Burnelli CB-16
The Burnelli CB -16 was a passenger aircraft of the U.S. American manufacturer Burnelli Corporation from 1928. According to the Double Decker RB-1, the Vincent Burnelli 1921 on the basis of his unconventional buoyancy hull concept ( Lifting Fuselage ) constructed, this was the first monoplane after this concept.
History
The CB -16 was built in 1928 by order of Paul W. Chapman, a banker and president of Sky Lines Inc.. The construction claimed to have accomplished firsts for in some disciplines. This includes the first twin-engine aircraft with retractable landing gear to have been to be able to as well as the performance of the first twin-engine aircraft maintained at maximum takeoff weight and loss of one engine, the flying height.
The CB -16 ( admission X - 118E ) was built in the Aeromarine plant in Keyport (New Jersey), where Burnelli had rented corresponding indoor court and the necessary tools. Upon completion, the machine was transported by ship to the Newark airport still under construction. During Christmas week 1928 Leigh Wade and James Doolittle led by the successful 40 -minute maiden flight.
The additional flight testing was conducted on the Curtiss Field ( Long Iceland ) and the Bolling Field ( Washington). Here stood the functionality of the retractable landing gear and mastery of Einmotorenflugs in the foreground. On one of these flights occurred at startup and when fully occupied with passengers to an engine failure. However, the machine could climb to 1000 ft and perform with only one engine running without incident landing.
During the year 1929, the owner Paul Chapman put the machine for experiments with the Cabot Adams system. It was this is a process for receiving mail on the open sea, from the then largest American passenger steamer Leviathan. In experiments in Keyport (New Jersey ), there was the crash of the machine, because obviously when servicing the cables are incorrectly connected to the aileron operation. The two pilots survived - not least thanks to the robust construction - unharmed.
Construction
The CB -16 was designed as a twin-engined high -wing monoplane of all-metal construction. The structure of the wing according to Burn Ellis diagrams consisted of five " form ribs ", this bore transverse stringers, ranging from one wing tip to the other. This building was clad with " ribbed " Duralumin plates ( " corrugated iron "). Strong streamlined shaped struts supported the wing against the fuselage. The fuselage's upper side, and the airfoil layers without offset in a plane.
The fuselage had a length of 11.00 m (36 ft) and was 3.70 m (12 ft) wide. According to rough calculations, the landing speed reduced by the special design of the hull Burnelli - by about 12 %. The construction of the hull consisted of a lattice fuselage, which was like the wings planked with " corrugated iron ". A new feature was the engine mount made of steel tubes, which could be swung outwards and thus the engine exhaust removal and installation much easier. Both engines were available during the flight from the inside.
The 5.50 × 3.46 in the base m ( 18 ft × 11 ft 4 in) wide cabin was 1.65 m (5 ft 6 in ) high and even by today's standards luxuriously appointed. The up to 20 passengers sat in rotating cushioned seats that were also completely folded back. In the mid-cabin, there was a lounge in the back of a galley was furnished, equipped with a fridge and a hotplate. Also a laundry room with running water was available. The flight comfort should be increased by installing a Balsaholzverkleidung along with motor-side noise protection measures. The manufacturer claimed that the noise level in the cabin is not higher than in a car. Only the person sitting in an undisguised cockpit pilots were still exposed to the weather conditions unprotected.
The cost of the machine amounted to U.S. $ 230,000, of which $ 80,000 were construction and development costs.