The Baumann Brigadier was a prototype

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

light transport aircraft of the late 1940s. It was a twin-engined

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 planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

, 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 Pacoima (Tongva: ''Pacoinga'') is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Pacoima is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley region of LA. Geography Location Pacoima is bordered by the Los Angeles districts of Mission Hill ...

in 1945. His first design for the new company was the B-250 Brigadier, a twin-engined pusher

intended as an executive transport. It was of all-metal construction, with

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only 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 canti ...

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 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 or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

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 The Piper PA-23, named Apache and later Aztec, is an American four- to six-seat twin-engined light aircraft aimed at the general-aviation market. The United States Navy and military forces in other countries also used it in small numbers. Origin ...

, 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 as the basis of his

Custer CCW-5 The Custer CCW-5 was a twin-engined, 5-seat aircraft of pusher configuration, which used a channel wing claimed to enable low speed flight and short take-offs. Two CCW-5s flew, eleven years apart, but the type never entered production. The a ...

, 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 Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'', 10 October 1958,p.582. ;B-480 Super Brigadier :Planned enlarged version with

Continental O-470 The Continental O-470 engine is a family of carbureted and fuel-injected six-cylinder, horizontally opposed, air-cooled aircraft engines that was developed especially for use in light aircraft by Continental Motors. Engines designated "IO" ...

engines. ;Piper PA-21 :Tractor-engined version, abandoned.

Specifications (B-290)

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. .

External links

{{commons category, Baumann Brigadier
Baumann B290 Brigadier
. ''edcoatescollection''
'' "One Engine Keeps It Flying" '', April 1949, Popular Science
see 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