USAF evaluation of the Boulton Paul « Balliol » trainer

According to the Vought Aircraft historical website:

« In July, 1950, the three YT-35 Buckaroos were delivered to Randolph AFB to compete with the Beech T-34 Mentor, the Fairchild T-31, Boulton Paul Balliol, and the DeHavilland DHC-1B Chipmunk trainers. »

I have never heard this mentioned anywhere else, nor have I ever seen any picture of that evaluation. If anyone has any material regarding this, however limited, blurry or incomplete, I'd be very curious to see it. For a start, did the aircraft sport temporary U.S.A.F. roundels?

Thanks for any help on this.

From Alec Brew "Boulton paul Aircraft", page 115:
"... Two other Balliols crossed the Atlantic, VR 600 and VR 601. The RAF was trying to convince
the United State Air Force of the advantages of side by side seating in trainers, and the two
Balliols were assigned to a special six months trial in Nevada, alongside the Noth American
T-28, which had tandem seating. "

To my opinion, those two aircraft still had their british livery.

Thanks Jens. Even in British livery, those I'd love to see those two Balliols photographed while in Nevada. Wonder if any pics have emerged...

Never knew of this before now. Quite fascinating! A quick Google search yields:

http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=99519

http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbaat.asp?theAT=balliol&Submit3=Go

According to the above, VR601 was with the 3525th Aircraft Gunnery Squadron when written off. Perhaps it can be inferred that they were put in U.S. markings for their (short) U.S. careers. Hopefully they weren't targets!

From Alec Brew book page 116

From Flight Magazine (over the Grand Canyon in 1951)

A little bit more on the Boulton Paul P.108 Balliol in the United States…

In the 1950 two Balliol's (VR600 and VR601) were flown to the US. They spent a period of six months as part of a trial of the North American T-28 Trojan (tandem seating) and P.108 Balliol (side-by-side seating) trainers for the United States Air Force. The two aircraft flew in their RAF markings and were flown by RAF pilots based at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The American’s ordered the T-28 Trojan at the end of the evaluation.

On 5th October VR600 crashed at Nellis AFB. VR601 returned to the UK as did the Merlin engine from the crashed example.

Although the British design was unsuccessful, the Boulton Paul Company had offered the type to the Americans with the option of a Pratt & Whitney 14-cylinder radial. This re-engine offering was to have carried the designation Balliol T.2A and would have resulted in a reduction in length of the fuselage.

Boulton Paul Balliol T.2A Project detail (estimated)
Engine: 1 x Pratt & Whitney R1820-SIC3-G R-1830 (1,200 hp) 14-cylinder radial
Length: 34 ft 7 in
Wing span: 39 ft 4 in
Wing area: 250 sq ft
Maximum speed: 270 mph at 4,500 ft
Time to height: 10 minutes 24 seconds to 10,000 ft

Source:
The Boulton Paul Balliol – The Last Merlin-Powered Aircraft by Alec Brew (Fonthill Media) ISBN-139781781553619

When did the R-1820 grow from 9 to 14 cylinders?

Sorry, I confess to very knowledge of engines... just made a note from the source.

Typo, should be R-1830.

The engine data entry is also incorrect in showing the Pratt & Whitney civil S1C3-G designation as a 'dash' of
the military R-1830 designation, should be R-1830-XX(S1C3-G) or S1C3-G(R-1830-XX).