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Страна: Великобритания

Год: 1914

Единственный экземпляр

A.Jackson Blackburn Aircraft since 1909 (Putnam)

Blackburn Type L

   Both in the United Kingdom and on the Continent, 1912 had been a year marred by fatalities caused by the structural failure in the air of monoplanes and as a result the British Government banned them from service with the RFC. A departmental committee was set up to enquire closely into such accidents and although its report, issued early in 1914, 'saw no reason to recommend the prohibition of the use of monoplanes', the ill-advised ban, though temporary, created prejudice in favour of biplanes that was to last for close on two decades.
   Blackburn monoplanes, rugged and reliable, experienced none of these failures, but nevertheless Robert Blackburn considered it expedient to follow the popular trend and in 1913 designed a two-seat 'hydro biplane' on twin floats, to be powered by either an 80 hp Gnome or a 100 hp Anzani. It was to have had unequal span and cruise at 65 mph at an all-up weight of 1,250 lb, but when, in 1914, the Daily Mail announced a ?10,000 prize for a Circuit of Britain seaplane race, the project was dropped and a larger, more powerful version built. Designated Type L, it was the company's first biplane and the first Blackburn aircraft since the First Monoplane to have a square instead of triangular-section fuselage. Four ash longerons converged rearwards until they were all bolted to the rudder post and, as before, internal bracing was by precision-fitted diagonal wooden struts instead of the wire bracing favoured by other manufacturers.
   Although the component parts of the Type L were fabricated at Balm Road, the seaplane itself had the distinction of being the first of the many hundreds of aircraft assembled in the disused roller-skating rink known as Olympia in Roundhay Road, Leeds, which had been acquired as a new works in the spring of 1914, just prior to the firm's expansion into a limited company. The aircraft was powered by a 130 hp Canton-Unne nine-cylinder watercooled radial, an engine of Swiss origin, named after its co-designers, and built under licence in Britain by the Dudbridge Iron Works Ltd at Stroud, Glos. Money was distinctly scarce at this time and Robert Blackburn was only able to proceed with the Type L through the kindness of Dudbridge's Mr Kimmins who provided an engine on exceptionally favourable terms. It gave full power at 1,250 rpm and was cooled by two radiators mounted vertically on each side of the front seat. An aluminium cowling over its upper part extented rearwards to form a curved decking which concealed the 32-gallon main fuel tank mounted on the top longerons between the cockpits. There was also a partitioned tank behind the engine holding five gallons of oil and an additional 16 gallons of fuel. The pilot sat in the rear cockpit, where the end of the main fuel tank sloped slightly forward to form an instrument panel carrying revolution counter, altimeter, compass and clock. Controls were conventional and similar to those of the Improved Type I, with a rudder bar for directional control and a large aileron wheel mounted at the top of a tubular control column.
   Fabric-covered, wooden mainplanes constructed in the usual Blackburn manner were rigged unstaggered in two bays and the considerable top wing overhang was supported by sloping struts. Long-span ailerons were fitted only to the upper mainplanes, with the balancing cables running through pulleys mounted on its upper and lower surfaces. Tail surfaces were similar in outline to those of the earlier machine but rudder area was increased by a large horn balance under the rear end of the fuselage.
   The twin wooden floats were of unusual design with two steps, the first being only some two feet from the front end. Up to this point there was a pronounced vee bottom which gradually lessened until, aft of the second step, the bottom of the float became quite flat although concave in side elevation. Each float was clipped to tubular steel spreader bars and attached to the fuselage by six stout ash struts. Buoyancy at the tail was provided by a small float attached to four short steel tubes.
   The Circuit of Britain seaplane race attracted nine entries from the Sopwith, Beardmore, Grahame-White, Eastbourne, White and Thompson, Avro and Blackburn companies, the Type L, which was to have been flown by Sydney Pickles, receiving racing number 8. Considering the power loading of over 19 lb/hp, its prospects appeared good, the top speed being over 80 mph, and the range of 445 miles was exceptional for those days. Competitors were scheduled to start from Calshot at 6 am on Monday, 10 August 1914, and to Proceed via Ramsgate, Great Yarmouth, Scarborough, Aberdeen, Fort George, Oban and Kingstown (Dublin) to Falmouth but entries were actually on their way to the starting point when war was declared against Germany. The race never took place and all the competing aircraft were commandeered by the Admiralty.
   The Type L was taken to a section of beach north of Scarborough known as Scalby Mills where Blackburns had built a large wooden hangar. There it was used for offshore reconnaissance duties, thereby forging a link between the company and the Royal Navy that remains unbroken to the present day. The pilot was Sydney Pickles, who had flown the Improved Type I monoplane earlier in the year, and it seems that he experienced control and cooling problems, as it was found necessary to replace the long-span ailerons by shortspan, wide-chord, inversely-tapered units which extended well behind the trailing edge of the upper mainplane; to remove the engine cowlings and move the radiators back to the rear centre section struts; and to fit a curved, wide-bladed airscrew. The aircraft was then armed with a machine gun, probably a Lewis, and spent some six weeks at Scarborough in the care of Blackburn mechanics, but its Service career was brief. Early in 1915 the company's test pilot, W. Rowland Ding, struck the top of the cliffs at Specton in poor visibility while en route from Scarborough to RNAS Station, Killingholme. The undercarriage was wiped off and the rest of the airframe became a total loss in the ensuing crash.
   Proposals made late in 1914 for an even larger naval development of the Type L, having staggered mainplanes and powered by a 200 hp Gnome, were shelved.

SPECIFICATION AND DATA
   Manufacturers: The Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Co Ltd, Olympia Works, Roundhay Road, Leeds, Yorks.
   Power Plants:
   (1913 project)
   One 80 hp Gnome
   One 100 hp Anzani
   (Type L) One 130 hp Canton-Unne
   (1914 project) One 200 hp Gnome

Dimensions, Weights and Performance:

   1913 project Type L 1914 project
Span upper 44 ft 0 in 49 ft 6 in 62 ft 0 in
   lower 36 ft 0 in 35 ft 0 in 47 ft 6 in
Length 33 ft 0 in 32 ft 6 in
Height 12 ft 6 in
Wing area 410 sq ft 481 sq ft
Tare weight 1,250 lb 1,717 lb 1,450 lb
All-up weight 2,475 lb 3,000 lb
Maximum speed 65 mph 81 mph
Climb
   to 5,000 ft 34 min
Ceiling 11,000 ft
Range 445 miles

   Production: One aircraft only, Type L, impressed by the Admiralty August 1914, crashed at Speeton, Yorks., in 1915.

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Описание:

  • A.Jackson Blackburn Aircraft since 1909 (Putnam)
  • M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
  • J.Bruce British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 (Putnam)
  • P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)
  • H.King Armament of British Aircraft (Putnam)
  • Jane's All The World Aircraft 1913
  • Журнал Flight