Blackburn Blackburn

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R.1 Blackburn
Type	Carried-based reconnaissance
Manufacturer	Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company Limited
Maiden flight	1922
Introduced	1923
Retired	1931
Primary user	Fleet Air Arm
Number built	44
Developed from	Blackburn T.2 Dart

The Blackburn R-1 Blackburn was a 1920s British single-engined fleet spotter/reconnaissance aircraft built by Blackburn Aircraft.

1 History
2 Variants
3 Operators
4 Specifications (Blackburn II)
5 References
6 Related content

[edit] History

The Blackburn was developed to meet a naval requirement for a carrier-based reconnissance aircraft and gun spotting aircraft. Blackburn designed a new fuselage and used the wing and tail surfaces from the Blackburn Dart. The pilot sat in an open cockpit above the engine, a navigator sat inside the fuselage and a gun position was located at the rear of the fuselage cabin. Three prototypes were flown during 1922 leading to a production contract for 12 aircraft. The production aircraft were designated Blackburn I and the first deliveries to the Fleet Air Arm at Gosport began in April 1923. From 1923 the aircraft served aboard HMS Eagle in the Mediterranean.

A further order for 29 Blackburns was placed with the larger Napier Lion V engine and designated the Blackburn II. A few Blackburns were used as dual-control trainers and all the Blackburn Is were converted to II standard before the type became obsolete in 1931 when they were replaced by the Fairey IIIF.

[edit] Variants

Blackburn - prototype, three built.
Blackburn I - production version with a 335 kW Napier Lion IIB engines, 12 built.
Blackburn II - improved production version with a 346 kW Napier Lion V, 29 built.