  REVISED: 10/13/08
Garvan-Burnelli, Remington-Burnelli, Uppercu-Burnelli 1915: (Vincent Justus) Burnelli Aircraft Co, Maspeth NY, Keyport NJ. 1916: Continental Aircraft Corp, Danbury CT. 1920: Merged as Remington-Burnelli Aircraft Corp, Amityville NY. 1924: (Thomas) Garvan-Burnelli Aircraft Corp, Hartford CT. c.1927: (Inglis M) Uppercu-Burnelli Corp. 1935: Acquired rights to Aeromarine Aircraft & Motor Co; sold motor rights to Lenape Corp. 1945: Canadian Car & Foundry Co Ltd, Montreal Canada. 19??: Burnelli Avionics Corp, Baltimore MD. 19??: The Burnelli Co (p: Chalmers Goodlin), Coral Gables FL. A-1 1935 - Twin-engine bomber design for USAAC consideration only got as far as a mock-up, which failed to pique military interest. Elements went into WW2 XCG-1 design. CB-16 aka Uppercu-Burnelli CB-300 1928 = 22pO/ChwM rg; two 500-625hp Curtiss Conqueror; span: 90'0" (?>88'0") length: 46'0" load: 6680# v: 150/128/52 range: 800 (?>1300). Fuselage length: 36'0" width: 12'0". Vincent Burnelli Twin airfoil-shaped fuselages, twin tails; first twin-motor ship to have a retracting gear. Pilots sat in open cockpits ahead of the wing, while passengers luxuriated in a plush, heated, well-lit, 12' x 18' cabin complete with a galley, and lavatories with running water. 1000-gal fuel tankage. Built at the Aeromarine plant, where Burnelli had leased shop space. $230,000 (included design and enginering costs); POP: 1 for Sky Lines Inc [X118E]. Stalled on a takeoff in 1929 and crashed, but with no injuries—a testament to its robust construction. 
Burnelli CBY-3 [N17N] Rutas Aereas Nacionales (Burnelli)CBY-3 Loadmaster (Canada) 1945 = Evolution of UB-14, built by Canadian Car & Foundry Co for bush operations. 25pChwM; two 1200hp P&W R-1830; ff: 8/x/45 (p: Chalmers H Goodlin). Cabin: 26' x 20'. POP: 1 [CFBELX=N17N=WXERC=N17N]. Acquired with design rights by Airlifts Inc (Miami FL), then went to Venezuela, and returned to Burnelli Avionics for refitting with Wright R-2600s, finally ended its flying days in 1964 to undergo restoration at Connecticut Air Museum. Left outside in the elements, it is presently in an advanced state of decay. Pilot report: It was very stable and its rugged, compact fuselage of enormous volume gave one the feeling of riding in an armored car; the flight characteristics were a joy. Engine-out asymmetrical thrust problems were virtually nil, and stability was near perfect in all axes. The nose pitched straight forward in a stall, but as soon as the control column was released the airplane would fly again. On a 95-degree day in Miami, with 9000 pounds overload, the airplane was off the ground in 1400', climbing out at a fantastic angle. With a similar payload, the C-46 would need a ground run of about 3000'. After putting the CBY-3 through its paces and recognizing its unique safety features, I couldn't help but think: 'Why in blazes have we all been forced to fly in those dangerous conventional planes all these years?' (— Chalmers Goodlin, 1998) CG-1 1943 - Glider modified from A-1, with the lifting body concept, would carry 40 armed troops or four tons of cargo. In spite of favorable performance reports from test pilots, USAAF declined to accept it. POP: 1 as XCG-1. 
