The Blackburn Second Monoplane was strongly influenced by the French ''Antoinette'' and was much more successful than Robert Blackburn's first aircraft. The lone aircraft was built in

Leeds, UK Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in 1910.

Development

The First Monoplane was not a success, barely leaving the ground before crashing. His second machine, the Second Monoplane was very different, and resembled

Léon Levavasseur Léon Levavasseur (8 January 1863 – 26 February 1922) was a French powerplant engineer, aircraft designer and inventor. His innovations included the V8 engine, direct fuel injection, and liquid engine cooling. Primarily associated with th ...

Antoinette Antoinette is a given name, that is a diminutive feminine form of Antoine and Antonia (from Latin ''Antonius''). People with the name include: Nobles * Antoinette de Maignelais, Baroness of Villequier by marriage (1434–1474), mistress of Ch ...

design which Blackburn had seen in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

wing was rectangular with a constant chord, significant dihedral and square tips, and had a thin

aerofoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine. ...

section cambered on the underside, as was usual at the time. Lateral control was by

wing warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposite direc ...

. The wing was wire braced via a

kingpost A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, supports items above fro ...

passing through the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

, extending both above and below. The fuselage was, like the wings, a wooden structure covered with fabric, triangular in section and tapering towards the tail. This was characteristically ''Antoinette'' with a long, finely tapering fin and

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...

, the

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

being divided into two triangular sections above and below the

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

, giving it clearance to move. The pilot's seat was at the trailing edge of the wing, and contained Blackburn's "triple steering column" which was moved up and down for elevator control, from side to side to warp the wings and rotated to move the rudders. This system had been used on the First Monoplane. The

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

main axle was carried at the bottom end of the kingpost with wheels at either end and bearing

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

fore and aft skids. During development and taxying trials, this structure was braced and sprung in different ways before the undercarriage was deemed satisfactory. Flying was delayed by the choice of a new untried engine, a seven-cylinder radial designed by R.J.Issacson of the

Hunslet Engine Co. The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive-building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures diesel shunting locomotives. The company is part of Ed Murray & ...

of Leeds. This drove a wooden two-blade propeller via a 2:1 reduction gear. The aircraft was taken to

Filey Filey () is a seaside town and civil parish in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, it is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing ...

on the English east coast for testing on the sands with B.C.Hucks at the controls. On 8 March 1911, after taxying for several miles, he made the first takeoff. He flew successfully for a while at about 30 ft (10 m) and 50 mph (80 km/h), but he sideslipped into the sands when attempting his first turn. Despite this mishap, after repair the Second Monoplane did good service at Filey as an instructional aircraft, bringing publicity to Blackburn's name and later machines.

Specifications

References

* {{Blackburn aircraft 1910s British experimental aircraft Second Monoplane Aircraft first flown in 1911