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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 1637.PDF
540 ©KR? MAY 25> x939 Similar in that both were built with a watertight monocoque the Shark and the M.1/30A above it, employed, respectively, the Tiger and ths Rolls-Royce Buzzard. was of biplane formation and the main undercarriage had four wheels. A Beardmore Simoon engine was fitted ex perimentally, but the Cubaroo will be chiefly remembered because it was powered with the first X-shaped Napier Cub. By 1928 the company had developed the machine which was to supersede the Dart as the standard torpedo bomber cf the Fleet Air Arm. Known as the Ripon, this aircraft was a single-bay biplane, with a 570 h.p. Napier Lien XI engine, capable of a top speed of about 132 m.p.h., and having an absolute ceiling of 15,000ft. A two-seater, the Ripon mounted two machine guns, and as an alternative to its torpedo could carry a bomb load cf 1,000 lb. Although On the left Baffin torpedo bombers are seen in service with the R.A.F. Below them is seen the 3.M.R.4, built for Japan. It had a hispano- Suiza engine. a seaplane version was built, the Fleet Air Arm used the Ripon mainly as a deck-landing machine. Finland acquired Ripons with Jupiter engines and built the type under licence at Helsinki. In effect, the Ripon was the fore runner of the T.S.R. biplanes (typified by the Blackburn Shark as at present in ser vice), having accommodation for an extra fuel tank for long-range reconnaissance. The original Ripon was of composite construction, but a subsequent machine—the Ripon III— was entirely of metal with fabric covering. The Ripon layout was adopted for the Beagle which was built to take a geared Jupiter VIII. The Japanese Government acquired a two- bay machine having many of the character istics of the Beagle but fitted with an Hispano- Suiza water-cooled engine. This was known as the 3.M.R.4, and had a maximum speed of 135 m.p.h. when flying at an all-up weight of 7,500 lb. At the request of the Air Ministry the com pany next installed one of the new Bristol Pegasus engines in a machine which resembled the Ripon. The improved type was known as the Baffin, and remained a standard type in the Fleet Arm until very recently. Many ex- Fleet Air Arm Baffins are being supplied to New Zealand. A Fast Torpedo Bomber In 1930 an Air Ministry specification was issued for a comparatively large torpedo bomber machine to take the Rolls-Royce Buz zard engine. The Blackburn company sub mitted the M.1/30, which in some ways re sembled an enlarged Ripon, and which was developed into the M.1/30A, which featured a watertight metal monocoque fuselage and had a top speed of 160 m.p.h. As an alterna tive to the torpedo, a bomb load of no less than 1,900 lb. could be accommodated. The Air Ministry decided to abandon the specifica tion, and further development of the machine was suspended. The most remarkable feature of the M.1/30A—the watertight metal monocoque fuselage—was reproduced in the Shark, which to-day equips a number of torpedo-spotter re connaissance units of the Fleet Air Arm. The Shark is a two-bay biplane with wings of un equal span and having rigid bracing. The wings may be folded with the bombs in place, fuselage, greatly facilitating the wcrk of the armourers Siddeley on board a carritr. The standard power plant is the Armstrong Siddeley Tiger, though Bristol Pegasus engines are fitted in the Sharks which have lately been supplied to Canada. The newest version has a cockpit enclosure and certain other improvements. Operating with a land undercarriage, the Shark has a top speed of about 152 m.p.h., and weighs over 7,800 lb. A service ceiling of 16,400ft. is attainable, and the normal cruising range is 550 miles. The Navy, which, incidentally, has never been without Blackburn aircraft since the war, is also indebted to the company for some Fleet spotter air craft of bold design. In 1923 the Blackburn Blackburn was introduced fcr gunnery spotting and reconnaissance work. It bore a close relationship to the Dart, and, though unappealing from the aesthetic viewpoint, gave admirable service with the Fleet. In the first version of the Black-
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