Blackburn Low Volume Production

Two-seat tractor seaplane designed for the 1914 Seaplane Circuit of Britain. It featured unstaggered two-bay wings, the upper plane having a span of 14 ft 6 in greater than the lower, with outward-sloping struts connecting the two extremities. The upper plane carried long ailerons extending over 70% of the span. The wings and the square-section fuselage were wooden frames with fabric covering, although the fuselage decking was aluminium. The pilot's seat was just behind the wing trailing edge, with the second seat under the wing. Tail surfaces were conventional, apart from the rudder horn balance positioned under the rear end of the fuselage. The floats were attached to the fuselage with six ash struts and separated by a pair of parallel spreader-bars fore and aft. The hydrodynamics of floats was still evolving at the time, and those on the Type L were unusual in having a step close to the nose, followed by an arched, flat-bottomed underside aft to the second step. There was a small float under the tail. One cowled 130 h.p. Salmson 9 powerplant.
Following the outbreak of WWI and its impounding by the Admiralty, some modifications were made to it, aimed at cooling and control problems: the engine cowling was removed and the long-span ailerons replaced with much shorter surfaces near the wingtips, protruding well behind the wing trailing edges. A wider-chord propeller was also added. At some point, it carried a .303 in machine gun

Projected Variant: 1914 Seaplane; enlarged derivative of the Type L. 200 h.p. Gnome Monosoupape powerplant.

Type L Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
49 ft 6 in	32 ft 6 in	12 ft 6 in	481 sq ft	1717 lb	2475 lb		81 mph/ 70 kn	445 mi	1100 ft
15.09 m	9.91 m	3.81 m	44.69 m2	779 kg	1123 kg		130 km/h	716 km	335 m

Single-seat fighter triplane, designed by Harris Booth specifically to attack Zeppelins. It featured single-bay wings with heavy stagger, carrying six ailerons. The lower wing was close to the ground so two underwing skids were added below the interplane struts. The aircraft was to be armed with a quick-firing, recoilless Davis gun that used 2 lb shells, though this was probably never fitted. At the time, there was no way of synchronising such a weapon with the propeller, or of mounting it elsewhere than the fuselage, so a pusher configuration was necessary, the pilot sitting in a nacelle with the gun in its nose. The mid-line of the nacelle, with the engine at its rear, was on the centre plane. Four parallel tail booms ran aft, two from the mid-span of the upper wing and the others from the lower wing. These four members carried the tail. The tailplane, mounted on the upper booms and bearing a full-width elevator, had a span of 18 ft 10 in, no less than 78% of the wingspan. A pair of fins and rudders joined the upper and lower booms. The mainwheels were mounted on a single axle supported by two pairs of struts to the nacelle. One 110 h.p. Clerget powerplant driving a four-blade propeller, later replaced with a 100 h.p. Gnome Monosoupape with a two-blade propeller.

Triplane Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Endurance	Service Ceiling
24 ft	21 ft 5 in	8 ft 6 in	221 sq ft				115 mph/ 100 kn	3 hr
7.32 m	6.53 m	2.59 m	20.53 m2				185 km/h

Single seat fighter pusher flying-boat, employing a two-step hull of Linton Hope design, to meet A.D. Specification N.1(b). The mainplanes were built round rectangular box spars with two-ply spruce webs and spruce flanges. They were designed to fold to a mean width of 11 ft 2 in, and it is probable that it was intended to have jettisonable wheels for taking-off from the decks of naval vessels.  The two-step hull swept upwards at the rear, and it is probable that this was to have been a watertight plywood structure as on the A.D. Flying-Boats. The ends of all aerofoil surfaces were elliptical, directional control was by twin rudders, and ailerons were fitted to all four wings. Non-availability of the engine slowed down the work of construction at Leeds and, when work ceased, Blackburns had completed only the hull of their first machine N56, and the other two, N57 and N58, existed merely as a number of sub-assemblies. One 200 h.p. Hispano-Suiza powerplant, mounted high up under the top centre section, driving a two-bladed, fabric-covered, mahogany propeller, cooled by a circular radiator mounted in front.

