What is a Burnelli Wing? | Skill-Lync

Vincent J. Burnelli wanted to make air travel extremely efficient. These motivations lead him to design rather an unorthodox aircraft. Majority of designs had extremely wide fuselages which were shaped like an airfoil. He argued that to increase the efficiency of an aircraft it was vital to design an efficient body. The aircraft that he design showed promising results but was shunned by the majority of his peers.

In this video, we talk about the various aircraft designed by the pioneer and also a brief history of them.

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References

[JFrazer]

That last one is similar to a later trans-atmospheric hypersonic model, but Burnelli in the '60s drew it as a high-subsonic liner. US patent 202149, 1965

More detail about the crash of the Burnelli in the '30s: due to mechanical error, the ailerons departed mid-air.
The plane hit the ground at 130kts, 100°+ roll, nose down.
Wings and tail turned into confetti and the engines broke off as the fuselage body cartwheeled across the field. It came to rest, upright, and when they broke it open and got them out, the crew walked away.

[ralphcapobianco]

Nice primer on Burnelli, although the aircraft pictured at 2.33 an 2.38 are not the CBY-3 but the UB-14A. The A version was lost in a crash. There was a level of safety designed into Burnelli aircraft just because of the shape of the fuselage. Thanks

rtc

[knytrydr]

I wonder how Bernelli designs would perform with a jet engine? Has anyone ever tried to build one?

[JFrazer]

See also the '70s Boeing model 754 and Husky international derivative.
With same engines and fuel load as a normal plane, it would get x1.75 or x2 load or range.
They dropped it rather than pay Burnelli patent royalties.

[alanjose]

Can you guys give some discount to the courses

[TheFberry]

Superior in every way. Slower takeoff and landing speeds due to superior lift capacity. Engines don't destroy the fuselage on crash. Less stress on the structure overall. Almost impossible to stall. Read about why the military did not use it because of FDR.