The Burnelli RB-1 was a US twin engine

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

airliner prototype from 1920, incorporating a

lifting body A lifting body is a fixed-wing aircraft or spacecraft configuration in which the body itself produces lift (force), lift. In contrast to a flying wing, which is a wing with minimal or no conventional fuselage, a lifting body can be thought of as ...

fuselage.

Design and development

The Burnelli RB-1, often known as the Remington-Burnelli Airliner, was an American passenger

from 1920, designed by

Vincent Burnelli Vincent Justus Burnelli (November 22, 1895 – June 22, 1964) was an American aeronautics engineer, instrumental in furthering the lifting body and flying wing concept. Biography Burnelli was born on November 22, 1895, in Temple, Texas. ...

.Taylor 1989, p.225 It incorporated Burnelli's lifting-body design. Following several more conventional designs during the

WWI World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

years, Burnelli came up with the idea of a lifting body: an

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

-shaped fuselage that could be used to generate up to 50% of the lift, improving performance, due to reduced wing area and fuel consumption. The RB-1's body contributed about 27% of the total lifting area and was designed to support about 15% of its weight. The fuselage was built around

plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...

frames and was clad in corrugated

duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age hardening, age-hardenable aluminium–copper alloys. The term is a combination of ''Düren'' and ''aluminium'' ...

. The two pilots were situated in a pair of open cockpits, each with a mechanic seated by his side. Its pair of

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

engines were immediately in front of these cockpits, largely buried in the leading edge of the body but accessible from the cockpits. The body width of 14 ft (4.27 m) placed the engines only 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m) apart, with about 1 in (25 mm) clearance between propeller tips. The cabin housed up to 30 passengers. At the fixed "trailing edge" of the fuselage small twin fins mounted above its sides carried

balanced rudder Balanced rudders are used by both ships and aircraft. Both may indicate a portion of the rudder surface ahead of the hinge, placed to lower the control loads needed to turn the rudder. For aircraft the method can also be applied to elevator (air ...

s and short, mid-fuselage mounted tailplanes carried balanced

elevators An elevator (American English) or lift (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive tracti ...

. It was a single bay equal span biplane, with simple parallel

interplane struts In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of struts, which act in ...

and without stagger. The wings were wooden structures, fabric covered. The

ailerons An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

carried on both upper and lower wings had prominent tip balances. The RB-1 flew for the first time on 21 June 1921 from Curtiss Field,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, piloted by

Bert Acosta Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (January 1, 1895 – September 1, 1954) was a record-setting aviator and test pilot. He and Clarence D. Chamberlin set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. He later flew in the Span ...

and William P. Sullivan. Its performance was considered acceptable. However, the first model produced was badly damaged while on the ground during a storm.

Specifications

Notes

References

* * * * * {{Burnelli aircraft 1920s United States civil aircraft Lifting bodies RB-1 Biplanes Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1921