In 1967 I flew in the last Beverley out of Singapore on its way back to England. D Coy. 8 R.A.R. arrived in Singapore 1967, complete with Wives & Children. As we landed I looked over & saw the Beverley. I remarked that it would be funny if we had to fly to Malacca in that. With that some buses pulled up & we were ferried to the Beverley. We were bundled on & the Beverley took off. I was sitting on the left side of the plane, towards the front. There was no lining, just the skin of the plane & there were a few rivets missing & the skin would open up occasionally, sitting backwards, of course. As we flew towards Malacca we ran into a storm, As the storm was going the same way we flew the entire journey inside the storm. Gaining height, losing height & lots of buffeting all the way. Finally we arrived at the Terendak Garrison Airfield, knee deep in mud. We were then told that this was the Last Beverley out of Singapore, we were its last load & the last flying Beverley. It was on its way back to England to be decommissioned.
My troop, based in Seletar, may well have travelled in this plane. We travelled all over the far east in Bev's, Andovers, Hercules and once in a brand new Belfast.
My Dad was an instructor at the Parachute School at RAF Abingdon, as a wee lad I thought every time I saw one my Dad was in it! (and we lived in Beverly close!)
Aah, those were the days. I was born and grew up in Abingdon, where the Beverley along with the HP Hastings, were a constant presence. As a young teenager, I joined 2121 Squadron, Air Training Corps, based in a hall in Shippon, very near RAF Abingdon. Apart from all the fun of drilling, marching, and aircraft recognition, the best part was that we had full and free access to the base. This meant that we could at any time cycle over to 47 Squadron, smartly salute, and before we knew it, be put on a Beverley for an 'Air Experience' flight. We could fly either in the tail boom or, if we were really lucky, sat on the battery box in the cockpit. The flights were either just a 'flight to nowhere' or, if we were again lucky, to another RAF base. I made it to RAF Marham and Thorney Island, both trips coming back before lunchtime. This is where our being ATC cadets also paid off, as we also got to eat a very full lunch at the 'non-coms' mess for the cost of just one shilling. Further delights were in store for us as 48 Squadron was also at Abingdon and if we were lucky we got to fly on one of the Hastings. On one flight I was strapped into a paratroops seat watching the (parachute) display team, the Red Falcons jump out. Before he jumped, one of the team gave me the fright of my life by coming over to where I was seated, dropping a reserve 'chute onto my lap and shouting with a huge grin on his face: 'Off you go lad!' It was sad when the Bev was phased out, as the sound of their engines could be heard all over Abingdon. 'Circuits and bumps' were a regular activity and great fun to watch. Yes, the Bev was a bit of a lumbering giant, but it had way more character than its replacement, the Hercules!
I clearly remember these flying over West Sussex when I was a kid. You would hear them what seemed like several minutes before they slowly floated overhead, before fading away in the distance as they carried leisurely on their way. We also used to see the Hastings and in the 60's the Argosy and Andover and finally the C 130 before Thorney Island ceased as an RAF airfield. At that time there were many military aircraft in the skies there with fighters from RNAS Ford and RAF Tangmere and flight test aircraft from the Hawker airfield at Dunsfold including the P1127/Kestrel/Harrier. Exciting stuff for an aeroplane mad lad 😃
we used to hear them and see them at Hayling which is across the short stretch of water from Thorney Island. Also remember the argosys doing parachute flare drops over here and then came the andovers followed by the Hercs - lot of good memories from back then
The last Bev, as of my last visit 26 Dec 22, was in a very sorry partially dismantled state at Fort Paull. Engines , empenage and outer wings removed. Its not on public display, its just peeping over the wall with tears in its eyes.
I remember the last time that particular Beverley (or any other) landed, at what by now was Hawker Siddeley, Brough. It had come home for the day prior to flying to Paull airfield (It was 1971 or 1972). To this young apprentice this enormous aircraft was unbelievable in its size and amazingly short landing. I can't remember if it stayed for more than a day but I do recall the take-off which was also very short! Happy memories!
I remember going to Paull airfield, east of Hull, in about 75, with my dad, who had been in the RAF. Me and my younger brother went inside and up to the cockpit. It seemed huge then . Happy days for a this young teenager then.
Reminds me of the more numerous Bristol Freighters, originally developed in the 1940s with production running through to 1958. Some were still in operation in New Zealand until the late 1970s as commercial freighters - a faithful workhorse!
Thank you for posting this video. My father worked on Beverleys in Aden during his National Service, and in the 70s we used to visit the museum at Southend. I was shocked to learn that the Beverley there had been scrapped. I would love an Airfix model of one.
I worked on the Beverleys of 242 OCU Trasport Command in 1959 at RAF Dishforth before we packed up lock stock and barrel and moved down to Farms Dispersal at RAF Thorney Island along with the Hadley Page Hastings Flight. We used to do our night flying training at RAF Idris, Libya, and Our Heavy drop Training at RAF Tangmere a mere three miles up the road. I left the RAF in 1965 and never saw the end of the Beverleys although I was there for the arrival of the Argosies.
Thanks for the memories! My first flying experience as an air cadet in 1963 was in Beverley XB288 and the last of 14 flights in the type was in XB269 from Abingdon to the scrapman at RAF Shawbury in December 1967. Coincidentally my daughter now lives in the market town of Beverley.
Living in Oxford in the 60's, the sky's seemed full of these massive beasts. I also remember paratroops jumping out of them at RAF. Western on the Green. Once seen, never forgotten. Really great video. Thanks.
I loved the Museum of Army Transport in Beverley when I was a kid - the Beverley aircraft was so imposing when you arrived. Sadly the museum is long gone and is now, predictably, a shopping centre!
Two of use to run the WW1 munitions train on a Sunday at the transport museum ( I mainly did the points and air lines then stood on the back of the last carriage all day). The Beverley made a lovely spot for a tea break.
The remaining Beverley has always been part of my life. When I was a boy, it was the clubhouse for the Paull flying club, near my Gran's. I've sat at the controls a couple of times. Later, it was an imposing sight at Flemingate where I would cycle past it to and from work. The Flemingate site was Hodgson's tannery before it became the Museum of Army Transport. The ground was horribly poisoned by years of tannery pits, and so once the old buildings were demolished it lay vacant for many years. It's a shame Wilco couldn't have stayed where it was. But the poor Beverley had many more flaws than are mentioned here. The engines consumed vast quantities of oil which has to be topped up during flight, manually. And there was the fuel pump which could be fitted in reverse: that lead to a fatal crash. It was very popular with every pilot who flew it, though. Great visibility!
"...which fell to pieces or caught fire...", "...clumsily converted...", "...unstable design, poor visibility and underpowered engines..." An amazing history for the company that would go on to build one of the best aircraft ever to serve the (British) forces, the Buccaneer...
I totally agree. However, let's not forget that Blackburn had it's moments in history where they really did smoke some funky stuff and built some really weird designs. The Buccaneer was a good moment without too much weed.
@@drstevenrey 🤣🤣🤣 Mind you, we must remember it was the era of weirdness with flying wheelbarrows, flying bedsteads, Dart engined DC3s at 41,000 feet, Tay engined Viscounts etc...
I sat in the pilots seat of the one at Southend Airport as a small boy back in the 1970's. I remember it just seemed so massive as a 7 year old!! Sad to think it just rotted away. I also managed a very cheeky climb up into the cockpit and nose gunners position of the ex Spanish airforce He 111 that they had on display back then. It wasn't officially open but someone had left a hatch open and for an aircraft obsessed lad who had already seen bits of the film The Battle of Britain, it was far too much to resist!! I carefully hauled myself in and was thrilled by being inside, sitting in the left seat and clambering down into that amazing glazed nose. Having frozen still to avoid the gaze of one of the staff, I quietly climbed back out and re joined my family who wondered where the heck I had been! I didn't let on for several years!
