The Blackburn Beverley; Bulbous But Effective and Perhaps Soon to be Lost 

I was the Officer in command of 45 Commando Air Troop in 1967 The one that ran over the Mine in Habilayne woke me up with the explosion - I looked out of my tent to see the crew all running away from it to safety. A second Beverley was sent with a bowser to defuel the one at the end of the runway. which was then dragged to the side clear of the Runway. I have the nozzle to the Pilot's Pee Tube. One of my Sioux helicopters which had been damaged by small arms fire was taken by Beverley back to Aden for repair. I was a passenger in a Beverley in Borneo in 1962 during the confrontaion - and found out that it could do a 3-point turn by itself when manouvering on the ground!

I remember seeing Beverlys occasionally overflying the town where I lived, as a child. I had no idea that so few of them were built! I don't think its ugly at all!

The Blackburn Beverley should be compared to the Douglas Globemaster and ideally it should have been replaced by the Short Belfast

Another thing people forget is that the Blackburn Beverley was not intended to have a 2,850hp Bristol Centaurus 173, it was supposed to use a 3,220hp Bristol Centaurus 373

My dad joined the RAF in 1966 and went into the FEAF as a load master on the new hercs. Some of the pilots had flown the Beverly (and some even Lancs over Germany) and they said that if they flew into a head wind, they would watch trains on the ground overtake them. We visited the Beverley Beverley and I was amazed that the para troop hatch was so small. It looked like they'd all smash their heads in the other side of the hatch when the jumped. Bloody high up too, even on the ground.

As a school cadet, I flew on one out of RAF Thorney Island. My primary memory... Noisy.

Could it be argued that this is history that deserves to be remembered? I really like how the plane looks, and I don't really like when people say a plane like this looks ugly. It looks specifically like what it does, and appears fully dedicated to that purpose, which is beautiful to me. The high-effort structure being visible on the inside is also quite fascinating. You can literally see that people worked diligently to make the plane sturdy, and this is more impressive than a mere decorative touch.

Functionality as opposed to beauty should always have the front seat but Blackburn probed the boundaries with some of their designs. They severely stressed the saying " beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Thanks, Ed.

Idk man I really like this one, definitely has some charm to it. It looks very polite

Hi, when I was in 3 Para in the 60’s this was the Guppy that we jumped out of with great success. We did use the tail but I never jumped using the hole as we climbed down into the central space and joined the port and starboard sticks making a jump over a longer DZ. I never had any problems of jumping out of the Guppy, much better than the Hastings or the Argosy. I Was in Bahrain when the aircraft got blown and it was then we started doing sentry duty for the airfield until the RAF Regiment was posted to Bahrain. On that first tour we were in tents on the spare runway, when we dug trenches we hit water two feet down. We also build a camp in the interior of the island to house 1,000 men, did patrols in Oman and Trucial States, plus camp guard and fatigue duties. Busy time! On one of our trips to Nizwa in Oman the Beverley was shot at when we had to fly through the mountains and when we landed on the air strip the front wheel of the aircraft got stuck in the soft sand and it took us a couple of hours to dig it out. The Fort at Nizwa looked like something out of Beau Geste and all it needed was to see the Legionaries step out! That patrol into those mountains was something! The second tour was when we got involved with the operation into the Radfan Campaign and another Guppy that got blown. Cheers mate. Harera

You mention in the video that the designers were inspired at least in part by the ME 323 Gigant but actually upon seeing the Beverley it looks much more like an upscaled Arado 232 Tatzelworm. In fact the Beverley seems to be an amalgam of both of those designs with the clam shell doors and twin rudder arrangement of the Arado and the wing bracing / size of the Gigant. The short takeoff and rough landing capabilities were characteristics of the Arado design too.

One of these was a ground exhibit at RAF Finningley for the Silver Jubilee review in 1977; as a kid it seemed so high off the ground when you were in the pilot's seat.

I was a small boy of 3 years of age living on RAF Changi. I had a book of aeroplanes that featured a Beverley. One day a Beverley flew over and, according to my mother, I pointed to it in the book and said"Bevly". I was chuffed to bits. My first foray into aircraft recognition, but it was an easy shape to recognize! I loved seeing the one at Hendon and will never forgive the MOD and RAF Museum for allowing it to rot then blaming each other for its demise. If they had a shred of decency they would make amends by rescuing the Fort Paull example before the type becomes extinct.