N.1B Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
34 ft 10 in	28 ft 3.5 in		314 sq ft	1721 lb	2390 lb		114 mph/ 99 kn	340 mi	16000 ft
10.62 m	8.62 m		29.17 m2	781 kg	1084 kg		183 km/h	547 km	4877 m

Single-seat, three-bay biplane shipborne torpedo-bomber to meet A.D. Specification N.1(b) (later RAF Type XXII). Of all wood construction, it featured unswept, unstaggered wings and a slab-sided fuselage, designed to facilitate rapid production. The fuselage, of constant depth along its entire length and constant width for the forward two thirds. The deep box structure this formed had a high strength-weight ratio and simplified construction, with most of the component members, such as the longerons and spacers, being common items. The wings were similarly simple, of constant chord and section and designed around common components, and were able to fold backwards to allow storage in a ship's hangar. All four mainplanes were identical in shape, each fitted with ailerons, and the four interconnected ailerons could also be used as flaps for take-off and landing. The pilot's cockpit was situated towards the rear of the aircraft. The Blackburd's undercarriage had to be jettisoned before the torpedo could be dropped, requiring the aircraft to land on steel skids. Armed with one 1,423 lb Admiralty Mark VIII torpedo. One 350 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII powerplant.

Blackburd Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Endurance	Service Ceiling
52 ft 5 in	34 ft 10 in	12 ft 4.5 in	684 sq ft				91 mph/ 79 kn	3 hr	11000 ft
15.98 m	10.62 m	3.77 m	63.55 m2				146 km/h		3353 m

Two-seat ultra-light monoplane of wood and fabric construction, the side-by-side seating giving rise to the name Sidecar. The triangular-section fuselage was unusually deep, such that the undercarriage cross-axle was attached to the keel. It was of fabric-covered wooden construction, each of the three sides being a lattice girder built up with diagonal spruce struts. Above the top longerons the main fuselage was surmounted by a light plywood superstructure which swept upwards from the tail to the shoulder height of the crew. At the top of this fairing the landing wires were attached to a specially strengthened cross-member which also served as an instrument panel, and above this were twin Triplex windscreens. Entry was by downward hinging doors of the type used on motorcycle sidecars, and provision was made for quick conversion to a cabin type if required.  Wings and other flying surfaces were of constant chord, the mainplane being built in two halves using spruce box spars with spruce and plywood ribs, spruce drift struts, and leading and trailing edges of flattened steel tube. The whole structure was wire-braced internally and externally. The rectangular, balanced rudder and the halves of the all-moving tailplane were built up on tubular-steel spars with spruce and plywood ribs and steel-tube edging. One 40 h.p. A.B.C. Gnat powerplant.

Sidecar Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
27 ft 3 in	20 ft 6 in	6 ft 3 in	123 sq ft	392 lb	850 lb		83 mph/ 72 kn	300 mi
8.31 m	6.25 m	1.91 m	11.43 m2	178 kg	386 kg		134 km/h	483 km

Three-seat monoplane deck-landing land and sea reconnaissance aircraft designed by Major F.A.Bumpus to Specification 37/22. The wooden-sparred thick wing was of low aspect ratio, with a maximum chord section of about 38% of the span. This chord was maintained from about ¼-½ the span with a much narrower centre section to improve vision; the wingtips were very square. The wings, braced with N-type struts to the fuselage, could be folded by rotation around an inclined axis so that they lay chord-vertical alongside the fuselage for storage aboard an aircraft carrier. The fuselage was of semi-monocoque construction with ash longerons and a plywood covering. The tail unit had a braced tailplane and fin with a balanced rudder. The pilot sat in an open cockpit forward of the wing for optimum visibility during deck landings and behind him in an enclosed, windowed cabin were the navigator and wireless operator, who could access an open gunner's position further aft. The pilot was able to enter the cabin if needed, in which case the navigator could fly the aircraft from a rear folding seat provided with duplicate controls. Armament consisted of one forward firing 0.5 in Vickers machine gun plus one 0.303 in Lewis gun on Scarff ring in gunner's cockpit. Bombs could be carried externally, beneath the fuselage.
The second prototype carried small stabilising fins on the underside of the tailplane. The main undercarriage was of the single axle type complemented by a tailskid. During development the undercarriage was strengthened with two extra struts forward of the main axle which carried arrestor claws at each end for deck-landing. One 385 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar III powerplant.

