Belloli B.54 Avvoltoio

Parada-Vara B-1 Morsa
A RB-1 of the 16th Tactical Reconnaissance squadron
Role	Light bomber
National origin	Temuair
Manufacturer	Parada-Vara
First flight	October 11, 1950
Introduction	1954
Retired	1985
Status	In limited service
Primary user	Imperial Air Force of Temuair

The Parada-Vara B-1 is a twin engine, light bomber and torpedo bomber designed and produced by Parada-Vara of Temuair, and was used extensively by the Imperial Air Force of Temuair. In addition to serving as a strike craft, the B-49 air frame was also used for multiple other purposes, including intelligence, reconnaissance, and electrons warfare operations.

Design

The B-1 is a twin engine, swept wing tactical bomber with a crew of three, including the pilot, bombardier-navigator and a third crewmen-navigator, who also operated the twin 20 mm cannon located in the bombers tail section, as well as the aircraft's defensive electronic systems. The unique cockpit arrangement set the pilot and bombardier-navigator side by side in a raised compartment, with the third crewmen sat behind and below the pilot in a rear-facing seat. The aft crew station provided equipment for long-age navigation as well. Later versions, including the B-49RBE electronic reconnaissance aircraft, would add an additional 4 crew stations in the converted bomb bay.

The initial production engine for the B-1 was the Andrade I-78 turbojet engine. This engine proved to be both inefficient in design and power, as it was originally designed as the powerplant for an air-breathing cruise missile and not for aircraft. It lacked several features inherent to other aircraft turbojets at the time, the most dangerous of which was a lack of drain feature in the compressor stage, which is used to drain excess fuel after the engine is shut down. The lack required that a ground crew member manually released a drain valve prior to the engines being shut down after landing, placing that crewmen in significant danger while working near the operating turbojet. In addition, the draining jet fuel became a fire hazard after it was drained onto the parking ramp.

While in service, the Andrade I-78 proved to have an excessively high meantime between failure rate due to poor construction quality. In 1959, the Imperial Air Force selected the AE-920 tubrojet, produced by Areiva, to replace the Andrade I-78. New production B-1's recieved these engines, and existing air frames had their engines replaced when the existing Andrade I-78s reached their maximum life expediency.

Variants

B-1

Production model light bomber for the Imperial Air Force.

UB-1

Unarmed trainer

RB-1

All-weather photo reconnaissance version with 12 separate camera stations.

EB-1

Electronic reconnaissance and ECM version with extra crew seats, expanding the crew from 3 to 7, with the extra crew stations in the bomb bay. These aircraft wee intended to conduct electronic reconnaissance missions and ECM support operations. Aircraft were equipped with distinctive wingtip pods which housed the aircraft jamming equipment.

CB-1

Weather reconnaissance platform converted from existing RB-49 aircraft. A total of 6 conversions were completed.

ZB-1

Target drone version

Operators

Former

• Temuair
  • Imperial Air Force of Temuair

Specifications (B-1)

General characteristics

• Crew: 3
• Length: 75 ft 2 in (22.9 m)
• Wingspan: 72 ft 6 in (22.1 m)
• Height: 23 ft 7 in (7.2 m)
• Wing area: 780 ft² (72.5 m²)
• Empty weight: 42,540 lb (19,300 kg)
• Loaded weight: 57,800 lb (26,200 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 83,000 lb (38,000 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Areiva AE-930 turbojets, 10,500 lbf (46.7 kN) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 631 mph (548 kn, 1,020 km/h)
• Combat radius: 900 mi (780 nmi, 1,500 km)
• Ferry range: 2,470 mi (2,150 nmi, 3,970 km)
• Service ceiling: 39,400 ft (12,000 m)
• Rate of climb: 5,000 ft/min (25 m/s)
• Wing loading: 74.1 lb/ft² (361.4 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.35

Armament

• 2 x Srad CR.20/1 20 mm cannons in radar-controlled/remotely operated tail turret
• 15,000 lb (6,803.9 kg) of free-fall bombs

Avionics
Graymayre B-213 bombing radar and Graymayre BU-277 search radar