When I was stationed at Kadena AB Okinawa in the mid sixties I saw a Beverly taxi by followed by a C-124. The Beverly actually made the Globemaster look streamlined!

Now potentially on its way to Solway Aviation Museum at Carlisle Airport!

The photograph at 2:52 was the Beverley over its namesake of Beverley with Beverley Minster just below the aircraft. I saw the Beverley in Beverley when she was there. In fact I saw here during her last flight. I would have thought the Yorkshire Air Museum would have given her a home.

A very good friend of mine is an RAF pilot, he and two crews flew two Blackburn Beverly's from Aden to the UK. One of the aircraft developed engine problems causing the two aircraft to land in the desert. The good Beverly picked up the other crew and they abandoned the one with engine problems. As the Aircraft were destined to be scrapped there was no problem with their actions. My pilot friend told me that they expected a Bedouin Tribes man would find it and turn it into a Penthouse for his family.

It's like the final Pokemon evolution of a Bristol Freighter.

"Blackburne were never known for good looking aircraft." Well at least their final aircraft, the Buccaneer, is one of the most beautiful aircraft EVER🥰

I remember reading on wikipedia an unfortunate story of some crewmember falling to their death out of the tail boom after exiting the lavatory and falling through the paratroop door. Guess the design work went into the boiling vessel.

Wonder if there'd be any chance of getting a disassembled XB259 to Pima, Arizona, to join several other British types in that dry, sunny location? Preservation on another continent is better than losing a sole survivor...of course the expense would be huge.

With such a long service life, I’m surprised the aircraft wasn’t retrofitted with turboprop engines.

I'm American, but I want to "stick up" for the Beverly as being a reasonably attractive plane, especially given its purpose. It's certainly among the best that Blackburn ever produced (faint praise though that may be...).

I think that the idea of the Hamilcar Mk.X was that its engines could be used to extend the glide when the aircraft was loaded and that the aircraft could take off under its own power and return to base once unloaded. It was never intended that the engines would be powerful enough to enable the loaded aircraft to take off without the aid of a tug.

I don't think it looks that bad, especially as a large transporter With over 90 passengers 7:15 someone had a real good smirk while ID'ing the plane "XL"

I've been inside that Beverly in Beverly when I was a kid (long time ago). I had no idea it is up for scrapping. That is a bit tragic. Good video Ed, thanks.

Beverley XB261 used to be at the now long gone Southend Historic Aviation Museum in the 1970’s. I can remember looking around inside the cavernous fuselage. Unfortunately once the museum went belly-up it suffered from increasing vandalism and was scrapped. Fortunately the cockpit was preserved and I believe it’s on display at Newark Air Museum.

I'm sure I remember hearing from an old 47 Sqn flt eng that he occasionally had to crawl out into the wings, in flight, to check oil levels on the engines. Bet nobody does that in an A400M!

It’s very sad that independent museums, get no help from the government and yet the big national museums are showered with cash. There should be more help for the independents.

I had a brother-in-law who was in the RAF Regiment - he says that speaking to former crews they had fond memories of the "Bev"

I lived at RAF Bicester in the mid to late sixties before my father was posted to RAF Cranwell and then to RAF Akrotiri in 1970, and I remember the Beverley flying, very well. I recall them seeming to sail into the air they went so slowly at takeoff. They appeared to be huge in my eight-year-old eyesight. Our family had returned from Penang, Malaya in either 1966 or 1967. The Beverleys frequently flew from the grass strip at RAF Bicester. Was RAF Bicester the last operational squadron airbase I wonder?

Thanx 4 fixing my Blackburn Jones, altho' this aircraft's interesting attempt @ streamlining a cube elevates her 2 a state above routine homeliness; she has fascinated me since my days as a larva abusing my Dad's 1955 Green's combat aircraft book (i still have the remnants).

I visited the Beverly in fort paull a couple of years ago. The first time I saw the aircraft it was from the ferry departing from Hull to Rotterdam. The next year I planned my return trip from the UK in such a way that I'd have some time left to visit the museum before boarding the ferry. What an amazing aircraft, the size of her is just overwhelming even though she might be considered tiny compared to today's standards. The fact that the toilet was located behind the tailboom hatch felt like an weird quirk imagine coming back from that and somebody left the hatch open...😅

The Post War years , 1950s, were infact a very sad time for UK Aviation. Dozens of prototypes of all types were produced and few, apart from the Hunter, Viscount, HS 748 and maybe Seahawk had any large number export success. The Beverly/Universal was also in this bracket, between generations, but served reasonably well for a short time. Thanks very much again Ed for your concise and interesting story from my teenage years.