Burnelli GX-3 [X124H] (EAA)GX-3 aka Uppercu-Burnelli UB-SS 1929 = 2pOmwM; two 90hp ACE Cirrus Mk III; span: 49'0" length: 26'0" load: 1950 v: 135/x/30. Twin-boom, twin-tail design was the first multi-engine craft to feature full-span flaps, and variable-camber wing; pivoting wingtip ailerons. Although it looked like it came out of an Air Trails Bill Barnes novelette, landings and takeoffs in 300' were impressive. POP: 1 one-third-scale version for the Guggenheim Safe Aircraft Competition arrived too late to enter [X124H]. KB-3 SEE Continental 
Burnelli RB-1 (Burnelli)RB-1 aka Remington-Burnelli 1920 = 27pCB; two 420hp Liberty 12; span: 74'0" length: 42'0" v: 105/90/45 range: 760. Cabin width: 14'7" length: 16'0". First airfoil-shaped "lifting body" fuselage with motors mounted side-by-side in the nose. POP: 1, crashed during testing because of inadequate tail control. Burnelli applied for a patent on his all-wing design on 1/6/21, but it wasn't until 5/13/30 that he was finally issued US patent #1,758,498.
Remington-Burnelli (magazine clip)
Remington-Burnelli 1/72 model (Claudio Luchina)Transport aka Remington-Burnelli 1921 = 8-11pCB; two 400hp Liberty 12; span: 78'0" length: 22'3" load: 6150#. Wide, airfoil-shape fuselage with motors mounted side-by-side in front, twin rudders.. 
Burnelli UB-14 [X14740] (E J Young coll)UB-14 aka Uppercu-Burnelli 1934 = Prototype of UB-14B with two 340hp P&W Wasps; span: 71'0" length: 43'0" load: 5700# v: 210/185/63 range: 600. POP: 1 [X14740], crashed 1/13/35 at Newark NJ (p: Louis Reichers), hitting the ground at an estimated speed of 130mph. While the wings and empennage disintegrated into a pile of scrap metal and wood, the fuselage cartwheeled, but remained intact and suffered no fuel leakage or crew injuries, which dramatically spoke for the design's structural integrity. Built under license by Cunliffe-Owen in England 1938, the design was modified into their OA-1. UB-14B aka Uppercu-Burnelli 1935 = 16p ChwM lifting body similar to UB-20, but smaller, with two 680-750hp P&W supercharged Hornets; span: 71'0" length: 44'0" load: 8300# v: 225/x/63 range: 600 ceiling: 22,000'. POP: 1 [X/R15320], possibly went to Finland; ultimate disposition unknown. 
The singular Burnelli silhouette
Burnelli UB-20 [NR397N] (Frank Rezich coll)
Burnelli UB-20 [NR397N] (Ed Popejoy coll)
Burnelli UB-20 Flying car? (news clip via Ed Drury)UB-20 aka Uppercu-Burnelli 1930 = 16pO/ChwM lifting body based on CB-16; two 750hp water-cooled Packard; span: 91'0" length: 52'0" (?>37'0") load: 8140#; ff: 6/5/30 (p: Roger Q Williams). Third of Burnelli's all-metal, stressed-skin, airfoil-fuselage designs; twin-boom empennage; 1000-gallon fuel tanks. POP: 1 [X/NR397N]. In a publicity flight by Lou Reichers, UB-20 carried a Ford V-8 convertible strapped to its belly (pic above) over Floyd Bennett Field NY. 
Burnelli Wing Projected airliner or USAF bomberWing - 80pC flying wing; six 200hp Rolls-Royce Merlin; span: 200'0" length: 80'0" load: 40 tons v: x/310/x range: 4000 (all specs are exstimates). Engines drove four pairs of contrarotating props. Vincent Burnelli's visionary post-WW2 lifting-body project might have reshaped the airline industry—1946 press release claimed that "Continental Airways is considering this ship for post-war use"—had funding and political support been received. 
Burnelli-Carisi (Paul Matt coll via Avn Heritage)-Carisi Biplane 1915 = 2pOswB; 100hp Curtiss OX-3 pusher. Vincent Burnelli, John Carisi. Side-by-side cockpit; Burnelli's first plane. -Continental KB-1 SEE Continental (1912). |
Burnelli RB-2
Burnelli RB-2