Blackburn Perth

Last updated

R.B.3A Perth
MH 003012.jpg
A Perth, flying with the MAEE in 1935
General information
TypeFlying boat
Manufacturer Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company
Designer
Primary user Royal Air Force
Number built4
History
Manufactured1933–1934
Introduction date1934
First flight11 October 1933
Retired1938
Developed from Blackburn Iris

The Blackburn Perth was a British flying boat which was in service during the interwar period. It was essentially an upgraded Iris, and hence the largest flying-boat to serve with the Royal Air Force at the time (and the largest biplane flying boat ever to serve with the RAF).

Contents

Design and development

The Blackburn R.B.3A Perth was designed as a replacement for the earlier Iris to Air Ministry Specification 20/32. Developed from the Iris Mk. V, the Perth first flew in 1933. [1] It differed from the Iris by replacing the Rolls-Royce Condor engines of the Iris by more powerful Rolls-Royce Buzzards and having an enclosed cockpit for the pilots. Unusually, in addition to its normal armament, the Perth was fitted with a Coventry Ordnance Works C.O.W 37 mm (1.46 in) autocannon in its bows. [2]

Four Perths were ordered for service for the RAF. [3]

Operational history

The Perth entered service with the RAF in January 1934, [3] when the second aircraft was delivered to No. 209 Squadron RAF at RAF Mount Batten Plymouth. [1] Perths remained in service until 1937, [1] being replaced by the Short Singapore and the Saro London. One aircraft was retained by the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment until 1938.

Operators

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom

Specifications (Perth)

Data from Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918–57 [1]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

  • 1 × C.O.W 37 mm (1.46 in) automatic cannon in bow
  • 3 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis guns in bow, amidships and tail positions
  • Up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) bombs

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avro Lincoln</span> British four-engined heavy bomber in service 1945-1963

The Avro Type 694 Lincoln is a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were initially known as the Lancaster IV and V; these were renamed Lincoln I and II. It was the 2nd last piston-engined bomber operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saunders-Roe A.36 Lerwick</span>

The Saunders-Roe A.36 Lerwick was a British flying boat built by Saunders-Roe Limited (Saro). It was intended to be used with the Short Sunderland in Royal Air Force Coastal Command but it was a flawed design and only a small number were built. They had a poor service record and a high accident rate; of 21 aircraft, 10 were lost to accidents and one for an unknown reason.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackburn Iris</span>

The Blackburn Iris was a British three-engined biplane flying boat of the 1920s. Although only five Irises were built, it was used as a long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft by the Royal Air Force, where it equipped a squadron for four years, being used to carry out a number of notable long-distance flights. The final version of the Iris, the Iris Mark V was developed into the aircraft that replaced it in Squadron service, the Blackburn Perth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short Singapore</span> A British multi-engined biplane flying boat

The Short Singapore was a British multi-engined biplane flying boat built after the First World War. The design was developed into two four-engined versions: the prototype Singapore II and production Singapore III. The latter became the Royal Air Force's main long-range maritime patrol flying boat of the 1930s and saw service against the Japanese with the Royal New Zealand Air Force during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short Sarafand</span>

The Short S.14 Sarafand was a British biplane flying boat built by Short Brothers. It was planned as a general reconnaissance aircraft for military service. When it was built in 1932 it was the largest aeroplane in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawker Horsley</span>

The Hawker Horsley was a British single-engined biplane bomber of the 1920s. It was the last all-wooden aircraft built by Hawker Aircraft, and served as a medium day bomber and torpedo bomber with Britain's Royal Air Force between 1926 and 1935, as well as the navies of Greece and Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supermarine Southampton</span>

The Supermarine Southampton was a flying boat of the interwar period designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Supermarine. It was one of the most successful flying boats of the era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supermarine Scapa</span>

The Supermarine Scapa was a British general reconnaissance flying boat built by Supermarine that was used by the Royal Air Force between 1935 and 1939. It was developed from the Southampton and formed the basis of the Supermarine Stranraer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felixstowe F.2</span>

The Felixstowe F.2 was a 1917 British flying boat class designed and developed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air station, Felixstowe during the First World War adapting a larger version of his superior Felixstowe F.1 hull design married with the larger Curtiss H-12 flying boat. The Felixstowe hull had superior water contacting attributes and became a key base technology in most seaplane designs thereafter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairey Hendon</span>

The Fairey Hendon was a British monoplane, heavy bomber of the Royal Air Force, designed by Fairey Aviation in the late 1920s. The aircraft served in small numbers with one squadron of the RAF between 1936 and 1939. It was the first all-metal construction low-wing monoplane to enter service with the RAF.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boulton Paul Balliol</span>

The Boulton Paul Balliol and Sea Balliol are monoplane advanced trainer aircraft designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Boulton Paul Aircraft. On 17 May 1948, it became the world's first single-engined turboprop aircraft to fly. The Balliol was operated primarily by both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackburn Kangaroo</span>

The Blackburn R.T.1 Kangaroo was a British twin-engine reconnaissance torpedo biplane of the First World War, built by Blackburn Aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felixstowe F.3</span>

The Felixstowe F.3 was a British First World War flying boat, successor to the Felixstowe F.2 designed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air station, Felixstowe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairey Campania</span>

The Fairey Campania was a British ship-borne, patrol and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War and Russian Civil War. It was a single-engine, two-seat biplane with twin main floats and backward-folding wings. The Campania was the first aeroplane ever designed specifically for carrier operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short Knuckleduster</span>

The Short R.24/31 was a British twin-engined, high-wing cantilever gull winged monoplane flying-boat designed and built by Short to Air Ministry specification R.24/31 for a "General Purpose Open Sea Patrol Flying Boat". The contract also specified the use of the experimental Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine. The Saunders-Roe London and the Supermarine Stranraer competed successfully for this contract.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackburn B-3</span> Type of aircraft

The Blackburn B-3 was a prototype British torpedo bomber designed and built by Blackburn Aircraft as a potential replacement for the Ripon. It was unsuccessful, with only the two prototypes being built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackburn Sydney</span> Type of aircraft

The Blackburn R.B.2 Sydney was a long-range maritime patrol flying boat developed for the Royal Air Force in 1930, in response to Air Ministry Specification R.5/27. It was a parasol-winged braced monoplane of typical flying boat arrangement with triple tailfins and its three engines arranged on the wing's leading edge. After evaluation, it was not ordered into production and no further examples were built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felixstowe Fury</span> Type of aircraft

The Felixstowe F.4 Fury, also known as the Porte Super-Baby, was a large British, five-engined triplane flying-boat designed by John Cyril Porte at the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe, inspired by the Wanamaker Triplane/Curtiss Model T. At the time the Fury was the largest seaplane in the world, the largest British aircraft, and the first aircraft controlled successfully by servo-assisted means.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saunders Valkyrie</span> Type of aircraft

The Saunders A.3 Valkyrie was a large three-engined biplane flying boat with a wooden hull built to an Air Ministry specification. It was not found suitable for production and helped to confirm a preference for metal-hulled flying boats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short Cromarty</span> Type of aircraft

The Short N.3 Cromarty was a prototype British twin-engined biplane flying boat, designed towards the end of the First World War. Only a single example was built, which first flew in 1921 and was wrecked in 1922.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Thetford, Owen (1957). Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918–57 (1st ed.). London: Putnam. pp. 76–77.
  2. "C.O.W. 37mm cannon fitted to Blackburn Perth flying boat", YouTube
  3. 1 2 3 4 Donald, David, ed. (1997). The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Aerospace Publishing. p. 134. ISBN   1-85605-375-X.