R.2 Airedale Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
43 ft	36 ft 4 in	14 ft 3 in			4942 lb		120 mph/ 104 kn
13.11 m	11.07 m	4.34 m			2242 kg		193 km/h

Single-seat flying boat to compete for the Schneider Cup Race, using the fuselage of the uncompleted N.1B. The Pellet was a single-bay biplane without stagger and the lower wing was of slightly smaller span and chord. The lower wing was mounted on the top of the fuselage and carried wingtip floats mounted directly below the N-type interplane struts. There was another pair of these struts between the fuselage and upper wing supporting the engine, which was mounted tractorwise above the upper wing surface in a streamlined nacelle. One 450 h.p. Napier Lion powerplant.

Pellet Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed*	Range	Service Ceiling
34 ft	28 ft 7 in	10 ft 8 in	314 sq ft	2105 lb	2800 lb		160 mph/ 139 kn
10.36 m	8.71 m	3.25 m	29.17 m2	955 kg	1270 kg		257 km/h

Two seat deck landing training biplane to Specification 37/22. It was specified that the aircraft should be readily convertible to a seaplane, and to achieve this the two types of undercarriage were each built as a complete self contained unit, detachable at the fuselage and wing roots.The Sprat was a staggered, single-bay biplane with equal-span wings that could be folded for carrier stowage. The fuselage was built in three sections : the engine mounting with cowling, etc., which was quickly detachable by means of four bolts, just forward of the fireproof bulkhead, and was designed that when disconnected from the fuselage it formed its own engine bed and can be set down on a flat bench or on the floor. This was followed by the fuselage centre portion, incorporating the cockpits, along with the wing centre section. Both forward and centre fuselage sections were of fabric covered, steel-tube construction. The rear fuselage was a fabric covered wooden structure, braced with tie-rods. The outer wings were also a fabric covered wooden construction. The two dual-control open cockpits were both behind the trailing edge of the wing for optimum visibility. Unusually, the instruments were placed on the rear spar of the upper wing centre section, where they could be read from both cockpits. The rudder area was large compared to that of the fin and a braced tailplane was placed on top of the rear fuselage.
The main undercarriage was a robust split-axle construction with the legs joining the wings at the bottom of the X-form centre-section struts. Braced stub axles carried the arrester claws. The undercarriage assembly was designed so that it could be easily removed with the aircraft on trestles, and replaced with a pair of aluminium single-step, V-bottomed round-topped floats. These carried water rudders for manoeuvring afloat. One 270 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon III powerplant, driving a four-bladed wooden propeller.

T.R.1 Sprat Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
34 ft 9 in	29 ft 3 in	11 ft	406.5 sq ft	2318 lb	3220 lb		115 mph/ 100 kn		17500 ft
10.59 m	8.92 m	3.35 m	37.77 m2	1051 kg	1461 kg		185 km/h		5334 m