A nice video, thanks. As a 17-year old RAF dependent I flew on one of these from RAF Luqa, Malta, to UK in 1965. It was one of the famous "indulgence" flights costing 30/-. A 12-hour trip with a stop at Istres in southern France. The Air Quartermaster looked after me very well with a Mars bar and a coffee every hour (that's a lot of Mars bars!). I sat in the passenger compartment in the tail boom. The cargo hold was carrying the nose section of a Canberra.
Thanks for this video. It brought back many memories of when I saw it often at RAF Khormaksar in Aden. I was there between '62 and '64 as a kid of 10 who was mad about planes. Got up close to one since I was in the Air Scouts there. They had a lot to do and took off and landed often ferrying stuff 'Up Country' to the troops on the front line. They seemed to have a huge capacity to me at the time. Someone said you could get a bus in one. Definitely noisy though but not as loud as the SRN4 cross channel hovercraft. You could hear that from miles away. It was always a busy airport but watching the Hunters take off was my best sight. The Beverley always looked gawky but did it's job. Aden was a tough place for kit and machinery but it was a great plane in it's own right.
I was in Aden between 64&66 and spent most of my time “up country”. There was a story about an American naval officer on a visit to Khormaksar looking at s Beverly and commenting, “are these the biggest things you’ve got?” The bloke escorting him said “ no, you should see the ones that brought these over”.
I was 1189 Sqn (Fratton, Portsmouth). Wore the old battledress, greatcoat and ammo boots. Ended up joining the infantry! Only memory of 1189 was of a Gloster Meteor cockpit in our drill hall.
My first ever 'air experience' as an RAF cadet in about 1962; we circled around Abingdon for about 1/2 an hour, seated in backward facing seats in the hold. The noise was incredible, literally I couldn't hear myself think, never mind speak! The instructor described the Beverley in flight as 'like a well meaning pig'!
I flew from Chang Mai Thailand to Seleleter Singapore in a Beverley in 1962.It was so cold up in the passenger dept.i climbed down to the hold for some blankets.The clamshell doors had been removed ,just a rope net in their place.
Growing up in Plymouth in the 1960/70's and living on what was the perimeter road for Plymouth airport (Plymbridge Road). By standing on our wall I had a ring side view of the Plymouth Airshow, the runway was too short to operate jets but long enough to operate the twin engine Dove and the 4 engine Heron Dan Air). Can't remember which airshow it was but we had a Beverly which landed and taking off, for taking off it went as far as it could before turning with its tail outside the airport over the road. When it took off the prop wash blew the fence down an amazing sight.
I was born in Abingdon, in 1950, when my father was a Sgt at the RAF base there. I remember seeing these big beasts flying around most days and, from as young as I can remember, all I ever wanted to be was an RAF pilot. Sadly, for personal reasons, that never happened but I eventually did get my PPL aged 56!! As for the Blackburn, how could a company go from making such 'dogs' as the Twin Zeppelin, the Rock and the Botha, to the world renown Buccaneer; one of, if not the best, low level strike jets ever made. Amazing.
Beverley from Transport Wing at RAF Khormaksar Aden was blown up by saboteurs at RAF Muharraq Bahrain during Operation Vantage which stopped Iraq invading Kuwait in 1961. I was serving on 8Sqdn Hunters at the time, and heard the explosion from the Officers Mess bar. Security improved thereafter thanks to the RAF Regiment arriving to take control. The fuselage was I believe used as a bar. Maybe just a rumour. Mac McL
I used to work as an aviation engineering contractor in the 1980s and 90s. During those times, I met many men from British Aerospace Hull and they always spoke with great pride about the Blackburn Beverley. Unfortunately for the British transport aviation industry, the C130 simply could not be equalled.I really enjoy your videos!
I cut my teeth as a Hawker Siddeley/BAE apprentice on the Buccaneer etc. I heard many stories from the older guys about building the Beverley. I also did a spell contracting abroad.
What a brilliant aircraft, I visited the Army Transport Museum in the early 90's and threw some coins into the tin for the refurbishment of the Beverly. And I spent a couple of hours at the museum looking at the excellent displays and the Beverly. Great to hear that one example still exists. I was wondering what had happened to the museum, but Alex below has supplied with the answer. Gret video, Cheers
As a very young lad I probably saw every one that was ever made. Our village was on the opposite bank of the HUmber to BRough, and I could watch them take off, and then lumber over the river and over our house, before slowly returning to Brough. Then one day I saw the Blackburn Buccaneer doing the same flyover, and thought "What the heck is that!" (Though I probably didn't think the word heck... best not write what I did think!
My dad spoke to a Beverley pilot in Borneo in the early 60s. He asked the pilot “What the hell is that thing like to fly?” The pilot replied “Imagine sitting in the upstairs toilet of a three-storey house - it’s like that”.
Back 1963 this landed at Sandakan.. I was only around 8..this was the biggest plane I ever saw at that time..RAF ...one wing flipped to an electrical post that ripped the wing tip..nice plane
I was a Court Line pilot when the Bev was delivered to the great amusement of some of my younger colleagues. The Beverley was in current service during my time in the RAF and it was great to see the old girl on the tarmac in Luton. As an aside, the base in Singapore is pronounced Se - LEE- tar. What a brilliant and intriguing video.
This brings back memories! I was an air cadet at camp at Thorney Island in 1965 and we did a flight in one. You had to climb up some bars in the load bay to get to the seats up the top and we sat facing the rear. All went well for a while then a sergeant appeared with a worried look on his face. 'fasten seatbelts!' he cried, we're going to fly though a thunderstorm!' Seat belts were duly fastened then the pitching, rolling and upping and downing started. Soon the sick bags came out and all the cheerful cadets started to go green. The smell of vomit hung in the air as I started to feel nauseous too. All was well however, we landed so my sick bag was kept clean! We taxied in past some bits of a crashed Hastings! Next flight was in an Argosy which was smooth apart from engines stopping!
Must have been the same time for me although our ATC cadet group was billeted at Tangmere. Flying sick bag one day and an Argosy a couple of days later with seats facing aft and a stench of kerosine.
As a schoolboy in the CCF (Combined Cadet Force - I think 'force' can be in inverted commas), my squad was taken up in one of these at an RAF base in the early-1960s. We sat in the tail boom, where the aircraft's pitching was most pronounced, as the pilot went through about a dozen 'circuits and bumps' (take-off, circle the base, then touch down, again and again in a continuous flow) and the air in the cramped cabin became loud with retching and noxious with vomit odours. Every time we touched down, hopes rose that this might be the last, only to raise really pitiable groans from a dozen distressed teens as the nose lifted and we became airborne again. An impressive machine, but not my favourite.
My Dad really liked the Beverley, he was doing wireless work in Cypress when they where there. He used to take me and my Brother to hendon a fair bit in the mid to late 80s and it was sad to see it getting scrapped on our visits. My Brother was able to talk some one doing the cutting to let us buy a light from inside, that we put on a little stand with a little metal plaque for my Dad's birthday. He even took us to the one in Beverley one summer holidays. 😄
What years? Dad was in the US Navy and we were there in 1958 to 1960. We lived in Nicosia and he worked at Yerolakkos, Cyprus which was a British military base. Too young for me to ever remember seeing a Beverly flying there. My first jet flight was on a BOAC Comet 4 when they were new.
A blast from the past, saw one at Beverley in the mid eighties, a very good museum, it had a mobile bakery that the the MOD borrowed during the Falklands.
