Test pilot Roland Beamont

1 test pilot

1.1 meteor , vampire
1.2 canberra
1.3 lightning
1.4 tsr-2

test pilot
meteor , vampire

at end of war beamont faced choice: career test pilot or permanent commission in raf. in october 1944 philip lucas had flown in vokel , invited him become hawker s deputy experimental test pilot after tour. unfortunately, during beamont s period of captivity position had been filled, through lucas obtained offer test pilot glosters. @ same time, appointed raf s air fighting development unit, , applied permanent commission. decision made during meeting sir james robb, indicated next phase of raf career 7 years behind desk.

at gloster, beamont took meteor f4 through experimental test flight programme, culminating in flight @ 632 mph on 9 july 1946 in preparation official air speed record raf. in august 1946 moved de havilland demonstration pilot, aim of moving experimental flying (particularly dh 108 swallow), apart demonstrations in dh vampire @ air shows, work not challenging.

canberra

the lack of opportunity transfer experimental flying @ de havilland caused him more demanding role. in october 1946 interviewed teddy petter , freddie page chief test pilot @ english electric, @ time designing britain’s first jet bomber. petter concerned beamont s lack of engineering qualifications, page pointed out have plenty of engineers needed test pilot operational experience . beamont moved english electric in may 1947.

at time english electric manufacturing d.h vampires under licence had no original aircraft conduct research, particularly explore effects of compressibility. experience @ glosters, beamont suggested petter borrow meteor f.4 carry out high altitude research. beamont made first experimental test flight warton aerodrome in meteor on 28 august 1947.

to beamont experience of flying big jets ministry of supply organised visit united states fly north american b-45 tornado, boeing b-47 stratojet , martin xb-48. when arrived in may 1948 b-45 airworthy. through william.g.a perring (the director of rae) able persuade authorities give him permission fly 1 of 2 xp-86 sabres built, based @ muroc field. briefed test pilot george welch, beamont flew xp-86 in may of year, exceeding indicated mach 1 on 1 , flight in aircraft, third person in xp-86.

on 13 may 1949 made first flight of canberra prototype (vn799). due reserves of power , low wing-loading canberra highly manoeuvrable @ altitude, , beamont use advantage in flying.on 13 september 1949 demonstrated @ farnborough air show. flight magazine described beamont s display exhilarating , stating new aircraft has never been more convincingly demonstrated . display marred inadvertent jettison of automatic-observer when beamont opened bomb bay doors slow aircraft, necessary because prototype had no air-brakes. on 23 february 1951 presented department of defense officials contributing decision in april canberras built under licence glenn l. martin company b-57.

beamont set 2 transatlantic records in canberra. taking advantage of delivery flight glenn martin, set new record of 4 hr 18 min 29.4 sec, aldergrove, northern ireland, gander, newfoundland, on 31 august 1951. following year, beamont had distinction of being first pilot make double-atlantic crossing jet, when on 26 august 1952, flying canberra b.5 vx185, again flew aldergrove gander , again aldergove, in 10 hours 3 minutes.

lightning

english electric lightning p1.b xa847 during trials in november 1958

the english electric p.1 raf s first mach 2 interceptor , achieve speed radical design 60° wing sweep. gain relevant experience, beamont flew short sb.5 fitted 60° sweep wing , hunter ii (wb202) (with sapphire engines) in april 1953. made 23 test flights in sb.5 may 1954.. in july, beamont put in overall charge of flight test work @ boscombe down when p.1 moved there prior first flight. made number of short hops in p.1a during taxi runs between july , august. first flight had been scheduled 3 august, beamont accidentally triggered engine bay fire extinguishers while reviewing check lists, causing delay while engine bays cleaned. on 4 august 1954 made first flight, described classic technical success , albeit complete breakdown in radio communication between pilots , atc. 1 week later during third flight, wg760 achieved achieved mach 1 in level flight first time . followed period of development flying in explored envelope of p1 culminating in flight mach 1.5 in february 1956. in 1955 beamont appointed flight operations manager .

on 4 april 1957 beamont made first flight of p.1b (xa847, fitted avon engines) exceeding mach 1 during flight. on 25 november reached mach 2, first time in british aircraft.

tsr-2

tsr-2 conceived low-level supersonic interdictor aircraft. september 1964 flight test programme 18 months behind schedule, undercarriage complex , unreliable; engine development (bristol olympus mk.320) had been delayed series of catastrophic failures. when first airframe (xr219) ready flight, cause of engine failures had not been rectified. on 26th september 1964 meeting held @ airworthiness of engine debated. test pilot, beamont allowed decide if should flown next day. stated ...in view of mounting political pressures on programme, might acceptable take level of risk 1 flight only. if did ... not fly again until have adequately modified engines programme . beamont made first flight boscombe down next day (27 september 1964). initial 15 minute test flight undercarriage down , engine power strictly controlled. despite this, beamont noted impressively precise , controllable aeroplane.

over following 3 months engines modified , undercarriage cleared retraction, allowing second flight take place on 31 december 1964. running short of day light, beamont took off @ 2:40 pm. once airborne noted poor forward vision, thought due glare low sun until realised instrument panel appeared blurred. realising due high frequency vibration affecting eyes throttled no. 1 engine, determining engine speed range on vibration problem. problem forced beamont land xr219 asymmetric thrust.

beamont unable retract undercarriage satisfactorily on third , fourth flights. on fifth flight undercarriage bogies jammed in vertical orientation. understood cause catastrophe on landing , offered project navigator, don bowen, opportunity use martin-baker mk.5 ejection seat . don bowen declined. beamont confident in xr219 s precise flying, made long approach @ low decent rate (0.12m/s) , rotated bogies using weight of aircraft on landing. on tenth flight beamont retracted undercarriage, cycled twice , took xr219 out 500 knots in stages. tsr-2 designed follow contours @ high speed, beamont decided fly down boscombe s runway @ 100ft , 450 knots, commenting later had beautiful control .

on flight 14 (22 february 1965) beamont returned xr219 bac warton. during flight, achieved exceeded mach 1 first time, using dry power only. following this, beamont lit single reheat unit result aircraft accelerated away chase lightning.

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