Two seat two-seat biplane bomber. Its design was started to meet Specification 24/25 for a high-altitude bomber, but was later modified to meet specification 23/25 for a day bomber, reconnaissance and torpedo aircraft. One 460 h.p. Bristol Jupiter VIIIF powerplant. The Beagle was a single-bay biplane with staggered and slightly swept wings. The fabric-covered wings, which did not fold as the aircraft was not intended for carrier service, had spruce spars and ribs with metal bracing. Four ailerons were fitted. The fuselage followed standard Blackburn practice with a steel tube centre section and wooden construction aft, though the final section was again of tube steel; covering was fabric throughout. Fin area was small and the rudder large, with a horn balance initially merging into the fin but later reduced. The braced tailplane had significantly greater elevator than stabiliser area, the former also having prominent horn balances.
The undercarriage was of the split type required by the torpedo dropping role, but a carrier mechanism between the legs could also hold a 185 imp gal fuel tank for reconnaissance work. Cockpits were open with the pilot in front, armed with a forward-firing .303 in Vickers machine gun mounted on the port side. The gunner's cockpit was close to the pilot's for communication. He had a Scarff ring-mounted .303 in Lewis Gun, but to fulfil his role as torpedo or bomb aimer, he moved into a prone position in a station below the pilot's cockpit. This had a bombsight, used via an opening with a sliding door in the bottom of the fuselage and had bomb fusing and release controls plus altitude and airspeed gauges and a hand-operated rudder control for yaw corrections on target. One 460 h.p. Bristol Jupiter VIIIF powerplant, later replaced with a supercharged 590 h.p. Jupiter XF.

B.T.1 Beagle Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Endurance	Service Ceiling
45 ft 6 in	33 ft 1 in	11 ft 9 in	570 sq ft	3495 lb	6120 lb	115 mph/ 100 kn	140 mph/ 122 kn	3.5 hr	16000 ft
13.87 m	10.08 m	3.58 m	52.95 m2	1585 kg	2776 kg	185 km/h	225 km/h		4877 m

Single seat biplane interceptor fighter, a Private Venture meeting the requirements of Specifications F.9/26 and N.21/26, but intended for export. It featured a swept and staggered single-bay wings of unequal span, the upper wing having both greater span and chord. Apart from the front fuselage, the aircraft was fabric-covered over a steel frame for the fuselage and a mixture of steel spars and duralumin ribs in the wings. The fuselage narrowed to the rear, carrying a braced tailplane and a low, wide-chord fin and rudder with a flat top. Underneath, a faired skid provided more fin area; the rudder also projected beneath the fuselage. The main undercarriage was a standard fixed-axle design. The pilot's open cockpit was at the trailing edge of the wing, where a small cutout enhanced his forward and upward view. The intended armament of two 0.030 in machine guns on either side of the fuselage and firing through the two-blade propeller was never fitted. One 446 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar VI powerplant. See note 3.

F.1 Turcock Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Endurance	Service Ceiling
31 ft	24 ft 4 in	8 ft 11 in		2282 lb	2726 lb		176 mph/ 153 kn	1.75 hr	27500 ft
9.45 m	7.42 m	2.72 m		1035 kg	1236 kg		283 km/h		8382 m

Two-seat carrier-based fleet spotter with interception capability, to meet the requirements of Specification O.22/26. The fuselage was built up around four steel longerons; it was duralumin-covered from the nose to just aft of the rear observer/gunner's cockpit, the rest fabric-covered. The fuselage centreline was at mid-gap, with a faired radiator located between the fuselage and the lower wing. The wings were of two-bay construction with parallel struts, staggered and swept. Only the lower wing had dihedral. There were ailerons on both upper and lower wings. The wings were foldable for carrier storage. The pilot's cockpit was immediately in front of the observer's, under an upper trailing edge cutout. A braced, rather rectangular tailplane was carried at the top of the fuselage. The fixed fin extended both above and below the fuselage and was fitted with a horn balanced rudder. Both the tailplane incidence and the alignment of the upper part of the fin could be adjusted in flight via trimming wheels. The robust undercarriage was a broad, split-axle type with mainwheels fitted with disc brakes. As a seaplane, it could be fitted either with a two-float arrangement or with a single central float, the latter intended to give a better field of view to the observer. Armament comprised one fixed forward firing 0.303 in Vickers machine gun and one ring mounted 0.303 in Lewis Gun in rear cockpit. One 525 h.p. Rolls-Royce F.XIIMS powerplant.

