J.Bruce British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 (Putnam)

Beatty Biplane

  G.W. BEATTY was one of the leading American pilots of the pre-war period, and in 1912 he came to England for a period to demonstrate the Gyro rotary engine, an American-built power unit. In the following year he came back to Britain and started a school of flying at Hendon, using Wright biplanes fitted with 50 h.p. Gyro engines.
  In 1916 he built a small single-seat two-bay biplane of simple outline and construction; it was used at his flying school. In its original form the Beatty was powered by a 35 h.p. Y-type Anzani three-cylinder engine. The machine must have been badly underpowered, and later it was fitted with a 60 h p four-cylinder in-line engine designed and made by Mr Beatty. This engine was made in two forms: the first had its cylinders cast separately, whereas the second version had a monobloc casting of all four cylinders. Which form was fitted to the Beatty biplane is uncertain: both may have been installed at different times.
  The career of the Beatty biplane ended when it spun into the ground and was wrecked: the pilot, Stanley Cownie, was killed. The Beatty School of Flying closed down soon after the destruction of the little biplane.


SPECIFICATION
  Manufacturers: The Beatty School of Flying, Ltd., Cricklewood, London, N.
  Power: Originally 35 h.p. Anzani; later 60 h.p. Beatty.
  Performance: With Beatty engine the maximum speed was 65 m.p.h. and the initial rate of climb 800 ft per minute. Endurance: 2 1/2 hours.