Blackburn B-54 / B-88

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The Blackburn B-54 / B-88 was a prototype carrier-borne Anti-submarine warfare aircraft of the immediate post World War II-era developed for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was a conventional monoplane with a mid-mounted inverted-gull wing and tricycle undercarriage. The pilot and observer sat in tandem under a long canopy atop the fuselage. The B-54 had a piston engine and the B-88 a gas turbine driving a large contra-rotating propeller. The radar scanner was mounted in a retractable dome in the rear fuselage, behind a long internal weapons bay. The program was cancelled in favour of the Fairey Gannet aircraft.

Contents

[edit] History

The B-54, or Y.A.5, was designed to meet Specification "G.R.17/45" for an advanced carrier-borne anti-submarine aircraft by Blackburn Aircraft. Rivals Fairey designed their Fairey 17 to the same specification, which would eventually evolve into the winning design, the Fairey Gannet. The original Y.A.5 was designed to take the new Napier Double Naiad turboprop engine, consisting of two single Naiads driving a contra-rotating propeller through a common gearbox. This engine was ultimately cancelled, so the Y.A.5 flew as the Y.A.7 with a Rolls Royce Griffon 56 piston engine driving a contra-rotating propeller. This aircraft made its maiden flight on September 20 1949 ahead of the compteting Fairey design. In 1950 the Admiralty added the requirement for a radar and radar operator to the specification. The Y.A.7 was further refined into the Y.A.8, first flying on May 3 1950, with aerodynamic refinements to improve handling and the third crew position. The Y.A.8 design was used as the basis for the B-88 Y.B.1 which first flew on July 19 1950. The B-88 had an Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba engine similar in design to the original Naiad that was to be fitted to the Y.A.5. Development of this design was protracted and the FAA lost interest in favour of the promising Fairey Gannet, which had already flown with the Double Mamba and carried out landing trials, and which was to enter operational service fulfilling the original specification.

[edit] Design

The B-54 / B-88 shared a common airframe. It was a large, single-propeller conventional monoplane with a mid-mounted, inverted-gull wing and a mid-mounted horizontal tail-plane with considerable dihedral. Unlike the Fairey Gannet, it had a simple wing folding mechanism that split once at the angle of the gull-wing. The deep fuselage accommodated the engine(s), a large weapons bay and the crew of two were seated high up in tandem under a single canopy (the third crewman in the Gannet was specified after the cancellation of the Blackburn design). The undercarriage was a conventional tricycle type and a radar scanner was carried in the rear fuselage in a retractable dome, much like in the Fairey Gannet.

[edit] Engine

After the cancellation of the Napier Naiad programme, the prototype was fitted with the readily available Rolls-Royce Griffon 56 engine, delivering 2,000 hp to a 13 ft, six-blade (two three bladed propellors) contra rotating propeller mechanism. In the B-88, an engine plant based on the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba gas turbine; the Double Mamba - also known as the "Twin Mamba" - driving an eight-blade counter-rotating propeller through a common gearbox. The ASMD.1 engine used on the B-88 was rated at 2,950 hp.

[edit] Aircraft

  • Blackburn B-54 YA.5, intended to take Napier Naiad engine, converted to YA.7
  • Blackburn B-54 YA.7, YA.5 airframe with Rolls-Royce Griffon 56 engine
  • Blackburn B-54 YA.8, YA.7 with aerodynamic adjustments
  • Blackburn B-88 YB.1, YA.8 with Armstrong Siddeley Double-Mamba engine

[edit] Specifications (B-88)

General characteristics

  • Crew: 3
  • Length: 43 ft 4 in (13 m)
  • Wingspan: 44 ft 10 in (13.46 m)
  • Height: 17 ft 1 in (5.11 m)
  • Loaded weight: 13,195lb (5,938 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1× Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba ASMD.1 turboprop, 2,950 shp (2,213 kW)

Performance

Armament

bombs or depth charges in internal weapons bay

[edit] References

    [edit] Related content

    Comparable aircraft

    Designation sequence

    Related lists

    • List of patrol aircraft

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