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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 1636.PDF
MAY 25, 1939 fflSf®® 539 The Dart was used in the Fleet Air Arm for many years as a single-seater torpedo carrier. Training versions were two-seaters. On the right is the Velos two-seater. brilliant fashion in which it has tackled appallingly difficult specifications, notably for naval aircraft, which have always been notoriously " awkward " to design. The Blackburd demonstrated the potentialities of the torpedo-carrying aircraft, but left a good deal to be desired, particularly in the matter of performance. Blackburn's next torpedo machine was a very distinct advance, and was, in fact, the proto type of a series of aircraft which were retained in service until quite recent times. This was the Swift, produced in 1919, which retained the "releasable" wheels which characterised the Blackburd. Structurally, it was interesting because the whole centre portion, including the engine mounting, the middle portion of the fuselage, the undercarriage and the centre sections of the biplane wings, was a framework of steel. The engine was a 450 h.p. Napier Lion, and the machine was a single-seater. As a ship-plane the Swift carried flotation bags and slinging gear and had folding wings, despite the fact that these were staggered. After being shown at Olympia, Swifts were ordered by many of the leading nations, including America. F.A.A. Equipment Encouraged by the success of the Swift, the Blackburn designers set about improving the type, the developed ver sion being named the Dart. The first Dart appeared in 1920, and was subsequently ordered as standard equip ment for Fleet Air Arm use. It remained in service until it was superseded in 1928 by the Ripon, also a Blackburn product. The Dart was externally very similar to the Swift, and employed the same type of engine. It had a top speed of 106 m.p.h., weighed 6,300 lb. complete with torpedo, and had a ceiling of 15,000ft. In the first instance the Swift and Dart were designed primarily as torpedo carriers, but slight alterations enabled them to carry a bomb load roughly equivalent to the weight of the "tin-fish." The next development was the fitting of an alternative float undercarriage. Later, the Dart type was developed into a Velos, which was ordered in quantity by the Greek Government. The salient differ ence between this machine and its forerunners was the if ^^iflP* ,—-.. MBI , dKBaBa • -"CJL Fitted with a 1,000 h.p. Napier Cub, the Cubaroo was one ot the largest single-engined machines ever built. i- me /^ Powered with a geared Jupiter, the Beagle torpedo bomber embodied many typical Blackburn features. The two views above show the original Ripon torpedo bomber (top) and the metal Mark III version. inclusion of a gunner's cockpit which could alternatively be fitted with dual control. Just before the Velos was developed, the company com pleted an extraordinarily large coastal defence biplane mounting a single 1,000 h.p. Napier Cub engine. This was dubbed the Cubaroo, and by the summer of 1924 had proved itself in the air. It had a fuselage of quite enor mous size, and could carry either a torpedo weighing a ton and a half or an equivalent load of bombs. The tail
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