2F.1 Nautilus Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
37 ft	31 ft 8 in	10 ft 10 in	458 sq ft	3223 lb	4750 lb		154 mph/ 134 kn	375 mi	18800 ft
11.28 m	9.65 m	3.3 m	42.55 m2	1462 kg	2155 kg		248 km/h	604 km	5730 m

2 crew, 10 passenger, experimental civil passenger aircraft, built to Air Ministry Specification 6/29, designed and built in both monoplane and biplane configurations to enable comparison to be made of the two different types. Both aircraft were of all-metal construction apart from the fabric-covered wings and tail surfaces. The fuselage, cabin and empennage were the same in both versions. The tailplane was braced and the fin and horn-balanced rudder rather angular and flat-topped. Because the Air Ministry envisaged the aircraft going to Imperial Airways after the trials, the cabins were fully fitted out for ten passengers, with two compartments containing six and four seats placed singly on either side of a central aisle. Warm air heating was fed from the engines. Between the enclosed cockpit for the two crew and the passenger cabins was a baggage compartment. The two versions used the same powerplants, two 400 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar IVC radials driving wooden two-blade propellers. They were, however, mounted differently. The monoplane had engines embedded in the wings, while those in the biplane were mounted between the wings.

C.A.15C Biplane Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Endurance	Service Ceiling
64 ft	55 ft	16 ft	1037 sq ft	7931 lb	12150 lb	110 mph/ 96 kn	118 mph/ 103 kn	350 mi	9000 ft
19.51 m	16.76 m	4.88 m	96.34 m2	3597 kg	5511 kg	177 km/h	190 km/h	563 km	2743 m

Single seat single-bay biplane day and night fighter to meet the requirements of Specifications F.7/30. Designed by George E. Petty, the aircraft was of unequal wingspan and with an unusual configuration, the upper wing being mounted approximately halfway up the  fuselage and the lower wing about two feet below it, the gap being occupied by an enclosure for the condenser of the evaporatively-cooled Goshawk III engine. Of all metal construction, the  fuselage was completely metal-skinned but fabric was used to cover the flying surfaces. The undercarriage was attached to the front spar of the lower wing, with diagonal struts transmitting the landing loads to the fuselage longerons. The wheels were fitted with spats but these were later removed. Four Vickers machine-guns were fuselage mounted, two in mid-position on the fuselage and the other two on either side of the top of the condenser housing. One 695 h.p. Rolls-Royce Goshawk III powerplant.

F.3 Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
36 ft 11 in	27 ft	10 ft		2500 lb	3960 lb		180 mph/ 156 kn
11.25 m	8.23 m	3.05 m		1134 kg	1796 kg		290 km/h

Private venture light recconnaissance bomber to Specification B.3/40 to meet the requirements of OR.80. Based on the Botha, armament was to include two 500lb or four 250lb bombs; there was also an allowance to fit a four-gun turret. One prototype was ordered in 1940; a mock up was also built but the B-28 was eventually abandoned. Two Rolls-Royce Griffon powerplants.

B-28 Specification
Span	Length	Height	Wing Area	Empty Wt	Max AUW	Cruise Speed	Maximum Speed	Range	Service Ceiling
36 ft 11 in	27 ft	10 ft		2500 lb	3960 lb		180 mph/ 156 kn
11.25 m	8.23 m	3.05 m		1134 kg	1796 kg		290 km/h

Single seat flying boat fighter to Specification N.2/42 to meet the requirements of OR.114. The specification called for a retractable-hull flying-boat fighter, and Blackburn decided to utilise as much of the structure of the Blackburn Firebrand as possible. The fuselage of the aircraft was to be split in two with the lower float-like half extending and retracting hydraulically. The powerplant was to have been in the nose of the upper fuselage half, and the intended armament of four 20mm cannon was to have been carried in the wings. The protracted development due to engine supply difficulties and serious control and stability shortcomings of the Firebrand, led to cancellation of the B-44. One 2,240 h.p. Napier Sabre IV powerplant.