I can remember a squadron of these being based at RAF Bicester in the late 1960s. I went aboard the one at the Army Museum of Transport in Beverley in late 1990s.
One of my earliest memories was cycling to Rochford air museum with my mate and playing on the Beverley. You could go inside it and sit in the cockpit. It was that which drew me to this video and then you mentioned it right towards the end! I always wondered what happened to it. Thanks
Regarding the application of turboprop power for the Beverley. Powerful turboprops were in their infancy when the Bev was being designed, and not very well proven (check out the Bristol Britannia). Apparently, at the time of design only Piston engines could drive reverse pitch props to enable short landings which was a major requirement for the Beverley (or to reverse). The immediatly successful Rolls Royce Dart turboprop as used in the Vickers Viscount would not have been powerful enough. Later in its service a re-engine to turboprops for the Bev was considered, but given the remaining time of the aircraft's service, it was not viable. Also, I think it wouldn't have been much faster, as the airframe was quite 'draggy' and more speed would cause even more drag. Lastly, the Beverley was designed for short haul flying, so piston power would have been acceptable for that in those days. Ironically, The RAF used the Beverley as a long haul heavy transport as well, as no other type was available until the Short Belfast arrived a year before the Bevs retired.
There was the story jokingly told that the Beverley was suggested for a post-RAF retirement role in crop spraying. Apparently they sprayed out so much engine oil that it was thought that the sumps could instead be filled with whatever needed spraying and then the old tub flown back and forward over the fields to be treated.
I remember seeing and photographing the Beverly at Southend. It was the largest aircraft they had there at the time. Thanks for covering its history, very interesting.
Same here! I am sure that I have some photos of the Beverly at Southend, including one inside the cockpit. Trouble is that I had to borrow my mother's camera and she was always a bit short of money to get the photos developed, so I could never take that many. 😟
I only ever got close to a Beverley once, and that was at Shoreham. I forget what the show was about but do remember that Prince Bernhardt of the Nertherlands was there, as was his DC3. Would have loved to see the Beverley depart, unfortunately I was on the train back home by then.
I remember the Beverlys as a kid, doing circuits and bumps at Thorney Island. Some were silver, some were buff/brown camouflaged. Our house was by Chichester harbour entrance, so we saw all sorts of military planes on low final approach into Thorney, almost overhead! Prior to this, about 1960, there were Vulcan bombers there. I was four years old, and the sound of their engines being tested a mile and a half away was terrifying. Nick.
My late father was a Flight Engineer on Beverleys initially in Singapore from 1958 to 1962 based at Changi and then Seletar. As a boy we used to sit on a grassy bank overlooking Seletar airbase watching them doing practice parachute drops over ground targets. In 1962 we returned home and my father was then based at RAF Benson before he re-trained to fly on Argosy's and then the Short Belfast and then the Hercules (by then he was based at Thorney Island)
i was working at the Hi Tec Wearhouse in Aviation way Southend when XB261 was being broken up in the field next door. i have somewhere a couple of photos i took of a man standing on the wing hacking away at the engine mounts with an axe. it was a sad sight to see.
10.14....not 1966....1967. I was at Thorney Island from Jan.1967 working on Beverleys and Andovers, before the arrival of the C-130. The Bev came into it's own over Borneo during Confrontation, with it's short run, slow speed, major supply drop missions.
The unmistakeable silhouette of the much loved Blackburn Beverley, stalwart of RAF Transport Command. This plane could (amazingly) get aloft from very short, makeshift runways! Familiar sight in Aden delivering stuff in Radfan and beyond. The RAF transport equivalent to Costal Command's mighty Sunderland.
I did supply drops out of the Bev in Borneo, 1965-6, whilst at Labuan during Confrontation - a forgotten conflict, if the commentary is any guide! Slow she may have been, but ideal for the task over mountainous jungle terrain. Come skimming over a ridge, drop down into the valley, push the load out, stand the aircraft on its wingtip and climb out hard to dodge the next ridge. Go round and repeat. Got quite exciting, especially with low cloud about!
Great Plane ..did what it was suppoxed to Supplied thousands of troops in the middle and Far East with essential supplies ...always looked forward to it's Pars drops of Beer and Fuel...especially in Borneo in the 60s
Talk about weird coincidences: My 85 year old neighbour Derek died last month. At his wake was a model of this same plane. His widow told me he used to service this aircraft as well as Gloster Meteors during his long RAF career. RIP Derek.
I remember these as a youngster at the airshows my dad took me to. I saw the one at Hendon a few times when visiting the museums. A real shame if the last one is being left to rot though.
As a P.C. at Hendon Training School in 1979, my first sight from my eleventh floor tower block room every morning was of XH124. I got to thinking that it was actually quite beautiful! I was quite upset when I heard that it had been broken up. Usual reason for its destruction. Money, or rather lack of it. "And then there was one".
Those enormous fixed landing gear struts certainly contributed to its lack luster speed. The C130 seems light years ahead. It's still in production with many upgrades from the original 1950's model.
My Dad was an air-dispatcher on the Beverley in Kenya & Aden. I have a newspaper clipping of a famine relief effort and he is in the photo. He used to tell a story about a District Commissioner asking where to put his Landrover when they did a drop and he told him to put it in the middle of the cross of white sheets used as a target. One flat landy later the DC wasn’t very happy…
My dad flew in these in his early days as a Royal Marine (42 Commando, 1950-1965) He said it was almost as slow as going by ship! Legend has it is he's still up there now heading for Singapore...
Back in the early '60's, I had a trip to Nice in the cargo bay of a Beverley. The string seat and the freezing cold made it the most unpleasant flight of my RAF career.
My father flew around Libya in one of these when he did his National Service in the army. He liked the Beverley but not the whingeing RAF crew who complained about the sand.....they left Sid the scorpion on board in a biscuit tin as a surprise...
A friend of mine said in the 60's his dad was stationed in the middle east somewhere and said something about he used to put kerosene cans around his bed to keep the scorpions from climbing in. I don't know the details but they must have been bad enough if he went to the trouble. I assume he didn't smoke in bed!
That’s funny because my dad’s second time in the US Navy was during the Korean War (he was already a Leyte Gulf battle vet) he was stationed in Saudi Arabia. He said the USAF “kids” were whiny and most of them even had their own servants in the form of former POW’s from Italy. Though I doubt Dad left any scorpions for them. Haha!
I think that the Blackburn Beverly demonstrates how far the British aerospace industry had fallen behind the Americans. At the time this obsolete aircraft was entering service, the Lockheed aircraft company was finishing up development of their amazing C-130 Hercules. The contrast in technology was striking and people around the world could see that the British had well and truly lost the race (Now I'll sit back and wait)
Does anyone remember a pub in Morden, Surrey, called The Beverley? It had a picture of a Beverley hanging from a frame above the entrance until about 20 years ago, when the pub was bought by a different brewery, and for some reason they decided to get rid of the picture of an aircraft and replace the name with "The Beverley Brook". I wonder why?
Went to NZ in 2000 - there was a complete Beverley outside at MOTAT - Museum of Transport & Technology in Aukland. It was maintained by enthusiasts - exterior painting etc. only. Checked the website a few years back and it was no longer showing. I can also vaguely remember seeing one flying over Gloucestershire in the Sixties sometime in RAF colours.
Around 1959 to 1960 I lived in Singapore, near the Changi RAF airport. There were Beverleys based there, and they were seriously noisy. If you were playing a record as they took off, the arm would bounce across the record, to the detriment of both the record and the sound. Any cups or glasses with drinks in them would develop concentric waves on their surfaces.
