Rohrbach Ro IV

Ro IV
Beardmore Inverness
Role	Flying boat Type of aircraft
National origin	Germany
Manufacturer	Rohrbach/William Beardmore and Company
First flight	1925
Status	Prototype
Primary user	Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment
Number built	2
Developed from	Rohrbach Ro III

The Rohrbach Ro IV, also known as the Beardmore BeRo.2 Inverness was an all-metal monoplane flying boat of the 1920s. Designed by the German company Rohrbach for the British Royal Air Force, two were ordered, one completed by Rohrbach's Danish subsidiary and the second by the British licensees, William Beardmore and Company, but the type performed poorly during testing and was abandoned.

Dr.-Ing. Adolf Rohrbach, formerly of Zeppelin-Staaken, set up Rohrbach Metall-Flugzeugbau in 1922 to design and build large all-metal aircraft, with stressed skin structures, unusual for the time. In order to evade the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, Rohrbach set up a Danish subsidiary, Rohrbach Metal-Aeroplan Co A/S to assemble aircraft.^[1]

The Scottish shipbuilding company William Beardmore and Company of Dalmuir agreed a license manufacturing deal with Rohrbach in 1924.^[2] The British Air Ministry was interested in the use of metal hulls for flying boats, and therefore drew up Specification 20/24 for an all-metal monoplane flying boat to compare with the wooden biplanes in service with the Royal Air Force.^[3] In November 1924 Beardmore received an order for two Rorhbach flying boats,^[3] based on Rohrbach's Ro III but powered by British Napier Lion engines.^[4]

The Ro IV, known as the BeRo.2 Inverness by Beardmore, was a twin-engined high-winged cantilever monoplane, constructed mainly of duralumin. Its two engines were mounted in streamlined tractor nacelles above the wing centre section; the slab-sided fuselage accommodated the crew of four.^[5][6]

In order to speed delivery, the first aircraft serial number N183 was assembled in Rohrbach's Copenhagen factory from parts made in Rohrbach's main works in Berlin. It was delivered to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe on 18 September 1925, but testing showed the aircraft had poor handling both in the air and on the water, and poor performance, and it was destroyed during strength testing in May 1927.^[5][7]

The second prototype, assembled by Beardmore from Berlin-built parts, did not fly until 30 November 1928. While it incorporated a revised fuel and cooling system and a modified rudder, N184 still demonstrated poor performance. The programme was stopped in April 1929, and the prototype scrapped.^[8]

Data from British Flying Boats^[9]

General characteristics

• Length: 56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
• Wingspan: 94 ft 0 in (28.65 m)
• Height: 16 ft 3 in (4.95 m)
• Wing area: 760.7 sq ft (70.67 m²)
• Empty weight: 10,580 lb (4,799 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 13,160 lb (5,969 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Napier Lion V W12 engine, 450 hp (340 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 110 mph (180 km/h, 96 kn)
• Endurance: 4 hr 30 min (estimated)
• Service ceiling: 8,750 ft (2,670 m)
• Rate of climb: 550 ft/min (2.8 m/s)

• Beardmore Inflexible

Related lists

• List of flying boats and floatplanes

• "All-Metal Flying Boats For Britain". Flight. Vol. XVI, no. 812. 17 July 1924. pp. 449–451. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
• Donald, David, ed. (1997). The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Leicester, UK: Blitz Editions. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.
• Jarrett, Philip (February 1990). "Beardmore's heavy metal monsters". Aeroplane Monthly. Vol. 18, no. 2. pp. 74–79. ISSN 0143-7240.
• London, Peter (2003). British Flying Boats. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-2695-3.
• "The Beardmore-Rohrbach "Inverness" Flying Boat". Flight. Vol. XVII, no. 874. 24 September 1925. pp. 617–618. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
• Stroud, John (January 1991). "Wings of Peace". Aeroplane Monthly. Vol. 19, no. 1. pp. 50–54. ISSN 0143-7240.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rohrbach Ro IV.

• "Rohrbach Ro IV" "Inverness".