I think the Buccaneer was a good-looking design, in fairness to Blackburn!

There’s another ugly transport that started out as a glider, then had engines grafted on. Even had a bit of an interesting role in a movie. Would love a video on that!

Shocking that any museum could dispose of such irreplaceable artefacts. There needs to be an organisation to co-ordinate the long term preservation of aircraft. We need someone with some empty land, a flatbed truck, a crane and some cutting / welding torches.

A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous. Got me?

The Beverley was so outclassed by the modern turbo-props ie the Hercules and Transaal it was like comparing a Morris Bullnose with a modern Ford Focus estate !

Idk what the blackburn engineers were thinking- I absolutely love how this plane looks. Function over form is almost always a better choice for me, ngl, and you can really tell when something is GONNA work based on how it looks alone lol.

As a kid, we had a house on Hayling Island which was sited very near the flight path of RAF Thorney Island. It was a common sight to see the Beverleys, Argosys and Hastings up close as they did "circuits and bumps" often with an engine feathered, or the cockpit screened to simulate a blind landing. Some of the Bevs were silver, and some were camouflaged as in your excellent video.

I actually think the Beverly is one of the best looking transports ever built

I think this aircraft looks fabulous, looks like a 'proper' aircraft 😊 but I do hope the last one is saved, it needs taking to RAF Cosford or similar, would be a tragedy to loose the last one.

Thank you for this. Your documentation will live on, on someone's hard drive.

Very interesting! Thanks, Ed.

I saw and walked around the bev at the beverly army transport museum with my perants when i was stationed at Leconfield in 1992 im no longer in the army and my dad has passed he actually flew in one when he was doing his national service in malaya i hope they do save the last one it would be a crying shame to see it go !

The ugly aircraft clip in the first 30 seconds made me laugh - awesome

I hope she is saved, but it is always a difficult and expensive project.

Thank you for another very informative video. Mr. hash you have definitely increased my knowledge about U.K. aircraft that I never knew existed. Keep up the good work!

I believe a Beverley was the last plane to land at RAF Hendon on a rather restricted air strip to become an exhibit for a while. Probably in 1967 with Hendon's closure beforer reropening four or five years later as the RAF Museum. I vaguely remember a b&w doc/report on the beeb presented by Raymond Baxter, very likely in 67.

It's beautiful

I would have thought that the Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy overlapped the end of the Beverley & the start of the Hercules as a tactical transport in RAF usage. an episode on the Argosy would be interesting - it has some amusing nicknames at least.

Fooled me, that goat scream is also my ring tone.....

I had the experience of going through the one at Fort Paull in 2018. I have seen smaller houses. Unfortunately, a bad knee kept me from the upper level, but the downstairs was impressive enough. This may be considered heresy on the east side of The Pond, but has anyone considered contacting Kermit Weeks? He may be one of the few people in the world with the knowledge, technical staff and funds to make this airplane airworthy again. It may end up based in Florida, but it would probably also be in the air again.

My dad was flying the Argosy at RAF Thorney Island in the early 60's and even though I was just a primary schoolboy, I clearly remember the Beverlys which called in there. At that age, this aircraft seemed to stand with its head in the clouds.

Great video documentary thanks.

The Buccaneer was good-looking. I live the swoop leading on to the tail.

My father did his national service in the paras in the late 50s. His main memory of the Beverly is the juddering climbs out of Abingdon, caused by the pilots competing to be the highest at the cross road just outside of the field.

There was one outside the RAF museum in Hendon in the early 1980s. To my regret, I do not appear to have taken a photo of it. The last one is well worth saving. But even if someone does save it, if it is not put under cover, it ill only dlay the inevitable in our climate.

Ed, if no one has told you this yet, your aircraft shorts are first-rate aviation history. I have the same feeling watching these that I do when reading a good technical history book: I'm getting the goods on these topics. Well done.

There was one aircraft in between the Beverly and the Hercules that was the Argosy also used in the Airborne Roll which was a lovely aircraft to jump from and luxury compared to the Hastings and the Bev

I've seen the Beverley in Fort Paull several times, when I heard Paull was closing my first thought was that plane. It would be a crying shame if it is scrapped, surely one of the aero museums in this country could take it??

