| Brigadier | |
|---|---|
| Role | Light transport |
| National origin | United States of America |
| Manufacturer | Baumann Aircraft Corporation |
| First flight | June 1947 |
| Number built | 2 |
| Variants | Custer CCW-5 |
The Baumann Brigadier was a prototype American light transport aircraft of the late 1940s. It was a twin-engined monoplane, which, unusually, was of pusher configuration. Only two were built, plans for production never coming to fruition.
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Jack Baumann, who had worked for the Taylor Aircraft Company (later to become Piper Aircraft) and Lockheed,[1][2] set up the Baumann Aircraft Corporation in Pacoima, Los Angeles, California in 1945.[3] His first design for the new company was the B-250 Brigadier, a twin-engined pusher monoplane intended as an executive transport. It was of all-metal construction, with cantilever shoulder mounted wings, and with the pusher engines mounted in nacelles on the wing. An enclosed cabin accommodated a pilot and four passengers, while the aircraft was fitted with a retractable nosewheel undercarriage.[3]
The first prototype, powered by two 125 hp (93 kW) engines (hence the B-250 designation) flew on 20 June 1947.[4] Piper were interested in building a tractor version of the Brigadier, and purchased the B-250 prototype and its drawings, designating it the PA-21,[4][5] with some sources [4] claiming that the B-250 formed the basis of the Piper Apache, although other sources state that Piper abandoned work on the PA-21 and that the Apache was unrelated.[5]
Baumann continued development of the pusher Brigadier, with the second example, the B-290, being fitted with 145 hp (108 kW) Continental C-145 engines but was otherwise similar to the B-250. Production at a rate of one aircraft per month was planned for the B-290.[3] The Brigadier was chosen by Willard Ray Custer as the basis of his Custer CCW-5, which used the fuselage and tail of the Brigadier, but had a modified wing with the engines sitting in U-shaped ducts,[6] but other than the two CCW-5s no production of the B-290 followed. Baumann continued to propose more powerful versions of the Brigadier, but no hardware resulted.[4]
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54.[3]
General characteristics
Performance
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