I live near (the now closed) Fort Paul, East Yorkshire and we used to visit over the years and the Blackburn Beverley was indeed the centre piece of the museum, You could walk in to the cargo space and there used to be a display cabinet in the middle showing various pictures of the plane but one was of a group of Paratroopers during the time of the Suez Crisis and my partner looked closely at this picture and one of the Paras was her father.
I attended the final (Battle of Britain) airshow at Hendon in 1957 and there was a static Beverley on the apron. I wonder whether that was the one that became its gate guardian.
I grew up in North London in the 70s and always wondered how Hendon (being in such a built up area) could ever have been a fully functioning airfield accommodating large aircraft. I guess a different world in terms of flight safety...
I distinctly remember a Beverly at one of the first airshows I ever saw. This was at North Weald near Harlow. I reckon I was about 6 or 7. Remember 9 Lightings as well, I was terrified by the noise but couldn,t take my eyes off them. Oh and the Red Pelicans. 1965/66?
I am sure I flew across the channel from Southend airport to Dunkirk airport in about 1963 ,I was 16 one of 3 lads in a Morrison minor van ,I am pretty certain it was a Beverley
Some memories there, having lived at Thorney Island (where I saw the Andovers in their Brown, Stone and black camouflage), Aden and Singapore (where I first met the Hercules). One pick, if I may, RAF Seletar, where I went to school, is pronounced Seleetar rather than how it is spelt.
I was at RAF Muharaque in 1966 30 squadron and was sent with squadron leader Mulligan and crew as the engine mechanic to collect a re furbished Beverly from Hong Kong it took us about 4 weeks to get back to Muharaque cos we were not in a hurry
I recall sitting in the Paull Beverley, when it was just there as an unexpected curiosity during a refuelling stop one afternoon. I'd never heard of it before that.
Used to have one of these at Southend Air Museum and you could climb into all parts of it. Shame that it was cut up and only the cockpit survives. My father hated these planes, but only because whenever he was in a drop, his landrover was always broken by the landing :)
Well congratulations for completing this review without using the phrase 'Whisteling Wheelbarrow' which they were affectionately known by - which if you viewed the aircraft from the front on, is exactly what they looked like! The example I saw was at RAF Air museum at Duxford, near Wolverhampton
Erm... The 'Whistling Wheelbarrow' was the Armstrong Whitworth Argosy, not the Blackburn Beverley. I served almost 3 years on the Argosy at Benson. There is no Beverely at any RAF museum and the RAF Museum near Wolverhampton is Cosford, not Duxford. Duxford, near Cambridge, is part of the IWM.
I jumped out of them several times as a young Paratrooper. Much nicer than the Dakota. Though I remember standing in the door of a Dakota while it went round 3 times before the jump was abandoned due to the wind on the ground being too strong. On each circuit it passed right over my parents, and my, home. That was a never to be repeated thrill. It was disappointing not to be able to jump that time.
Hi, I jumped out of the Hastings which was not much better as the rigging lines went from high at the door to be anchored in the floor just aft of the pilots cabin. Small exit doors and the tail was too near the door! They left the door open when we jumped into Norway, man I had icicles on my testicles. Jumping out of the Guppy in comparison was a piece of cake, the Argosy was fast but when you jumped out of the port side you tended to be mixed up with the starboard stick, happened to me at Larisa in Greece. The C130 was just awesome. Cheers mate. Harera
Shame i never got to see The Blackburn Beverley on display during my UK Visits. That said The C-130's were quite a sight and sound even here In Australia at one of The RAAF's Air bases at Richmond NSW despite the arrival of The C-17 Globemasters.
Nice to see this one. Just after lockdown Mk1 finished in 2020 and we were allowed out on our own recognisance, I took one of my drones to Fort Paull to try and grab some footage before she was ultimately moved. The footage is on my channel, but it's nestled in a music video. Thanks for this.
XB259 Is local to me. It spent some time at Beverley Military Transport museum in the 80s the moved to fort Paull for a number of years. Most recently it has moved to Breighton airfield near Selby for continued restoration after being neglected for a number years. I'm hoping that she will live on for many years yet.
Preservation of notable and significant should always have been an imperative. When you consider how many aircraft had been produced from the early 1900s, and compare that with what is available today to experience, it becomes obvious that between exhibits, media, books et al, the best that could be said about aircraft history is that it is fragmented. This is why preservation groups are vital in securing these pieces of aviation history.
I can remember when we came back from Aden we had three Ferret armoured cars in the back of one and did a very quick land and drive of before the plane had stopped.
Thanks very much for that very interesting video. I was flown from the UK to Florida on one in 1972. The seating was quite comfortable airliner type recline able. A lot better than the plastic webbing sideways things on the C130 I flew back on. 😂
You must be mistaken Sir - Beverley’s were long out of service by 1972. It must have been a Shorts Belfast you’re confused with, or else way-out with the year...
Some of us had the good fortune to travel on these giants all over the Far East & Middle East. I had a pal who used to fly them, in the end he told me during them being taken out of service they flew them to the breakers yard. My friend said when he landed he asked, "Where do I park it" He was told, "Back up to the one behind you until you hear you have crushed your tail boom"
In 1967 I flew in the last Beverley out of Singapore on its way back to England.
D Coy. 8 R.A.R. arrived in Singapore 1967, complete with Wives & Children. As we landed I looked over & saw the Beverley. I remarked that it would be funny if we had to fly to Malacca in that. With that some buses pulled up & we were ferried to the Beverley. We were bundled on & the Beverley took off. I was sitting on the left side of the plane, towards the front. There was no lining, just the skin of the plane & there were a few rivets missing & the skin would open up occasionally, sitting backwards, of course. As we flew towards Malacca we ran into a storm, As the storm was going the same way we flew the entire journey inside the storm. Gaining height, losing height & lots of buffeting all the way. Finally we arrived at the Terendak Garrison Airfield, knee deep in mud.
We were then told that this was the Last Beverley out of Singapore, we were its last load & the last flying Beverley. It was on its way back to England to be decommissioned.
"sitting backwards, of course" Civil airliners never adopted this basic safety function. No passenger appeal 🙄
My troop, based in Seletar, may well have travelled in this plane. We travelled all over the far east in Bev's, Andovers, Hercules and once in a brand new Belfast.
That's a journey to remember.
Thank you.
You couldn't outrun a "storm"? Lol. Hilarious.
@@stevecommons3822"Basic safety function"? ROFLMAO. What passenger motor vehicle did you moron?
My Dad was an instructor at the Parachute School at RAF Abingdon, as a wee lad I thought every time I saw one my Dad was in it! (and we lived in Beverly close!)
Aah, those were the days. I was born and grew up in Abingdon, where the Beverley along with the HP Hastings, were a constant presence. As a young teenager, I joined 2121 Squadron, Air Training Corps, based in a hall in Shippon, very near RAF Abingdon. Apart from all the fun of drilling, marching, and aircraft recognition, the best part was that we had full and free access to the base. This meant that we could at any time cycle over to 47 Squadron, smartly salute, and before we knew it, be put on a Beverley for an 'Air Experience' flight. We could fly either in the tail boom or, if we were really lucky, sat on the battery box in the cockpit. The flights were either just a 'flight to nowhere' or, if we were again lucky, to another RAF base. I made it to RAF Marham and Thorney Island, both trips coming back before lunchtime. This is where our being ATC cadets also paid off, as we also got to eat a very full lunch at the 'non-coms' mess for the cost of just one shilling. Further delights were in store for us as 48 Squadron was also at Abingdon and if we were lucky we got to fly on one of the Hastings. On one flight I was strapped into a paratroops seat watching the (parachute) display team, the Red Falcons jump out. Before he jumped, one of the team gave me the fright of my life by coming over to where I was seated, dropping a reserve 'chute onto my lap and shouting with a huge grin on his face: 'Off you go lad!' It was sad when the Bev was phased out, as the sound of their engines could be heard all over Abingdon. 'Circuits and bumps' were a regular activity and great fun to watch. Yes, the Bev was a bit of a lumbering giant, but it had way more character than its replacement, the Hercules!
I clearly remember these flying over West Sussex when I was a kid. You would hear them what seemed like several minutes before they slowly floated overhead, before fading away in the distance as they carried leisurely on their way. We also used to see the Hastings and in the 60's the Argosy and Andover and finally the C 130 before Thorney Island ceased as an RAF airfield. At that time there were many military aircraft in the skies there with fighters from RNAS Ford and RAF Tangmere and flight test aircraft from the Hawker airfield at Dunsfold including the P1127/Kestrel/Harrier. Exciting stuff for an aeroplane mad lad 😃
we used to hear them and see them at Hayling which is across the short stretch of water from Thorney Island. Also remember the argosys doing parachute flare drops over here and then came the andovers followed by the Hercs - lot of good memories from back then
The last Bev, as of my last visit 26 Dec 22, was in a very sorry partially dismantled state at Fort Paull. Engines , empenage and outer wings removed. Its not on public display, its just peeping over the wall with tears in its eyes.
I remember the last time that particular Beverley (or any other) landed, at what by now was Hawker Siddeley, Brough. It had come home for the day prior to flying to Paull airfield (It was 1971 or 1972). To this young apprentice this enormous aircraft was unbelievable in its size and amazingly short landing. I can't remember if it stayed for more than a day but I do recall the take-off which was also very short! Happy memories!
Oooo
That Beverley made a great landmark and looked huge looming up out of the fort when seen from aboard ferries heading down the Humber estuary.
I remember going to Paull airfield, east of Hull, in about 75, with my dad, who had been in the RAF. Me and my younger brother went inside and up to the cockpit. It seemed huge then . Happy days for a this young teenager then.
In Beverly they have one. Standing outside.
IMHO the fact that this aircraft was successful and did it's job well shows more its heritage of General Aircraft than Blackburn.
Reminds me of the more numerous Bristol Freighters, originally developed in the 1940s with production running through to 1958. Some were still in operation in New Zealand until the late 1970s as commercial freighters - a faithful workhorse!
Saw them regularly at Wellington Airport, into the 1980s.
I wonder if it might have carried on longer if they added turbine engines?
Same, noisy as, weird looking thing with the front door, but a regular feature at NZ airports. What did they carry?
@@Stevie671 I always assumed general freight. Last time I saw one was a rather sad looking unit at Omaka.
Yeah, those BFs, flew two trips in 1968, 600 miles over the South Pacific Ocean. You could see the wave tops.
Thank you for posting this video. My father worked on Beverleys in Aden during his National Service, and in the 70s we used to visit the museum at Southend. I was shocked to learn that the Beverley there had been scrapped. I would love an Airfix model of one.
I worked on the Beverleys of 242 OCU Trasport Command in 1959 at RAF Dishforth before we packed up lock stock and barrel and moved down to Farms Dispersal at RAF Thorney Island along with the Hadley Page Hastings Flight. We used to do our night flying training at RAF Idris, Libya, and Our Heavy drop Training at RAF Tangmere a mere three miles up the road. I left the RAF in 1965 and never saw the end of the Beverleys although I was there for the arrival of the Argosies.
Thanks for the memories! My first flying experience as an air cadet in 1963 was in Beverley XB288 and the last of 14 flights in the type was in XB269 from Abingdon to the scrapman at RAF Shawbury in December 1967. Coincidentally my daughter now lives in the market town of Beverley.
Living in Oxford in the 60's, the sky's seemed full of these massive beasts. I also remember paratroops jumping out of them at RAF. Western on the Green.
Once seen, never forgotten.
Really great video. Thanks.
Flew in one of these from Changi to Kuantan and back in 1964 when our squadron (3 Sqdn) was detached there from Germany
I loved the Museum of Army Transport in Beverley when I was a kid - the Beverley aircraft was so imposing when you arrived. Sadly the museum is long gone and is now, predictably, a shopping centre!
I also saw it there
Two of use to run the WW1 munitions train on a Sunday at the transport museum ( I mainly did the points and air lines then stood on the back of the last carriage all day). The Beverley made a lovely spot for a tea break.
It's really sad to hear that.
@@bigblue6917 "bigblue"???
What kind of adult name is that?
The remaining Beverley has always been part of my life. When I was a boy, it was the clubhouse for the Paull flying club, near my Gran's. I've sat at the controls a couple of times. Later, it was an imposing sight at Flemingate where I would cycle past it to and from work. The Flemingate site was Hodgson's tannery before it became the Museum of Army Transport. The ground was horribly poisoned by years of tannery pits, and so once the old buildings were demolished it lay vacant for many years. It's a shame Wilco couldn't have stayed where it was.
But the poor Beverley had many more flaws than are mentioned here. The engines consumed vast quantities of oil which has to be topped up during flight, manually. And there was the fuel pump which could be fitted in reverse: that lead to a fatal crash. It was very popular with every pilot who flew it, though. Great visibility!
"...which fell to pieces or caught fire...", "...clumsily converted...", "...unstable design, poor visibility and underpowered engines..." An amazing history for the company that would go on to build one of the best aircraft ever to serve the (British) forces, the Buccaneer...
I totally agree. However, let's not forget that Blackburn had it's moments in history where they really did smoke some funky stuff and built some really weird designs. The Buccaneer was a good moment without too much weed.
@@drstevenrey 🤣🤣🤣 Mind you, we must remember it was the era of weirdness with flying wheelbarrows, flying bedsteads, Dart engined DC3s at 41,000 feet, Tay engined Viscounts etc...
I sat in the pilots seat of the one at Southend Airport as a small boy back in the 1970's. I remember it just seemed so massive as a 7 year old!! Sad to think it just rotted away. I also managed a very cheeky climb up into the cockpit and nose gunners position of the ex Spanish airforce He 111 that they had on display back then. It wasn't officially open but someone had left a hatch open and for an aircraft obsessed lad who had already seen bits of the film The Battle of Britain, it was far too much to resist!! I carefully hauled myself in and was thrilled by being inside, sitting in the left seat and clambering down into that amazing glazed nose. Having frozen still to avoid the gaze of one of the staff, I quietly climbed back out and re joined my family who wondered where the heck I had been! I didn't let on for several years!
A nice video, thanks. As a 17-year old RAF dependent I flew on one of these from RAF Luqa, Malta, to UK in 1965. It was one of the famous "indulgence" flights costing 30/-. A 12-hour trip with a stop at Istres in southern France. The Air Quartermaster looked after me very well with a Mars bar and a coffee every hour (that's a lot of Mars bars!). I sat in the passenger compartment in the tail boom. The cargo hold was carrying the nose section of a Canberra.
Thanks for this video. It brought back many memories of when I saw it often at RAF Khormaksar in Aden. I was there between '62 and '64 as a kid of 10 who was mad about planes. Got up close to one since I was in the Air Scouts there. They had a lot to do and took off and landed often ferrying stuff 'Up Country' to the troops on the front line. They seemed to have a huge capacity to me at the time. Someone said you could get a bus in one. Definitely noisy though but not as loud as the SRN4 cross channel hovercraft. You could hear that from miles away. It was always a busy airport but watching the Hunters take off was my best sight. The Beverley always looked gawky but did it's job. Aden was a tough place for kit and machinery but it was a great plane in it's own right.
I was in Aden between 64&66 and spent most of my time “up country”. There was a story about an American naval officer on a visit to Khormaksar looking at s Beverly and commenting, “are these the biggest things you’ve got?” The bloke escorting him said “ no, you should see the ones that brought these over”.
As an R.A.F Cadet ..I FLew in a BEVERLEY from DISHFORTH over and Around Holme Valley.. WEST RIDING YORKSHIRE.. 1466 SQUADRON
I was 1189 Sqn (Fratton, Portsmouth). Wore the old battledress, greatcoat and ammo boots. Ended up joining the infantry! Only memory of 1189 was of a Gloster Meteor cockpit in our drill hall.
My first ever 'air experience' as an RAF cadet in about 1962; we circled around Abingdon for about 1/2 an hour, seated in backward facing seats in the hold. The noise was incredible, literally I couldn't hear myself think, never mind speak!
The instructor described the Beverley in flight as 'like a well meaning pig'!
I flew from Chang Mai Thailand to Seleleter Singapore in a Beverley in 1962.It was so cold up in the passenger dept.i climbed down to the hold for some blankets.The clamshell doors had been removed ,just a rope net in their place.
Growing up in Plymouth in the 1960/70's and living on what was the perimeter road for Plymouth airport (Plymbridge Road). By standing on our wall I had a ring side view of the Plymouth Airshow, the runway was too short to operate jets but long enough to operate the twin engine Dove and the 4 engine Heron Dan Air). Can't remember which airshow it was but we had a Beverly which landed and taking off, for taking off it went as far as it could before turning with its tail outside the airport over the road. When it took off the prop wash blew the fence down an amazing sight.
I was born in Abingdon, in 1950, when my father was a Sgt at the RAF base there. I remember seeing these big beasts flying around most days and, from as young as I can remember, all I ever wanted to be was an RAF pilot. Sadly, for personal reasons, that never happened but I eventually did get my PPL aged 56!! As for the Blackburn, how could a company go from making such 'dogs' as the Twin Zeppelin, the Rock and the Botha, to the world renown Buccaneer; one of, if not the best, low level strike jets ever made. Amazing.
Not mentioned were 30 squadron (Kenya) and 84 squadron (Aden) - both using Beverleys in the 1960's!
84 sqn moved to Sharjah and converted to Andovers. I was on 84 sqn until it disbanded in 1971.
I flew with 30 squadron from R A F Eastleigh when in the army en route to Kuwait.
@@derekantill3721 flew from kenya to aden then to kuwait with the 2nd bat coldstream guards
Beverley from Transport Wing at RAF Khormaksar Aden was blown up by saboteurs at RAF Muharraq Bahrain during Operation Vantage which stopped Iraq invading Kuwait in 1961. I was serving on 8Sqdn Hunters at the time, and heard the explosion from the Officers Mess bar. Security improved thereafter thanks to the RAF Regiment arriving to take control. The fuselage was I believe used as a bar. Maybe just a rumour. Mac McL
9:54 yes, that is a C-130 landing on an carrier.
It was able to take off again as well.
@@Mishn0 indeed
@@Mishn0 And at full loads for both landing and take offs.
I used to work as an aviation engineering contractor in the 1980s and 90s. During those times, I met many men from British Aerospace Hull and they always spoke with great pride about the Blackburn Beverley. Unfortunately for the British transport aviation industry, the C130 simply could not be equalled.I really enjoy your videos!
I cut my teeth as a Hawker Siddeley/BAE apprentice on the Buccaneer etc. I heard many stories from the older guys about building the Beverley. I also did a spell contracting abroad.
What a brilliant aircraft, I visited the Army Transport Museum in the early 90's and threw some coins into the tin for the refurbishment of the Beverly. And I spent a couple of hours at the museum looking at the excellent displays and the Beverly. Great to hear that one example still exists. I was wondering what had happened to the museum, but Alex below has supplied with the answer. Gret video, Cheers
As a very young lad I probably saw every one that was ever made. Our village was on the opposite bank of the HUmber to BRough, and I could watch them take off, and then lumber over the river and over our house, before slowly returning to Brough. Then one day I saw the Blackburn Buccaneer doing the same flyover, and thought "What the heck is that!" (Though I probably didn't think the word heck... best not write what I did think!
My dad spoke to a Beverley pilot in Borneo in the early 60s. He asked the pilot “What the hell is that thing like to fly?” The pilot replied “Imagine sitting in the upstairs toilet of a three-storey house - it’s like that”.
😂😂😂
Back 1963 this landed at Sandakan.. I was only around 8..this was the biggest plane I ever saw at that time..RAF ...one wing flipped to an electrical post that ripped the wing tip..nice plane
I was a Court Line pilot when the Bev was delivered to the great amusement of some of my younger colleagues. The Beverley was in current service during my time in the RAF and it was great to see the old girl on the tarmac in Luton. As an aside, the base in Singapore is pronounced Se - LEE- tar. What a brilliant and intriguing video.
This brings back memories! I was an air cadet at camp at Thorney Island in 1965 and we did a flight in one. You had to climb up some bars in the load bay to get to the seats up the top and we sat facing the rear. All went well for a while then a sergeant appeared with a worried look on his face. 'fasten seatbelts!' he cried, we're going to fly though a thunderstorm!' Seat belts were duly fastened then the pitching, rolling and upping and downing started. Soon the sick bags came out and all the cheerful cadets started to go green. The smell of vomit hung in the air as I started to feel nauseous too.
All was well however, we landed so my sick bag was kept clean! We taxied in past some bits of a crashed Hastings! Next flight was in an Argosy which was smooth apart from engines stopping!
Must have been the same time for me although our ATC cadet group was billeted at Tangmere. Flying sick bag one day and an Argosy a couple of days later with seats facing aft and a stench of kerosine.
I remember the one outside the RAF Museum, Hendon. An impressive beast!
As a schoolboy in the CCF (Combined Cadet Force - I think 'force' can be in inverted commas), my squad was taken up in one of these at an RAF base in the early-1960s. We sat in the tail boom, where the aircraft's pitching was most pronounced, as the pilot went through about a dozen 'circuits and bumps' (take-off, circle the base, then touch down, again and again in a continuous flow) and the air in the cramped cabin became loud with retching and noxious with vomit odours. Every time we touched down, hopes rose that this might be the last, only to raise really pitiable groans from a dozen distressed teens as the nose lifted and we became airborne again. An impressive machine, but not my favourite.
My Dad really liked the Beverley, he was doing wireless work in Cypress when they where there. He used to take me and my Brother to hendon a fair bit in the mid to late 80s and it was sad to see it getting scrapped on our visits. My Brother was able to talk some one doing the cutting to let us buy a light from inside, that we put on a little stand with a little metal plaque for my Dad's birthday. He even took us to the one in Beverley one summer holidays. 😄
What years? Dad was in the US Navy and we were there in 1958 to 1960. We lived in Nicosia and he worked at Yerolakkos, Cyprus which was a British military base. Too young for me to ever remember seeing a Beverly flying there. My first jet flight was on a BOAC Comet 4 when they were new.
A blast from the past, saw one at Beverley in the mid eighties, a very good museum, it had a mobile bakery that the the MOD borrowed during the Falklands.
I can remember a squadron of these being based at RAF Bicester in the late 1960s. I went aboard the one at the Army Museum of Transport in Beverley in late 1990s.
