Off to a flying Start

If you drive to the west of Hull into Brough, now a sprawling housing area, and through towards the old Roman harbour at Brough Haven you cannot avoid sight of the former Blackburn Aircraft Company factory. 

Latterly occupied by BAe Systems and now sub divided into a High Tec Business Park it was in the halcyon days of flying in the inter war years a thriving manufacturing site for many great and iconic planes. 

My late Father in law worked there on, in particular the Blackburn Beverley a quite unusual looking machine used for freight and aerial parachute drops by the RAF. 

From the 1920's the physical location of Brough on the Humber Estuary became synonymous with the development of flying boats intended for the military. 

The first model, the Blackburn Iris which went through a series of subsequent modifications was an all metal construction which marked a major technical change from wood and fabric composition. 

The Blackburn Iris

The Iris was a bi-wing aircraft with three large engines mounted between the lower and upper wings which themselves sat above the boat shaped fuselage. 

It's particular sphere of operation with the RAF was in long range maritime reconnaissance and although in service for around 4 years there were only 5 actually built. The Iris was succeeded in the early 1930's by the Blackburn Perth which was in fact another incarnation of the Iris and the Blackburn Sydney, a more advanced monoplane design although still retaining for power and speed the distinctive upper mounted triple propeller engines. 

Only 4 of the Perth's were ordered by the RAF but there were high hopes at the Blackburn factory in Brough for the then futuristic looking Sydney to be taken in much larger volumes and therefore constituting a commercial success for the company. 

The Blackburn Perth (War Museum Collection)

The Sydney was reputed at the time to be the largest and fastest monoplane flying boat in the world. 

That was quite a claim in an era of strong global competition and in reality it was only initially targeted for military use. The all metal construction had been pioneered by the predecessor types and in late 1930 the sole prototype was being tested in air trials from its Humber mooring stage at Brough. 

Blackburn Sydney

The actual performance was a closely guarded secret but 120mph as a top speed was suggested. 

The specification of the Perth Flying Boat had actually indicated a slightly higher top speed but in the hype and media attention for the revolutionary appearance of the Sydney such a fact had been conveniently forgotten. 

The three engines gave out 525 horse power each. They were positioned in what were called nacelles on top of the wing along with water tanks, radiators and a cooler whilst the fuel tanks sat in the hull structure. 

The crew of 5 were accommodated with some home comforts including sleeping cupboards in the style of a trawler's quarters, a small galley and a lavatory. The military application determined gunnery posts in the bow and amidships. 

The launch of the prototype from Brough for a rendezvous with the RAF Assessors in Felixstowe was not at first successful and the aircraft was forced to return to base by heavy fog down the East Coast. 

When the appointment was finally met there was ultimate disappointment in that although having taken delivery of the Iris and Perth the RAF did not take to the Sydney. 

The prototype was the only one ever made. 

Blackburn as a manufacturer of Flying Boats lost ground rapidly to the likes of Supermarine, Short with its work horse in the Sunderland and the more exotic Martin Mariner and Consolidated Catalina. 

For a few years on the Humber however the Blackburn family of flying boats will have been quite a sight.