1/144 Blackburn Beverly - Mikro-Mir (Mikr-Mir)
Another interesting left field kit from Mikr-Mir, of a much under represented but instrumental British Transport Aircraft.
See the kit develop on the Brit Modeller forum postings:
http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234973041-blackburn-beverley-1144/
The Blackburn B-101 Beverley was a 1950s British heavy transport aircraft built by Blackburn and General Aircraft and flown by squadrons of Royal Air Force Transport Command from 1957 until 1967.
The aircraft was a high-wing cantilever monoplane with a fixed undercarriage. The large fuselage had a tail boom fitted with a tailplane with twin fins. The tail boom allowed access to the rear of the fuselage through removable clamshell doors. A 36 ft (11 m) main fuselage space was supplemented by passenger accommodation in the tail boom. The main cargo hold could accommodate 94 troops, with another 36 in the tail boom. In operation, it was regarded as "ungainly but highly effective" and was described by Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Freer as "like something out of the Ark, but it was a superb supply dropper.”
Te aircraft was designed for carrying large bulk loads and landing them on rough or imperfect runways, or mere dirt strips. It could trace its design back to the GAL49 Hamilcar glider of the Second World War. When it entered service it was the largest aircraft in the Royal Air Force (RAF). It had a large interior cargo area split into two levels which amounted to around 6,003 ft³ (170 m³) of space. Paratroopers in the upper passenger area jumped through a hatch in the base of the boom just in front of the leading edge of the tailplane. Paratroopers in the main body exited through side doors.
The Beverley was equipped with toilets, which were situated in the tail beyond the paratroop hatch located on the floor of the tail boom. One fatality was caused by a serviceman who fell twenty feet to the ground when exiting the toilet, unaware that the paratroop hatch had been opened. Modifications were made to prevent the toilet doors from being opened when the paratroop hatch was open.[3]
In total, 49 of the aircraft were produced, with the last one being manufactured in 1958, and final retirement from RAF service was in 1967.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackburn_Beverley
An interesting article from 1948, Universal Transport" a 1948 Flight article on the GAL Universal Freighter (later renamed the Beverly):
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%200174.html
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%200175.html
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%200176.html
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%200177.html
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%200178.html
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