One of my earliest memories was cycling to Rochford air museum with my mate and playing on the Beverley. You could go inside it and sit in the cockpit. It was that which drew me to this video and then you mentioned it right towards the end! I always wondered what happened to it. Thanks
Regarding the application of turboprop power for the Beverley. Powerful turboprops were in their infancy when the Bev was being designed, and not very well proven (check out the Bristol Britannia). Apparently, at the time of design only Piston engines could drive reverse pitch props to enable short landings which was a major requirement for the Beverley (or to reverse). The immediatly successful Rolls Royce Dart turboprop as used in the Vickers Viscount would not have been powerful enough. Later in its service a re-engine to turboprops for the Bev was considered, but given the remaining time of the aircraft's service, it was not viable. Also, I think it wouldn't have been much faster, as the airframe was quite 'draggy' and more speed would cause even more drag.
Lastly, the Beverley was designed for short haul flying, so piston power would have been acceptable for that in those days. Ironically, The RAF used the Beverley as a long haul heavy transport as well, as no other type was available until the Short Belfast arrived a year before the Bevs retired.
There was the story jokingly told that the Beverley was suggested for a post-RAF retirement role in crop spraying. Apparently they sprayed out so much engine oil that it was thought that the sumps could instead be filled with whatever needed spraying and then the old tub flown back and forward over the fields to be treated.
I remember seeing and photographing the Beverly at Southend. It was the largest aircraft they had there at the time. Thanks for covering its history, very interesting.
Same here! I am sure that I have some photos of the Beverly at Southend, including one inside the cockpit. Trouble is that I had to borrow my mother's camera and she was always a bit short of money to get the photos developed, so I could never take that many. 😟
@@PaulB-justme Glad some of us have that as a memory. Nice.
I only ever got close to a Beverley once, and that was at Shoreham. I forget what the show was about but do remember that Prince Bernhardt of the Nertherlands was there, as was his DC3. Would have loved to see the Beverley depart, unfortunately I was on the train back home by then.
I remember the Beverlys as a kid, doing circuits and bumps at Thorney Island. Some were silver, some were buff/brown camouflaged. Our house was by Chichester harbour entrance, so we saw all sorts of military planes on low final approach into Thorney, almost overhead!
Prior to this, about 1960, there were Vulcan bombers there. I was four years old, and the sound of their engines being tested a mile and a half away was terrifying.
Nick.
I remember it well! ex RAF Abingdon 1964.
Fascinating story on yet another facet of aircraft history and development, a unique model which I had never heard of before.
My late father was a Flight Engineer on Beverleys initially in Singapore from 1958 to 1962 based at Changi and then Seletar. As a boy we used to sit on a grassy bank overlooking Seletar airbase watching them doing practice parachute drops over ground targets. In 1962 we returned home and my father was then based at RAF Benson before he re-trained to fly on Argosy's and then the Short Belfast and then the Hercules (by then he was based at Thorney Island)
i was working at the Hi Tec Wearhouse in Aviation way Southend when XB261 was being broken up in the field next door.
i have somewhere a couple of photos i took of a man standing on the wing hacking away at the engine mounts with an axe.
it was a sad sight to see.
10.14....not 1966....1967. I was at Thorney Island from Jan.1967 working on Beverleys and Andovers, before the arrival of the C-130. The Bev came into it's own over Borneo during Confrontation, with it's short run, slow speed, major supply drop missions.
The unmistakeable silhouette of the much loved Blackburn Beverley, stalwart of RAF Transport Command. This plane could (amazingly) get aloft from very short, makeshift runways! Familiar sight in Aden delivering stuff in Radfan and beyond.
The RAF transport equivalent to Costal Command's mighty Sunderland.
I did supply drops out of the Bev in Borneo, 1965-6, whilst at Labuan during Confrontation - a forgotten conflict, if the commentary is any guide! Slow she may have been, but ideal for the task over mountainous jungle terrain. Come skimming over a ridge, drop down into the valley, push the load out, stand the aircraft on its wingtip and climb out hard to dodge the next ridge. Go round and repeat. Got quite exciting, especially with low cloud about!
Great Plane ..did what it was suppoxed to Supplied thousands of troops in the middle and Far East with essential supplies ...always looked forward to it's Pars drops of Beer and Fuel...especially in Borneo in the 60s
Talk about weird coincidences: My 85 year old neighbour Derek died last month. At his wake was a model of this same plane. His widow told me he used to service this aircraft as well as Gloster Meteors during his long RAF career. RIP Derek.
I remember these as a youngster at the airshows my dad took me to. I saw the one at Hendon a few times when visiting the museums.
A real shame if the last one is being left to rot though.
As a P.C. at Hendon Training School in 1979, my first sight from my eleventh floor tower block room every morning was of XH124. I got to thinking that it was actually quite beautiful! I was quite upset when I heard that it had been broken up. Usual reason for its destruction. Money, or rather lack of it. "And then there was one".
Those enormous fixed landing gear struts certainly contributed to its lack luster speed. The C130 seems light years ahead. It's still in production with many upgrades from the original 1950's model.
My Dad was an air-dispatcher on the Beverley in Kenya & Aden. I have a newspaper clipping of a famine relief effort and he is in the photo. He used to tell a story about a District Commissioner asking where to put his Landrover when they did a drop and he told him to put it in the middle of the cross of white sheets used as a target. One flat landy later the DC wasn’t very happy…
I need this video in my life right now! Thank you!
My dad flew in these in his early days as a Royal Marine (42 Commando, 1950-1965) He said it was almost as slow as going by ship!
Legend has it is he's still up there now heading for Singapore...
I love the anecdotes for this video! Keep 'em coming.
Back in the early '60's, I had a trip to Nice in the cargo bay of a Beverley. The string seat and the freezing cold made it the most unpleasant flight of my RAF career.
My father flew around Libya in one of these when he did his National Service in the army. He liked the Beverley but not the whingeing RAF crew who complained about the sand.....they left Sid the scorpion on board in a biscuit tin as a surprise...
There’s gotta be more to the scorpion story.
A friend of mine said in the 60's his dad was stationed in the middle east somewhere and said something about he used to put kerosene cans around his bed to keep the scorpions from climbing in. I don't know the details but they must have been bad enough if he went to the trouble. I assume he didn't smoke in bed!
That’s funny because my dad’s second time in the US Navy was during the Korean War (he was already a Leyte Gulf battle vet) he was stationed in Saudi Arabia. He said the USAF “kids” were whiny and most of them even had their own servants in the form of former POW’s from Italy. Though I doubt Dad left any scorpions for them. Haha!
I knew people who flew backwards in a Beverley over Aden due to strong winds.Great stuff.
Apparently you only had to navigate one way as on the return leg you could just follow the oil slick. My dad flew these; thanks for the video.👍
I think that the Blackburn Beverly demonstrates how far the British aerospace industry had fallen behind the Americans. At the time this obsolete aircraft was entering service, the Lockheed aircraft company was finishing up development of their amazing C-130 Hercules. The contrast in technology was striking and people around the world could see that the British had well and truly lost the race
(Now I'll sit back and wait)
Does anyone remember a pub in Morden, Surrey, called The Beverley? It had a picture of a Beverley hanging from a frame above the entrance until about 20 years ago, when the pub was bought by a different brewery, and for some reason they decided to get rid of the picture of an aircraft and replace the name with "The Beverley Brook". I wonder why?
I remember seeing them at RAF Dishforth when travelling on the A1 in the early 60s. Highly distinctive and unique profile.
It's so cute. This and the Norman Islander are some of the cutest British aircraft
Don't forget the ATL-98 Carvair AKA the fake turboprop 747!
@@heidirabenau511 LOL so that's what that is
B-N Islander still in production!
More fugly than a cheap plastic garden shed.
