The Rohrbach Ro IV, also known as the Beardmore BeRo.2 Inverness was an all-metal
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
flying boat
A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy.
Though ...
of the 1920s. Designed by the German company
Rohrbach Rohrbach or Röhrbach may refer to:
Places Municipalities in Switzerland
*Rohrbach, Switzerland, in the canton of Bern
Municipalities in Germany
*Rohrbach, Bavaria, in the district of Pfaffenhofen, Bavaria
*Rohrbach, Birkenfeld, in the district o ...
for the British
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
, two were ordered, one completed by Rohrbach's Danish subsidiary and the second by the British
license
A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...
es,
William Beardmore and Company
William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 peo ...
, but the type performed poorly during testing and was abandoned.
Design and development
Dr.-Ing. Adolf Rohrbach, formerly of
Zeppelin-Staaken
Zeppelin-Staaken (sometimes ), was a German aircraft manufacturer originally named (Experimental Works Gotha-East (V.G.O.)) when it was formed in mid-1914 by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin and Robert Bosch. The company rented facilities in Gotha wit ...
, set up
Rohrbach Metall-Flugzeugbau
Rohrbach Metall-Flugzeugbau was an airplane factory located in Berlin, Germany and founded in 1922 by Dr.-Ing Adolf Rohrbach. Rohrbach was a pioneer in building airplanes based on the metal stressed skin principle.
At the time of the early aircra ...
in 1922 to design and build large all-metal aircraft, with
stressed skin
In mechanical engineering, stressed skin is a rigid construction in which the skin or covering takes a portion of the structural load, intermediate between monocoque, in which the skin assumes all or most of the load, and a rigid frame, which has ...
structures, unusual for the time. In order to evade the restrictions of the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
, Rohrbach set up a Danish subsidiary, Rohrbach Metal-Aeroplan Co A/S to assemble aircraft.
[Stroud ''Aeroplane Monthly'', January 1991, p. 51.]
The Scottish shipbuilding company
William Beardmore and Company
William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 peo ...
of
Dalmuir
Dalmuir (; ) is an area northwest of Glasgow, Scotland, on the western side of Clydebank, and part of West Dunbartonshire Council Area. The name is a lowland Scots language, Scots derivation of the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic meaning Big Field. ...
agreed a license manufacturing deal with Rohrbach in 1924.
[''Flight'' 17 July 1924, p. 449.] The British
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
was interested in the use of metal hulls for flying boats, and therefore drew up
Specification 20/24 for an all-metal monoplane flying boat to compare with the wooden
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 ...
s in service with the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
.
[London 2003, p. 95.] In November 1924 Beardmore received an order for two Rorhbach flying boats,
based on Rohrbach's
Ro III but powered by British
Napier Lion
The Napier Lion is a 12-cylinder, petrol-fueled 'broad arrow' W12 engine, W12 configuration aircraft engine built by D. Napier & Son from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept ...
engines.
[Donald 1997, p. 783.]
The Ro IV, known as the BeRo.2 Inverness by Beardmore, was a twin-engined high-winged
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
, constructed mainly of
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'' ...
. Its two engines were mounted in streamlined
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...
nacelles above the wing centre section; the slab-sided fuselage accommodated the crew of four.
[London 2003, pp. 95–96.][''Flight'' 24 September 1925, pp. 617–618.]
In order to speed delivery, the first aircraft
serial number
A serial number (SN) is a unique identifier used to ''uniquely'' identify an item, and is usually assigned incrementally or sequentially.
Despite being called serial "numbers", they do not need to be strictly numerical and may contain letters ...
''N183'' was assembled in Rohrbach's
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
factory from parts made in Rohrbach's main works in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. It was delivered to the
Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment
The Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment (MAEE) was a British military research and test organisation. It was originally formed as the Marine Aircraft Experimental Station in October 1918 at RAF Isle of Grain, a former Royal Naval Air Serv ...
at
Felixstowe
Felixstowe ( ) is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, containe ...
on 18 September 1925, but testing showed the aircraft had poor handling both in the air and on the water, and poor performance, and it was destroyed during strength testing in May 1927.
[''Flight'' 24 September 1925, p. 617.]
The second prototype, assembled by Beardmore from Berlin-built parts, did not fly until 30 November 1928. While it incorporated a revised fuel and cooling system and a modified rudder, ''N184'' still demonstrated poor performance. The programme was stopped in April 1929, and the prototype scrapped.
[London 2003, p. 66.]
Specifications (N.184)
See also
Notes
References
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External links
"Rohrbach Ro IV" "Inverness"
{{Rohrbach aircraft
1920s German military reconnaissance aircraft
Flying boats
Ro 04
Beardmore aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1925
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft