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The state of aircraft carriers, or more correctly, aircraft-carrying ships in
1916 was such that a large and heavy aircraft such as a torpedo-bomber
might be able to take off given enough headwind, but not land again on the small 'flying-off' decks of the time. Floatplane operations required the ship to stop in potentially dangerous waters. Blackburn's Blackburd (an archaic Scottish spelling) was designed to take off from a ship, jettison its wheels (quickly so they could be recovered) and then its axle so the torpedo could be dropped. At the end of its mission, it was to ditch next to the ship and hopefully be recovered. The Blackburd proved unstable in pitch, being nose heavy with or without a torpedo, and the rudder was ineffective, making deck landings virtually impossible.
 | A three-view drawing (666 x 650) |
| CREW | 1 |
| ENGINE | 1 x 350hp Rolls Royce Eagle VIII piston engine |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 2586 kg | 5701 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 15.97 m | 52 ft 5 in |
| Length | 10.64 m | 34 ft 11 in |
| Height | 3.78 m | 12 ft 5 in |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 153 km/h | 95 mph |
| Daniel Iscold, daniel.iscold(@)gmail.com, 11.03.2008 This is the ugliest airplane I ever see!!!!! |
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Do you have any comments about this aircraft ?
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COMPANY
PROFILE
FACTS AND FIGURES© The four interconnected
ailerons could also be used as
flaps for take-off and landing. © The Blackburd had a simple cockpit for a
pilot only. Later practice was to have multiple
ctew on all shipboard aircraft to handle
navigation, communication and self-defence. © The undercarriage was quite complex, being
designed to come apart in various ways so
the Blackburd could land on water or land
using skids. The main legs were highly
sprung and very strong to withstand heavy
landings with no axle support. © Just after take-off a lever in
the cockpit released the
wheels and returned the
aileron/flaps to the neutral
position. The same lever
released the torpedo
retaining straps and started
its motor prior to dropping. © The Blackburd was designed for easy mass
production, with a box-like fuselage. The
first aircraft had a tapered cowl, but the
subsequent two were completely rectangular.
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