Bellanca TES
| TES/Blue Streak | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Distance record aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Bellanca Aircraft Corporation |
| Designer | Giuseppe Mario Bellanca |
| First flight | 1929 |
| Retired | 1931 |
| Status | crashed |
| Number built | 1 |
| Unit cost |
$25,000 |
Rear view of the ill-fated TES
The Bellanca TES (Tandem Experimental Sesquiplane) or Blue Streak was a push-pull sesquiplane aircraft designed by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca in 1929 for the first non-stop flight from Seattle to Tokyo.[1]
In 1930 it was refitted with two 600 hp Curtiss Conqueror engines and reinforced for the Chicago Daily News as a cargo plane named The Blue Streak. The aircraft crashed on 26 May, 1931 when the rear propeller driveshaft broke due to vibration and all four on board lost their lives.
Specifications (with Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines)
Data from [2]
General characteristics
- Crew: four
- Length: 44 ft 2 in / fuselage 25 ft 0 in (13,46 m / fuselage 7,62 m)
- Wingspan: 83 ft 2 in (25,35 m)
- Height: ()
- Wing area: ft (85 m²)
- Empty weight: 6,990 lb (3,170 kg)
- Max. takeoff weight: 20,945 lb (9,500 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp, 425 hp (317 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 149 mph (240 km/h)
- Range: 3,100 - 9,300 mi (5000 - 15000 km)
- Endurance: up to 100 hours
References
- ↑ Bellanca's Secret, Time, 1929-05-06
- ↑ Letec magazine, volume V, issue 11, page 582-583, November 1929, in Czech
Bibliography
- Alan Abel and Drina Welch Abel: Bellanca's Golden Age, Stockton : Wild Canyon Books, 2004, ISBN 1-891118-46-3
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bellanca TES. |
- Page dedicated to Shirley J. Short
- Bellanca TES images from the archive of San Diego Air & Space Museum
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