FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1919
1919 - 1579.PDF
DECEMBER II, 1919 "MILESTONES" THE BLACKBURN MACHINES. * LIKE one'or two other firms that date back to the beginning of aviation in this country, the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Co., Ltd., of Leeds, as the firm is now styled, commenced their career as con structors of aeroplanes of the monoplane type. These machines had, at first, some resemblance to the famous French Antoinette monoplanes, with their tapered, square-ended wings set at a large dihedral angle, and with triangular-shaped rudders above and below the level of the elevators. They differed considerably from the Antoinette machines in many respects, however, not only in the matter of power plant, which was in those early days either Gnomes or Isaacson radials, whereas the Antoinette had Antoinette water-cooled engines, but also in the wing bracing. The characteristic feature of the Antoinette monoplanes was, it may be remembered, the king post type of bracing. The Blackburn monoplanes had the usual monoplane bracing, and also its undercarriage was of totally different design, being of what was known in those days as the Farman " cleaned up," improving not only the appearance of the machine but also its aerodynamic qualities. At the Olympia Aero Show of 1914 was exhibited the most modern version of the Blackburn monoplane, which was thought a great deal of in those days, and in which the Antoinette influence was rapidly- disappearing, the only feature in common being the comparatively large size (for monoplanes) of both machines. During the same year, 1914, the first Blackburn biplane made its appearance. This machine was a seaplane designed for the Daily Mail " Circuit of Britain," which was postponed owing to the outbreak of War. In a general way it resembled the Blackburn monoplanes, but instead of the triangular section body which had characterised the monoplanes, the seaplane had a rectangular section fuselage. As the race was called off, the biplane-seaplane, which was to have been piloted by Mr. Sydney Pickles, did not have an opportunity of showing its capabilities in peaceful competition, a: E E iH The Black burn Type " L " sea plane, 130 h.p. Salm- son engine n E E E E E E E E E r E E H H E E H type—that is to say, a wheel and skid combination. The body was of triangular section throughout, braced by wood members instead of wires. Perhaps the most original detail of those early machines was the controls, which were in the form of a wheel mounted on a horizontal longitudinal shaft, which was secured at its forward end by a universal joint. Rotation of the wheel operated the wing warping, an up-and-down motion actuated the elevators, while the rudder was worked by shifting the wheel bodily in a sideways direction. The feet thus took no part whatever in the control of the machine. As time went on and aeroplane controls commenced to become more standardised, this unique form of controls was discarded in favour of one of more orthodox design. Also, the machines generally were * Previous instalments in this series appeared as follows : Airco (de H.), January 9, 1919; Bristol, January 23, 1919; Sopwith, February 6, 1919 ; Avro, March 20, 1919; Armstrong-Whitworth, April 3, 1919; Vickers, June 12, 1919. All the scale diagrams of this series are to a uniform scale, and are thus immediately comparable as regards relative size. but quite early in the War she was modified to carry a machine gun, and hence became known as The "Type L" Seaplane. (September, 1914) This machine was fitted with a Salmson Canton- Unne engine of the water-cooled radial type, the radiators being mounted on the sides of the fuselage. Considering the power loading (over 19 lbs./h.p.), the performance was quite good, and the flight range (445 miles) was rather out of the usual for those days. The next machine to be designed and tested was of very unusual design, and was produced as a result of instructions from the Admiralty to design a twin-engined machine for dropping darts. In those days the dart was considered quite a weapon, and certainly the number that could have been carried on a large twin-engine machine should have been sufficient to cause unpleasant punctures in the Hun. The "Type T.B." Seaplane. (August, 1915) as this machine was called, represented a very drastic departure from usual practice. Instead of having a central fuselage, and the engines placed in nacelles on the wings, the T.B. had two fuselages, each with 1581 I
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
