On this day in aviation history, 59 years ago (April 21, 1967), the first flight of the Rollason Beta took place. The Beta was a midget racer that was born during the 1960s, from a British competition to develop a Formula One air racer. From the late 1960s until the early 1970s, the Beta was a successful air racer in England. The Beta was ultimately built by Rollason Aircraft and Engines, a former British aircraft manufacturer which also handled maintenance and refurbishment. Rollason designed and flew 3 aircraft during their time in business: the Druine Turbulent, Druine Condor, and the Beta. Designers from the Luton Group were employed by the British Aircraft Corporation to design a racing aircraft that would participate in the 1964 Rollason Midget Racer Design Competition. What resulted from the Luton Group’s design efforts was a fully aerobatic wooden low-wing monoplane, with a cantilever tailplane that had a single fin and rudder. Luton’s original Beta prototype, though appealing in concept, was never completed by the group. Rollason took over the Betas development and came up with multiple variants. The B.1 variant was powered by a 65 hp Continental A65 engine originally, but then converted to accept a 90hp Continental C90, and the B.1 was redesignated as the B.2. A B.2A was built by Rollason that featured a steel-sprung undercarriage. The model B.4 was proposed by Rollason to be powered by a 100hp Rolls-Royce Continental O-200-A engine. However, this variant was never produced.
The Beta B.2, with its C90 engine, could cruise at 160 mph and attain a maximum airspeed of 202 mph. The B.2’s stall speed was 60 mph. Rollason’s midget air racer had a range of 280 nautical miles, a service ceiling of 20,000 feet, and could climb at a rate of 1,800 feet per minute. Between 1967 and 1971, Rollason built 4 Beta aircraft commercially from their location at Redhill. Rollason also offered plans for the aircraft, and by early 1974, they had sold 55 sets of drawings. The first Rollason-built Beta (G-ATLY/Forerunner) won the Manx Air Derby in 1969. The second Beta (G-AWHV/Blue Chip) won the Goodyear Trophy air race at Halfpenny Green in 1969. Unfortunately, both aircraft would eventually be lost to accidents. Today, there are five Betas registered in the UK, but only three aircraft are known to have been completed.
