Burgoyne-Stirling
D. Burgoyne and F/O Stirling
Contents
History
Donovan Cookes Burgoyne (b. 1901 in Yardley, Warwickshire - d. 25 Nov 1980 in Knowle Solihull) designed and built a single seat monoplane at his home at Darley Green, Warwickshire, originally known as the Darley Monoplane. The aircraft built using the remains of a two-seat B.K. Swallow cut down to suit as a basis. The wings were modified from the mainplanes of the Swallow. The centre section was eliminated on the smaller aircraft, with the mainplane junction became the wing root.
Work commenced around 1937 and by 1938 the fuselage was nearly complete. Don moved to Heronfield Farm, nearer to the local airfield at Knowle, on 1 September 1939, but at the time that the engine bearers were being made war broke out and halted manufacture.
Around 1946, Flying Officer Frederick Howard Stirling (b. 17 July 1891 Highgate, London – d. 16 Jun 1957 Windsor) purchased the airframe from Don Burgoyne and fitted an Aeronca JAP engine close to the bulkhead, much against Don's advice. To counteract the resulting tail heaviness he mounted a lead weight behind the bulkhead. It was Stirling that gave it the name Dicer and, although warned not to do so, he applied Don's unused registration G-AECN, originally taken out for his uncompleted Pou du Ciel DCB1, for which he was later reprimanded.
Company References
- Air Britain Archive 1992/3 (Air-Britain Publications)
Project Data
| Project No | Type No | Name | Alternative Name(s) | Year | Spec (Requirement) | Status | Qty | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dicer | 1939 | 1 | 1S, 1E low wing monoplane | 1,2,3,4 |
Project References
- Air Britain Archive 1992/3 (Air-Britain Publications)
- British Light Aeroplanes, Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume (GMS Enterprises, 2000)
- Aviation in Birmingham, Geoffrey Negus and Tommy Staddon (Midland Counties Publications, 1984)
- British Homebuilt Aircraft since 1920, Ken Ellis (Merseyside Aviation Society, 1975)
Production Details and Type Description
Single-seat low wing monoplane built using the remains of a two-seat B.K. Swallow cut down to suit as a basis. The wings were modified from the mainplanes of the Swallow, with the curved tips of the early B.K. version. The centre section was eliminated on the smaller Dicer and the mainplane junction became the wing root, but there is no evidence to show that the outer portions remained foldable. Like the Swallow the slab-sided fuselage and wings were ply-covered and all the control surfaces were fabric-covered. The intended powerplant was a Walter Mikron, but WW2 stopped any further work. Post war the engineless airframe was purchaced by stirling from Burgoyne and fitted with a 37 h.p. Aeronca El13C (JAP) powerplant.
| Specification | |||||||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW | Cruise Speed | Maximum Speed | Range | Service Ceiling |
| 34 ft | 19 ft | 5 ft | 190 sq ft | 630 lb | 800 lb | 70 mph/ 61 kn | 120 mph/ 104 kn | 250 mi | |
| 10.36 m | 5.79 m | 1.52 m | 17.65 m2 | 286 kg | 363 kg | 113 kph | 193 kph | 402 km | |
All dimensions are estimated [2]
One aircraft only : unauthorised use of the unused registration G-AECN originally taken out for D.C.Burgoyne's uncompleted Pou du Ciel DCB1.
Total Burgoyne-Stirling Production1
Page Revision History
Revised at Version 2.0.0- Improved Type Description and added Specification Details.