Big Bev
There were a couple of comments earlier this week on my stream about whether the image seen in comment 1 below was taken inside a Beverley. I didn't think so, and am posting a larger and better version of an earlier image on my stream to help any further discussion. To my mind the rear door seen above is too squared-off and tall to be comparable to the one seen below.
The Blackburn B-101 Beverley was a 1950s British heavy transport aircraft built by Blackburn and General Aircraft and flown by squadrons of RAF Transport Command from 1957 until 1967.
In 1952 the RAF ordered the Beverley C.1 (Beverley, Cargo Mark 1), an aircraft with a high-wing cantilever monoplane and a fixed undercarriage. The large fuselage had a tailboom fitted with a tailplane with twin fins. The tailboom allowed access to the rear of the fuselage through removable clamshell doors. An 11m main fuselage space was supplemented by passenger accommodation in the tailboom (portholes visible in the image above). The main cargo hold could accommodate 94 troops, with another 36 in the tail-boom.
The aircraft was designed for carrying large bulk loads and landing them on rough or imperfect runways, or mere dirt strips. It could trace its design back to the GAL49 Hamilcar glider of WWII. At the time of its entry into service, it was the largest aircraft in the RAF. Paratroopers in the upper passenger area jumped through a hatch in the base of the boom just in front of the leading edge of the tailplane. The Beverley was equipped with toilets, which were situated in the tail beyond the paratroop doors located on the floor of the tail boom.
In total, 49 of the aircraft were produced, with the last manufactured in 1958, and final retirement from RAF service was in 1967. The longest-serving Beverleys were in the Far East. 34 Squadron received its aircraft at RAF Seletar in October 1960 and continued flying them until the end of 1967.
Initially, the aircraft were silver overall, but later, those operated by the squadrons based in the Middle East were given an overall sand camouflage finish, although the one above would appear to be in Transport Command livery. Only one Beverley has survived: XB259 is on display at Fort Paull, just east of Hull, England.
This particular example appears to be involved in loading training/practice and was probably at RAF Seletar. The recoverable data on the back give it as negative no. 11240/59, Unit 'Sec' and date as 9 November 1966. It is scanned from a 6x4 print I was given sometime in the '66-'67 timeframe when I lived in Singapore.
Big Bev
There were a couple of comments earlier this week on my stream about whether the image seen in comment 1 below was taken inside a Beverley. I didn't think so, and am posting a larger and better version of an earlier image on my stream to help any further discussion. To my mind the rear door seen above is too squared-off and tall to be comparable to the one seen below.
The Blackburn B-101 Beverley was a 1950s British heavy transport aircraft built by Blackburn and General Aircraft and flown by squadrons of RAF Transport Command from 1957 until 1967.
In 1952 the RAF ordered the Beverley C.1 (Beverley, Cargo Mark 1), an aircraft with a high-wing cantilever monoplane and a fixed undercarriage. The large fuselage had a tailboom fitted with a tailplane with twin fins. The tailboom allowed access to the rear of the fuselage through removable clamshell doors. An 11m main fuselage space was supplemented by passenger accommodation in the tailboom (portholes visible in the image above). The main cargo hold could accommodate 94 troops, with another 36 in the tail-boom.
The aircraft was designed for carrying large bulk loads and landing them on rough or imperfect runways, or mere dirt strips. It could trace its design back to the GAL49 Hamilcar glider of WWII. At the time of its entry into service, it was the largest aircraft in the RAF. Paratroopers in the upper passenger area jumped through a hatch in the base of the boom just in front of the leading edge of the tailplane. The Beverley was equipped with toilets, which were situated in the tail beyond the paratroop doors located on the floor of the tail boom.
In total, 49 of the aircraft were produced, with the last manufactured in 1958, and final retirement from RAF service was in 1967. The longest-serving Beverleys were in the Far East. 34 Squadron received its aircraft at RAF Seletar in October 1960 and continued flying them until the end of 1967.
Initially, the aircraft were silver overall, but later, those operated by the squadrons based in the Middle East were given an overall sand camouflage finish, although the one above would appear to be in Transport Command livery. Only one Beverley has survived: XB259 is on display at Fort Paull, just east of Hull, England.
This particular example appears to be involved in loading training/practice and was probably at RAF Seletar. The recoverable data on the back give it as negative no. 11240/59, Unit 'Sec' and date as 9 November 1966. It is scanned from a 6x4 print I was given sometime in the '66-'67 timeframe when I lived in Singapore.