range miles=
|ferry range nmi=
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|endurance=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=16500
|ceiling note=
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=940
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|sink rate note=
|lift to drag=
|wing loading kg/m2=
|wing loading note=
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}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
{{commons category|Burnelli CB-16}}
- {{cite magazine|magazine=Aeroplane Monthly|title=Burnelli's Lifting Fuselages (Part 2)|date=April 1980|volume=8| issue = 4|pages=172–6}}.
- AAHS journal, Volume 42. American Aviation Historical Society. 1997.
- {{cite magazine|magazine=Popular Science|date=November 1945|volume=147|page=69|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|issn=0161-7370}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_burnelli.html |title=AeroFiles - Burnelli aircraft |accessdate=2011-03-13}}
- {{cite magazine |title= The Burnelli Monoplane.|magazine= Flight|issue=7 March 1929 |page=179 |url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1929/1929%20-%200455.html }}
- {{cite magazine |title= An Original Design|magazine= Flight|issue=28 March 1929 |page=254 |url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1929/1929%20-%200618.html }}
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=qOIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA880 "Cutaway Drawing of Burnelli transport in flight" Popular Mechanics, December 1930]
{{Burnelli aircraft}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnelli Cb-16}}
Category:1920s United States airliners