# Rollason Beta > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rollason_Beta > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rollason_Beta.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollason_Beta > Source revision: 1307355028 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British racing plane}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}} {{Use British English|date=September 2017}} {{Infobox aircraft |name=Beta |image=G-BADC Rollason Beta B.2A (9670532337).jpg |caption=An amateur-built Beta |type=Single seat racing monoplane |manufacturer=[Rollason Aircraft and Engines](/source/Rollason_Aircraft_and_Engines) |designer= |first_flight=21 April 1967 |introduction= |retired= |status= |primary_user= |more_users= |produced= |number_built=4 (factory-built)
5 (homebuilt) |variants= }} The '''Rollason Beta''' was a British midget racing monoplane developed from a competition to build a [Formula One](/source/Formula_One_Air_Racing) air racer in the 1960s in England.Jackson 1988, p.288 The Beta was first flown on 21 April 1967. The aircraft were successful air-racers in England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. ==Development== The Beta was designed by the Luton Group (who were young technicians employed by the [British Aircraft Corporation](/source/British_Aircraft_Corporation) at Luton){{Cite web|url=https://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/SmithRon/13387.htm|title=Rollason Beta B1}} in a competition to design a racing aircraft, the Rollason Midget Racer Design Competition 1964. The Beta is a fully aerobatic wooden low-wing cantilever monoplane with a cantilever tailplane with a single fin and rudder, powered by a Continental engine of between 65 and 100 hp. It has a fixed-tailwheel landing gear and an enclosed cockpit for the pilot. The original prototype '''Luton Beta''' was not completed. The design was built commercially by [Rollason Aircraft and Engines](/source/Rollason_Aircraft_and_Engines) who made 4 aircraft at Redhill between 1967 and 1971.Jones 2002, p.7 Plans were also available for homebuilding; although 55 sets of drawings had been sold by early 1974, five aircraft have been registered but just three aircraft are known to have been completed, all in the UK. ==Operational history== The first Rollason-built Beta (registered G-ATLY and named ''Forerunner'') won the Manx Air Derby in 1969 and the second Rollason-built aircraft (registered G-AWHV and named ''Blue Chip'') won the Goodyear Trophy air race at [Halfpenny Green](/source/Halfpenny_Green) in 1969. G-ATLY was written off in an aerial collision with a Tiger Moth at Nottingham on 29 September 1973, killing the pilot,{{Cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/18985|title = Accident Rollason Beta G-ATLY, 29 Sep 1973}} G-AWHV was destroyed by fire in 1995 and G-AWHW crashed on 17 December 1987 at [RAF Wattisham](/source/RAF_Wattisham), Suffolk, killing the pilot.{{Cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/174176|title=Accident Rollason Beta B2a G-AWHW, 17 Dec 1987}} ==Variants== ;B.1 :Powered by a 65hp [Continental A65](/source/Continental_A65) engine, one built by Rollason later converted to B.2 ;B.2 :Powered by a 90hp [Continental C90](/source/Continental_C90) engine, one by Rollason and one conversion from B.1 ;B.2A :As B.2, but with steel sprung undercarriage, two built by Rollason ;B.4 :Powered by a 100hp [Rolls-Royce Continental O-200](/source/Continental_O-200)-A engine, none built. ==Specifications (Beta B.2)== {{Aircraft specs |ref=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1971–72 Taylor 1971, p.206. |prime units? = imp |crew=1 |length ft=16 |length in=8 |span m= |span ft=20 |span in=5 |height m= |height ft=5 |height in=0 |wing area sqm= |wing area sqft=66 |aspect ratio=6.15:1 |airfoil=NACA 23012 |empty weight kg= |empty weight lb=560 |gross weight kg= |gross weight lb=850 |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=[Continental C90](/source/Continental_C90) |eng1 kw= |eng1 hp=90 |fuel capacity={{convert|10.5|impgal|USgal L|abbr=on}} |max speed kmh= |max speed mph=202 |max speed note=at sea level |cruise speed mph=160 |cruise speed note=at {{convert|7000|ft|m|abbr=on}} |stall speed mph=60 |stall speed note=(without flaps) |range miles=320 |ceiling m= |ceiling ft=20,000 |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin=1,800 | }} ==References== {{reflist}} ===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book |last= Jackson|first= A. J.|title= British Civil Aircraft 1919-1972 Volume 3 |year= 1988|publisher= Putnam|location= London|isbn=0-85177-818-6}} * [http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1967/1967%20-%202052.html?search=Rollason%20Beta Flight International 19 October 1967] * {{cite book |last= Simpson |first= R. W. |title=Airlife's General Aviation |year=1995 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury |page=431 }} *{{cite book |editor-last= Taylor|editor-first=John W. R. |author-link=John W. R. Taylor |title=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1971–72 |year=1971 |publisher= Jane's Yearbooks|location=London|isbn=0-354-00094-2 }} *{{cite book |last= Jones|first= Michael|title= Tiger Club - The Redhill Saga Volume 3 1977-1989|year= 2002|publisher= Cirrus Associates|location= Gillingham, Dorset|isbn=1-902807-12-X}} {{refend}} ==External links== {{commons category}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070211100118/http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=766 Rollason Beta] – British Aircraft Directory Category:1960s British sport aircraft Category:Homebuilt aircraft Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft Category:Low-wing aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1967 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rollason Beta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollason_Beta) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollason_Beta?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.