Went to NZ in 2000 - there was a complete Beverley outside at MOTAT - Museum of Transport & Technology in Aukland. It was maintained by enthusiasts - exterior painting etc. only. Checked the website a few years back and it was no longer showing. I can also vaguely remember seeing one flying over Gloucestershire in the Sixties sometime in RAF colours.
I was at the opening of Wellington Airport in Ocy 1959, there was a Beverley there, I was very impressed byt the fact that it could taxi - in reverse.
In the seventies and eighties there was a Beverley on display at Southend Airport Museum in Essex
Around 1959 to 1960 I lived in Singapore, near the Changi RAF airport. There were Beverleys based there, and they were seriously noisy. If you were playing a record as they took off, the arm would bounce across the record, to the detriment of both the record and the sound. Any cups or glasses with drinks in them would develop concentric waves on their surfaces.
The Beverley at Hendon was the ideal aircraft to have at the entrance. On my second visit to the RAF museum it had disappeared - now I know why!
I live near (the now closed) Fort Paul, East Yorkshire and we used to visit over the years and the Blackburn Beverley was indeed the centre piece of the museum, You could walk in to the cargo space and there used to be a display cabinet in the middle showing various pictures of the plane but one was of a group of Paratroopers during the time of the Suez Crisis and my partner looked closely at this picture and one of the Paras was her father.
I attended the final (Battle of Britain) airshow at Hendon in 1957 and there was a static Beverley on the apron. I wonder whether that was the one that became its gate guardian.
Sadly that Beverly was scrapped.
@@terex3315 Sad. It was there as late as the mid 80's when I saw it there in Hendon.
I grew up in North London in the 70s and always wondered how Hendon (being in such a built up area) could ever have been a fully functioning airfield accommodating large aircraft. I guess a different world in terms of flight safety...
I distinctly remember a Beverly at one of the first airshows I ever saw. This was at North Weald near Harlow. I reckon I was about 6 or 7. Remember 9 Lightings as well, I was terrified by the noise but couldn,t take my eyes off them. Oh and the Red Pelicans. 1965/66?
I am sure I flew across the channel from Southend airport to Dunkirk airport in about 1963 ,I was 16 one of 3 lads in a Morrison minor van ,I am pretty certain it was a Beverley
I had a couple of flights in one in the late fifties early sixties when I was in the Air Training Corps.
Some memories there, having lived at Thorney Island (where I saw the Andovers in their Brown, Stone and black camouflage), Aden and Singapore (where I first met the Hercules). One pick, if I may, RAF Seletar, where I went to school, is pronounced Seleetar rather than how it is spelt.
I was at RAF Muharaque in 1966 30 squadron and was sent with squadron leader Mulligan and crew as the engine mechanic to collect a re furbished Beverly from Hong Kong it took us about 4 weeks to get back to Muharaque cos we were not in a hurry
I remember watching the paratroopers jumping out of these at Weston on the Green in the sixties. They used to take off from R.A.F Bicester.
Also, the model of the T56 engine that powered the C-130A, was the T56A-1, the A-15 model powered the C-130H.
I recall sitting in the Paull Beverley, when it was just there as an unexpected curiosity during a refuelling stop one afternoon. I'd never heard of it before that.
Used to have one of these at Southend Air Museum and you could climb into all parts of it. Shame that it was cut up and only the cockpit survives. My father hated these planes, but only because whenever he was in a drop, his landrover was always broken by the landing :)
Well congratulations for completing this review without using the phrase 'Whisteling Wheelbarrow' which they were affectionately known by - which if you viewed the aircraft from the front on, is exactly what they looked like! The example I saw was at RAF Air museum at Duxford, near Wolverhampton
Erm... The 'Whistling Wheelbarrow' was the Armstrong Whitworth Argosy, not the Blackburn Beverley. I served almost 3 years on the Argosy at Benson. There is no Beverely at any RAF museum and the RAF Museum near Wolverhampton is Cosford, not Duxford. Duxford, near Cambridge, is part of the IWM.
I jumped out of them several times as a young Paratrooper. Much nicer than the Dakota. Though I remember standing in the door of a Dakota while it went round 3 times before the jump was abandoned due to the wind on the ground being too strong. On each circuit it passed right over my parents, and my, home. That was a never to be repeated thrill. It was disappointing not to be able to jump that time.
Hi, I jumped out of the Hastings which was not much better as the rigging lines went from high at the door to be anchored in the floor just aft of the pilots cabin. Small exit doors and the tail was too near the door! They left the door open when we jumped into Norway, man I had icicles on my testicles. Jumping out of the Guppy in comparison was a piece of cake, the Argosy was fast but when you jumped out of the port side you tended to be mixed up with the starboard stick, happened to me at Larisa in Greece. The C130 was just awesome. Cheers mate. Harera
Shame i never got to see The Blackburn Beverley on display during my UK Visits. That said The C-130's were quite a sight and sound even here In Australia at one of The RAAF's Air bases at Richmond NSW despite the arrival of The C-17 Globemasters.
Nice to see this one. Just after lockdown Mk1 finished in 2020 and we were allowed out on our own recognisance, I took one of my drones to Fort Paull to try and grab some footage before she was ultimately moved. The footage is on my channel, but it's nestled in a music video. Thanks for this.
The Warwick was not a transport version of the Wellington, it was a completely new plane designed to supercede the Wimpy as a medium bomber.
XB259 Is local to me. It spent some time at Beverley Military Transport museum in the 80s the moved to fort Paull for a number of years. Most recently it has moved to Breighton airfield near Selby for continued restoration after being neglected for a number years. I'm hoping that she will live on for many years yet.
Preservation of notable and significant should always have been an imperative. When you consider how many aircraft had been produced from the early 1900s, and compare that with what is available today to experience, it becomes obvious that between exhibits, media, books et al, the best that could be said about aircraft history is that it is fragmented. This is why preservation groups are vital in securing these pieces of aviation history.
A rather unknown aircraft in today's Canada .
deHavilland had BIG ideas,... this video elucidates History .
TYVM ... GOD BLESSES THE COMMONWEALTH.
Theres something about planes like this that is just so beautiful ti watch. Same would go for the Boxcar.
If you play FSX, you can get a great model of this aircraft. I really enjoy flying it.
I saw them at RAF Abingdon in the early 60s on paratrooper duties circling quite low with doors open.
I can remember when we came back from Aden we had three Ferret armoured cars in the back of one and did a very quick land and drive of before the plane had stopped.
Looks like something from "Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines"
The Herc must have seemed like sci-fi when it came along a few years later !
A typically British post war looking aircraft. My favourite time of British aviation.
Thanks very much for that very interesting video. I was flown from the UK to Florida on one in 1972. The seating was quite comfortable airliner type recline able. A lot better than the plastic webbing sideways things on the C130 I flew back on. 😂
Blimey - how many hours and fuel stops did that take ?
@@juleswilko I'd like to know that too!
You must be mistaken Sir - Beverley’s were long out of service by 1972. It must have been a Shorts Belfast you’re confused with, or else way-out with the year...
@@neilturner6749 you are a absolutely correct sir. And that is not the only thing I am confused about at this time of life 🤣
@@bryanjeanesartist Your reply to Neil Turner gave me a smile...............
Need to do the
Armstrong Whitworth AW-650 Argosy 101
Why just that specific model? How about the whole series?
Some of us had the good fortune to travel on these giants all over the Far East & Middle East. I had a pal who used to fly them, in the end he told me during them being taken out of service they flew them to the breakers yard. My friend said when he landed he asked, "Where do I park it" He was told, "Back up to the one behind you until you hear you have crushed your tail boom"
This is a fascinating piece of history.
Thank you.
Bristol Freighter next!!! I love these weird cargo planes.