Rollason Beta
{{Short description|British racing plane}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name=Beta
|image=G-BADC Rollason Beta B.2A (9670532337).jpg
|caption=An amateur-built Beta
|type=Single seat racing monoplane
|manufacturer=Rollason Aircraft and Engines
|designer=
|first_flight=21 April 1967
|introduction=
|retired=
|status=
|primary_user=
|more_users=
|produced=
|number_built=4 (factory-built)
5 (homebuilt)
|variants=
}}
The Rollason Beta was a British midget racing monoplane developed from a competition to build a Formula One air racer in the 1960s in England.Jackson 1988, p.288 The Beta was first flown on 21 April 1967. The aircraft were successful air-racers in England during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Development
The Beta was designed by the Luton Group (who were young technicians employed by the British Aircraft Corporation at Luton){{Cite web|url=https://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/SmithRon/13387.htm|title=Rollason Beta B1}} in a competition to design a racing aircraft, the Rollason Midget Racer Design Competition 1964.
The Beta is a fully aerobatic wooden low-wing cantilever monoplane with a cantilever tailplane with a single fin and rudder, powered by a Continental engine of between 65 and 100 hp. It has a fixed-tailwheel landing gear and an enclosed cockpit for the pilot. The original prototype Luton Beta was not completed. The design was built commercially by Rollason Aircraft and Engines who made 4 aircraft at Redhill between 1967 and 1971.Jones 2002, p.7 Plans were also available for homebuilding; although 55 sets of drawings had been sold by early 1974, five aircraft have been registered but just three aircraft are known to have been completed, all in the UK.
Operational history
The first Rollason-built Beta (registered G-ATLY and named Forerunner) won the Manx Air Derby in 1969 and the second Rollason-built aircraft (registered G-AWHV and named Blue Chip) won the Goodyear Trophy air race at Halfpenny Green in 1969.
G-ATLY was written off in an aerial collision with a Tiger Moth at Nottingham on 29 September 1973, killing the pilot,{{Cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/18985|title = Accident Rollason Beta G-ATLY, 29 Sep 1973}} G-AWHV was destroyed by fire in 1995 and G-AWHW crashed on 17 December 1987 at RAF Wattisham, Suffolk, killing the pilot.{{Cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/174176|title=Accident Rollason Beta B2a G-AWHW, 17 Dec 1987}}
Variants
;B.1
:Powered by a 65hp Continental A65 engine, one built by Rollason later converted to B.2
;B.2
:Powered by a 90hp Continental C90 engine, one by Rollason and one conversion from B.1
;B.2A
:As B.2, but with steel sprung undercarriage, two built by Rollason
;B.4
:Powered by a 100hp Rolls-Royce Continental O-200-A engine, none built.
Specifications (Beta B.2)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1971–72 Taylor 1971, p.206.
|prime units? = imp
|crew=1
|length ft=16
|length in=8
|span m=
|span ft=20
|span in=5
|height m=
|height ft=5
|height in=0
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=66
|aspect ratio=6.15:1
|airfoil=NACA 23012
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=560
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=850
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Continental C90
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=90
|fuel capacity={{convert|10.5|impgal|USgal L|abbr=on}}
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=202
|max speed note=at sea level
|cruise speed mph=160
|cruise speed note=at {{convert|7000|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|stall speed mph=60
|stall speed note=(without flaps)
|range miles=320
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=20,000
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=1,800
|
}}
References
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book |last= Jackson|first= A. J.|title= British Civil Aircraft 1919-1972 Volume 3 |year= 1988|publisher= Putnam|location= London|isbn=0-85177-818-6}}
- [http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1967/1967%20-%202052.html?search=Rollason%20Beta Flight International 19 October 1967]
- {{cite book |last= Simpson |first= R. W. |title=Airlife's General Aviation |year=1995 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury |page=431 }}
- {{cite book |editor-last= Taylor|editor-first=John W. R. |author-link=John W. R. Taylor |title=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1971–72 |year=1971 |publisher= Jane's Yearbooks|location=London|isbn=0-354-00094-2 }}
- {{cite book |last= Jones|first= Michael|title= Tiger Club - The Redhill Saga Volume 3 1977-1989|year= 2002|publisher= Cirrus Associates|location= Gillingham, Dorset|isbn=1-902807-12-X}}
{{refend}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070211100118/http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=766 Rollason Beta] – British Aircraft Directory
Category:1960s British sport aircraft