The Rohrbach Ro IV, also known as the Beardmore BeRo.2 Inverness was an all-metal
monoplane flying boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...
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, two were ordered, one completed by Rohrbach's Danish subsidiary and the second by the British
license
A license (or licence) 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 party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
es,
William Beardmore and Company, but the type performed poorly during testing and was abandoned.
Design and development
Dr.-Ing. Adolf Rohrbach, formerly of
Zeppelin-Staaken
Zeppelin-Staaken (sometimes Zeppelin Werke Staaken or Zeppelin-Werke GmbH), was a German aircraft manufacturer originally located in Gotha. The company built the largest aircraft of World War I, the "Riesenflugzeug" (giant aircraft).Mondey, 1978. p ...
, 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 structures, unusual for the time. In order to evade the restrictions of the
Treaty of Versailles, 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 of
Dalmuir agreed a license manufacturing deal with Rohrbach in 1924.
[''Flight'' 24 September 1924, p. 449.] The British
Air Ministry 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.
[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 engines.
[Donald 1997, p. 783.]
The Ro IV, known as the BeRo.2 Inverness by Beardmore, was a twin-engined high-winged
cantilever monoplane, 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-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''.
Its use as a tra ...
. Its two engines were mounted in streamlined
tractor 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.] The design included a retractable mast and sails in case of engine failure or running out of fuel
In order to speed delivery, the first aircraft
serial number
A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it.
Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist enti ...
''N183'' was assembled in Rohrbach's
Copenhagen factory from parts made in Rohrbach's main works in
Berlin. 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 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
"All-Metal Flying Boats For Britain" ''
Flight'', 17 July 1924, pp. 449–451.
* Donald, David. ''The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Leicester, UK:Blitz Editions, 1997. .
* London, Peter. ''British Flying Boats''. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2003. .
"The Beardmore-Rohrbach "Inverness" Flying Boat" ''
Flight'', 24 September 1924, pp. 617–618.
* Stroud, John. "Wings of Peace", ''
Aeroplane Monthly'', January 1991. pp. 50–54.
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