 | |
| Industry | Aviation, aircraft engines |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1914 |
| Founder | Robert Blackburn |
| Defunct | 1960 |
| Fate | Acquisition and merger |
| Successor | Hawker Siddeley Group |
| Headquarters | Brough, Yorkshire |
Key people | Barry Laight |
Blackburn Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1914 to 1963 that concentrated mainly on naval and maritime aircraft.
Blackburn Aircraft was founded by Robert Blackburn and Jessy Blackburn, who built his first aircraft in Leeds in 1908 with the company's Olympia Works at Roundhay opening in 1914. [1] [2]
The Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company was created in 1914 [3] and established in a new factory at Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire in 1916. [4] Robert's brother Norman Blackburn later became managing director.
Blackburn acquired the Cirrus-Hermes Engineering company in 1934, beginning its manufacture of aircraft engines. However an updated range of engines was under development and Blackburn wanted to wait until it was established before giving its name to them, so Cirrus Hermes Engineering was retained as a separate company for the time being. [5]
The company's name was changed to Blackburn Aircraft Limited in 1936. [6]
In 1937, with the new Cirrus engines now well established, engine manufacturing was brought into the parent company as an operating division, giving rise to the Blackburn Cirrus name. [7]
By 1937, pressure to re-arm was growing and the Yorkshire factory was approaching capacity. A fortuitous friendship between Maurice Denny, managing director of William Denny and Brothers, the Dumbarton ship building company, [8] and Robert Blackburn resulted in the building of a new Blackburn factory at Barge Park, Dumbarton where production of the Blackburn Botha commenced in 1939. [9]
Blackburn amalgamated with General Aircraft Limited in 1949 as Blackburn and General Aircraft Limited, [10] reverting to Blackburn Aircraft Limited by 1958.
As part of the rationalisation of British aircraft manufacturers, its aircraft production and engine operations were absorbed into Hawker Siddeley and Bristol Siddeley respectively [3] in 1960/1961. The Blackburn name was dropped completely in 1963. [11]
An American company, Blackburn Aircraft Corp., was incorporated in Detroit on 20 May 1929 to acquire design and patent rights of the aircraft of Blackburn Airplane & Motor Co., Ltd. in the USA. It was owned 90% by Detroit Aircraft Corp. and 10% by Blackburn Airplane & Motor Co., Ltd. Agreements covered such rights in North and South America, excepting Brazil and certain rights in Canada and provided that all special tools and patterns were to be supplied by the UK company at cost.
The company had factories at Olympia in Leeds, Sherburn-in-Elmet, Brough (East Yorkshire) and Dumbarton. In the early days, Blackburn himself flew aircraft on the beaches at Marske and Filey, [12] with the company also using the former RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor. [13] Before production shifted to Sherburn-in-Elmet and Brough from the Leeds site, aircraft were flown in and out of Olympia works by an adjacent airstrip in Roundhay Park. [14]
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The company also produced aircraft from other aircraft companies' specifications, such as the Sopwith Cuckoo (1918) [23] and the Fairey Swordfish (1942), both of which were built at Blackburn's Sherburn-in-Elmet factory. [24] [25]
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