The Baumann Brigadier was a prototype
American light transport aircraft of the late 1940s. It was a twin-engined
monoplane, which, unusually, was of
pusher configuration
In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...
. Only two were built, plans for production never coming to fruition.
Development and design
Jack Baumann, who had worked for the Taylor Aircraft Company (later to become
Piper Aircraft
Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th centur ...
) and
Lockheed, set up the Baumann Aircraft Corporation in
Pacoima, Los Angeles, California in 1945.
His first design for the new company was the B-250 Brigadier, a twin-engined
pusher monoplane intended as an executive transport. It was of all-metal construction, with
cantilever shoulder mounted wings, and with the pusher engines mounted in nacelles on the wing. An enclosed cabin accommodated a pilot and four passengers, while the aircraft was fitted with a retractable
nosewheel undercarriage.
The first prototype, powered by two engines (hence the B-250 designation) flew on 20 June 1947.
[American airplanes: Ba – Bl]
. ''Aerofiles''. Retrieved 4 April 2010. Piper Aircraft was interested in building a
tractor version of the Brigadier, and purchased the B-250 prototype and its drawings, designating it the PA-21,
[Shumaker, Dan.]
Piper PA-23
. ''1000 Aircraft Photos''. Retrieved 4 April 2010. with some sources
claiming that the B-250 formed the basis of the
Piper Apache, although other sources state that Piper abandoned work on the PA-21 and that the Apache was unrelated.
Baumann continued development of the pusher Brigadier, with the second example, the B-290, being fitted with Continental C-145 engines but was otherwise similar to the B-250. The B-290, registered N90616, crash-landed at Pacoima on January 8, 1953, heavily damaging the fuselage and injuring pilot Ward C. Vettel and flight engineer Thomas Cox.
Production at a rate of one aircraft per month was planned for the B-290.
The Brigadier was chosen by
Willard Ray Custer
Willard Ray Custer (, Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania, Hagerstown, Maryland) was an American engineer and aircraft visionary, inventor of the channel wing concept.
Custer left school at age 13, working as a blacksmith and, later, an engineer and mec ...
as the basis of his
Custer CCW-5, which used the fuselage and tail of the Brigadier, but had a modified wing with the engines sitting in U-shaped ducts,
[Bridgman 1953,p.221.] but other than the two CCW-5s no production of the B-290 followed. Baumann continued to propose more powerful versions of the Brigadier, but no airframes resulted.
Variants
;B-250 Brigadier
:Initial prototype. Two engines.
;B-290 Brigadier
:More powerful second prototype (two engines).
;B-360 Brigadier
:Planned version with Lycoming engines.
[Business and Touring Aircraft...United States]
. '' Flight'', 10 October 1958,p.582.
;B-480 Super Brigadier
:Planned enlarged version with
Continental O-470 engines.
;Piper PA-21
:Tractor-engined version, abandoned.
Specifications (B-290)
See also
Notes
References
*
Bridgman, Leonard. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54''. London:Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1953.
*Mondey, David. ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft''. London:Hamlyn Publishing, 1978. .
Further reading
*
External links
{{commons category, Baumann Brigadier
Baumann B290 Brigadier. ''edcoatescollection''
'' "One Engine Keeps It Flying" '', April 1949, Popular Sciencesee bottom of page
Baumann aircraft
1940s United States civil utility aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Twin-engined pusher aircraft
Piper Aircraft, Inc.
Aircraft first flown in 1947