Burnelli CBY-3
The Burnelli CBY -3 Loadmaster was a traffic and transport aircraft of the U.S. American manufacturer Vincent Burnelli, which was manufactured by the Canadian company Canadian Car & Foundry. The CBY -3 was the last attempt Burn Ellis, his idea of the buoyant hull ( fuselage lifting ) to put into a commercially successful product. The name was derived from the names of the three parties to the project partners. Čančar, Burnelli and Lowell Yerex, " 3 " stand for the number of partners. Lowell Yerex was a New Zealander who had founded the airline Transportes Aéreos Centroamericanos TACA 1931 in Honduras. He joined the project after Burnelli had convinced him that he could use the CBY -3 useful in his company.
History
The Cancargo Aircraft Manufacturing Company, a subsidiary of the Canadian Car & Foundry, built and tested the CBY -3 in 1945. It was specially designed for use in harsh conditions, designed as bush and jungle use. The first flight took place on 17 July 1945, on the Cartierville Airport in Quebec ( Canada) instead, the aircraft bore the air vehicle registration number CF - BEL -X.
Since, according to the extensive test flights absence of any orders, the machine was sold with the construction rights to airlift Inc. in Miami and then entered the registration N17N. In the following years, the LoadMaster changed hands several times and was for some time in Venezuela Rutas Aereas Nacionales SA in the flown with the registration YV -X - ERC.
After that, the CBY -3 returned back to the U.S., after the conversion to Wright R -2600 engines flew for the Burnelli Avionics Corporation and was stationed on the Friendship International Airport from Baltimore. There was even a scheduled deployment in a polar expedition, for which the machine has been specially equipped. The company, however, was not carried out.
Concept of the buoyant hull
The CBY -3 is to be regarded as a logical continuation of the construction line of the previous Burnelli designs, in particular the UB -14. All drafts Burnelli was based on the concept of buoyancy body ( lifting fuselage ). So he called a wide, profile -shaped in longitudinal section fuselage, which allowed a very generously sized cabin and transporting bulky loads. In addition, the hull contributed significantly to the total lift of the aircraft. The engine and the gear could be housed in the fuselage.
Construction
The wings were an all-metal construction with two rails that ran through the hull and were swept in the outer wing to the rear. In addition to the usual wing flaps, there was an auxiliary flap under the fuselage. Also the trunk was performed in all-metal construction. Two tail boom carried the tail unit with a high-set tailplane, which towered over the tail boom out. The three elevators were located between and outside the carrier.
The main landing gear drove forward into the engine nacelles, while the retractable tail wheel frosted double was housed in the fuselage.
Initially, the LoadMaster was equipped with two 14 -cylinder radial engines Pratt & Whitney R -1830, which each had 880 kW (1200 hp). The distance between the two circles propeller was only 40 cm (16 inches). The wing tanks preconceived together 2830 liters (750 U.S. gal). The large trunk was in the record either 22 passengers and 2 crew members or equivalent cargo 19.9 m³ (700 cu.ft. ) large cargo space. About the two large cargo doors on each side cargo with up to 6.1 m (20 ft. ) in length could be loaded. With slight modifications, also allegedly a car should have been transported. The cabin had dimensions of 6.10 m (20 ft ) x 7.90 m (26 ft) and was at the highest point 2.13 m high. In the cargo configuration, a volume of 58 cubic meters could be used in the hold. The cockpit was, as with the other Burnellikonstruktionen also in the wing leading edge between the two engines, and offered a very good forward visibility and good chances of survival in an accident. A toilet and a kitchen were housed in the rear part of the fuselage.
Whereabouts
After the death of Burn Ellis in 1964, his widow secured the aircraft for the Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Association. The only remaining Burnelli aircraft today in the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut issued. The museum is planning for many years parked outdoors CBY -3 for a static presentation in a hall full rebuild. The two missing R -2600 engines to be replaced by those from museum collections.