Blackburn Blackburn

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

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.

Three prototypes were flown during 1922, leading to an initial production contract for 12 aircraft. 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 1923-4. Its first operational deployment was with No. 422 Fleet Spotter Flight, which deployed aboard HMS Eagle (1918) in the Mediterranean in 1923.

A further order for 29 Blackburns was placed with the more powerful Napier Lion V engine and designated the Blackburn II. The upper wing was raised 22½ in (0.57 m) to improve handling. 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.


 * Blackburn II
 * Improved production version with a 464 hp (346 kW) Napier Lion V, and increased gap between wings. 29 built.


 * 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.

Operators

 * Royal Navy
 * Royal Air Force
 * Royal Air Force