383 km/h looks not awfully slow, but amazingly fast for such kind of flying box with fixed undercarriage even lacking wheel pants. I was sure it could barely reach 250-300 km/h.

I always loved the quirky looking Beverly. Sort of like a flying tenement building.

These planes look so fucking cool. I love how their seats in the tail.

I went in the one at the military museum in Beverley Yorkshire in 1998.

Interesting. Have you done a video about the Bristol freighter? I remember seeing them in New Zealand when I was young, both as civilian transports and used by the RNZAF until the 1970's.

Excellent.

Great video, my farther in law travelled on these in the 50s. Shame the last example could end up being scrapped.

An old colleague of mine was an air dispatcher on the old Beverley bus. Good piece of kit by all accounts.

3:15 Bristol Brabazon cameo!

Echoes of childhood; a magnificent sight and sound lumbering overhead.

the history of military transport aircraft is a very overseen topic, though a very intresting one.

Maybe it should have been named "The Bumblebee" considering it's not technically being able to fly, by some "experts" but actually does. It's a darn shame that this is going on. Not only scrapping historically significant aircraft, but ships and numerous other vehicles. But closing museums as well. Yes many get "history" today electronically but being able to see and even enter a tank, warship or submarine is vastly different.

Thank you, interesting story.

Talking to an ex RAF loader today, he wasn’t too complimentary about the Beverley, said you were never sure if would actually take off, as it spluttered it’s way along the runway but once in the air it seemed to be okay.

Great History Lesson. Oddly beautiful aircraft.

I was on 84 Sqn at Nicosia, I can recall seeing the picture of the one damaged by the landmine in the Sqn archive photo album . Perhaps not that actual photo in your video, but certainly one of that incident.

Hopefully would be finally preserved.

Masterpiece aircraft, masterpiece video.

"..Even they were aghast when they first saw the new design; when the Blackburn boys have their doubts, it can't be good.."--nearly spit my tea out on the computer...Hahahaha!

Tubby thing. Blackburn just couldn't be bothered to be normal, could they? The British answer to Blohm & Voss.

From what an understand the main pod took the vehicles, while the individual boom took the parras. IMAO it should have been built with twin booms running back from the inner engines. to a high twin tail, that way you could squeeze in more parras.

Yeeeeess my late father's aircraft, thankyou, been waiting for this 😊 wonder if that's actually him at 8:38 😐 he was in 84 squadron around that time out in the Middle East

Thought it might be interesting to add a postscript. As of 2024, The Solway Aviation museum, Carlisle looks like they are close to having a workable scheme to preserve the Beverley. I would provide a link, but you know, RU-vid :(

Let's start a kick-starter to preserve that last Beverley shall we

0:03 Oi, don’t be silly. Haven’t you seen the Blackburn Buccaneer? It is a beautiful nuclear bomber. An acquaintance of mine, Ian Pringle bought one and restored it and offered flights in it at Thunder City in Cape Town. Edit: I believe the tail # is ZS-NIP

I believe the last intact one of these is at the Beverly military museum.

Given that the C-130 was not finalized until 54. Along with what is actually a surprising number of similarities between the Hercules and the Beverly. I wonder how much of this design influenced Lockheed. Especially considering the Beverly filled the role for which the C-130 requests for proposal were drawn up. Though I doubt you could ever get Lockheed to admit taking inspiration from Blackburn. 🤣

‘Bulbous but effective.’ That was my nickname in college!

Thank God Blackburn was not tasked to design the Spitfire.

Ed, while we're on the subject of British transport planes - how about the Shorts Belfast? I couldn't see a video on this in your extensive library.

I do hope that in follow up to this that one day there will be a video on the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer.

Maybe we've got it wrong? Perhaps the fact the Blackburn engineers had their doubts about the Beverly is actual a vote of confidence in the old girl in a twisted kind of way?

I would have thought Cosford, Duxford or York air museum would be interested.

Looks like a great aircraft.

3:12 "the aircraft looks rather bulbous"... Cue casual photobomb by the Bristol Brabazon! 😂

Usually I agree with you, Ed. But I actually think the Beverley looks rather cute...in a portly kind of way. It definitely looks very purposeful to me. ☮

It looks like a mix of 30s, 40s, and 50s aircraft design principles with a dash of austerity.

TY 🙏🙏, a great shame Duxford isn't interested.