Blackburn Blackburn

Short description: 1922 reconnaissance aircraft family by Blackburn

R.1 Blackburn

Blackburn Blackburn II

General information
Manufacturer| Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company Limited
Management and usage| Fleet Air Arm

Number built| 62[1]
History
Introduction date| 1923
First flight| 1922
Retired| 1931
Developed from| Blackburn T.2 Dart

The Blackburn R-1 Blackburn was a 1920s British single-engine fleet spotter/reconnaissance aircraft built by Blackburn Aircraft.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Variants
* 3 Operators
* 4 Specifications (Blackburn I)
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 Bibliography

## History

The Blackburn was developed to meet a naval requirement (Specification 3/21) for a carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft and gun spotting aircraft. Blackburn designed a new fuselage and used the wing and tail surfaces from the Blackburn Dart. The pilot sat in an open cockpit above the engine, a navigator sat inside the fuselage and a gun position was located at the rear of the fuselage cabin. The aircraft's two-bay wings could fold for stowage aboard aircraft carriers, with the upper wing attached directly to the fuselage, which filled the interplane gap. Armament was a single forward-firing Vickers machine gun mounted externally to the left of the pilot, with a Lewis gun on a Scarff ring for the gunner.[2]

Three prototypes were flown during 1922, leading to an initial production contract for 12 aircraft.[3] The production aircraft were designated Blackburn I and the first deliveries to the Fleet Air Arm at Gosport began in April 1923. 18 more Blackburn Is were built in 1923–1924.[4] Its first operational deployment was with No. 422 Fleet Spotter Flight, which deployed aboard Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. in the Mediterranean in 1923.[5]

A further order was placed for 29 Blackburns with the more powerful Napier Lion V engine, designated the Blackburn II. The upper wing was raised 22 1⁄2 inches (0.57 m) to improve handling.[4] A few Blackburns were used as dual-control trainers and all the Blackburn Is were converted to II standard before the type became obsolete in 1931, when they were replaced by the Fairey IIIF.

## Variants

Blackburn
Prototype, three built.
Blackburn I
Production version with a 449 hp (335 kW) Napier Lion IIB engines, 33 built.[5]
Blackburn II
Improved production version with a 464 hp (346 kW) Napier Lion V, and increased gap between wings. 29 built.[6]
Blackburn Blackburn Trainer

Blackburn Trainer
Trainer version of Blackburn I, fitted with side-by-side cockpit and dual controls. Known by the Fleet Air Arm as the Bull. Two out of Blackburn I batch.[7]

## Operators

United Kingdom

* Royal Air Force[8]
* No. 422 (Fleet Spotter) Flight RAF – 1923–1928
* Royal Navy
* Fleet Air Arm[8]
* No. 420 (Fleet Spotter) Flight RAF – 1926–1928
* No. 449 (Fleet Spotter Reconnaissance) Flight FAA – 1929–1931
* No. 450 (Fleet Spotter Reconnaissance) Flight FAA – 1929–1931

## Specifications (Blackburn I)

Data from British Naval Aircraft since 1912 [6]

General characteristics

* Crew: 3
* Length: 36 ft 2 in (11.02 m)
* Wingspan: 45 ft 6 in (13.87 m)
* Height: 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
* Wing area: 650 sq ft (60 m2)
* Empty weight: 3,929 lb (1,782 kg)
* Gross weight: 5,962 lb (2,704 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 6,648 lb (3,015 kg)
* Powerplant: 1 × Napier Lion IIB W-12 water-cooled piston engine, 450 hp (340 kW)

Performance

* Maximum speed: 122 mph (196 km/h, 106 kn) at 3,000 ft (914 m)
* Endurance: 4 hours 15 minutes
* Service ceiling: 12,950 ft (3,950 m)
* Rate of climb: 690 ft/min (3.5 m/s)

Armament

* Guns: 2 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis guns

## See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

* Avro Bison

Related lists

* List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force

## References

1. ↑ Jackson 1968, pp. 168–169.
2. ↑ Jackson 1968, pp. 160–161.
3. ↑ Jackson 1968, p. 162.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jackson 1968, p. 164.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Thetford 1978, p. 48.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Thetford 1978, p. 49.
7. ↑ Thetford 1978, p. 50.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Jackson 1968, pp. 169.

## Bibliography

* Jackson, A. J. (1968). Blackburn Aircraft since 1909. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-00053-6.
* Thetford, Owen (1978). Aircraft of the Royal Navy since 1912 (4th ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-30021-1.
* The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (part work 1982–1985). London: Orbis. OCLC 16544050.

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