Burnelli UB-20

{{Infobox aircraft | name = UB-20 | logo = | logo_size = | image = Uppercu-Burnelli UB-20 3-view Aero Digest September,1930.png | alt = | caption = 3-view drawing of the UB-20 from the September 1930 issue of ''Aero Digest'' | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Civil transport | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = | manufacturer = Burnelli | design_group = | designer = Vincent Burnelli | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 1930 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }}

The '''Burnelli UB-20''' was a prototype lifting body airliner designed by Vincent Burnelli and built in the early 1930s.

==Design and development== The UB-20 was a high-wing monoplane with a fixed tail wheel landing gear. It is considered the first American construction to have a load-bearing fuselage skin covered with smooth sheet metal. The fuselage structure consisted of seven transverse frames and four T-side members made of duralumin as well as stringers with a U-section. The planking had a thickness of {{cvt|0.8|mm|in|3}} and was riveted to the substructure. The wings had a structure consisting of two metal box spars with special drawn T-shaped angle connections. The smooth sheet planking was {{cvt|0.5|mm|in|3}} thick. The tanks were in the wing root. The chassis and engine mounts were made from welded chrome-molybdenum steel tubes.<ref name=levy80>Howard Levy, Richard Riding: Burnelli’s Lifting Fuselages. Aeroplane Monthly, April 1980, S. 172 ff.</ref>

The 20-passenger passenger cabin was {{cvt|17|ft|1}} x {{cvt|12|ft|2|in|1}} and was {{cvt|5|ft|6|in|1}} high. This allowed bulky loads to be transported as well as passengers. The passenger cabin was very comfortably furnished for this time. There were folding seats, a washroom and bunks for night flights. As with most other Burnelli aircraft, the engines were accessible in flight. The machine also had very good single-engine flight characteristics, so the flight altitude could be maintained even with a full payload. Similar to the Remington-Burnelli RB-2, which carried an automobile in the fuselage for advertising purposes, the UB-20 did so in 1934 by moving a Ford automobile under the fuselage between the legs on behalf of the Sun Oil Company.<ref name=levy80/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meridian-int-res.com/Aeronautics/Burnelli_AIAA.pdf |title=The Contributions of Vincent Justus Burnelli |first=Richard |last=Wood |publisher=www.meridian-int-res.com |date= |accessdate=2020-04-03}}</ref>

==Specifications (UB-20)== {{Aircraft specs |ref= |prime units?=imp  |crew=2 |capacity=16 passengers |length ft=52 |length in=0 |length note= |span ft=90 |span in=1 |span note= |height ft=13 |height in= |height note= |wing area sqft= |wing area note= |aspect ratio= |airfoil= |empty weight lb= |empty weight note= |gross weight lb= |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity= |more general=  |eng1 number=2 |eng1 name=Packard 2500 |eng1 type= V-12 water-cooled piston engines |eng1 hp=750

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== References == {{Commons category|Uppercu-Burnelli UB-20}} {{reflist}}

Category:Burnelli aircraft Category:1930s United States civil aircraft Category:Lifting bodies Category:High-wing aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1930