The Blackburn T.R.1 Sprat was a British single-engine two-seat

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

trainer, built in 1926 for advanced training, deck-landing and seaplane experience. Just one was built.

Development

The Sprat was designed to Air Ministry Specification 5/24 as an RAF advanced trainer and Fleet Air Arm deck-landing trainer. It was specified that the aircraft should be readily convertible to a seaplane, again to be used as a trainer. The specification produced contracts for three machines, the Vickers Vendace, the

Parnall Perch The Parnall Perch was a single-engined, side-by-side-seat aircraft designed in the UK to meet an Air Ministry specification for a general-purpose trainer. Only one Perch was constructed, and no contract was ever awarded with this specification. ...

and the Sprat. The Sprat, though a smaller aircraft, had strong family resemblances to the earlier Velos torpedo bomber. The Sprat was a staggered, single-bay biplane with equal-span wings that could be folded for carrier stowage. The fuselage centre section was built around a tubular-steel structure which linked the engine mounting and the wooded-framed rear fuselage. The two dual-control open cockpits were both behind the trailing edge of the wing for optimum visibility. Unusually, the instruments were placed on the rear spar of the upper wing centre section, where they could be read from both cockpits. The rudder area was large compared to that of the fin, and a braced tailplane was placed on top of the rear fuselage. The main

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 ...

was a robust split-axle construction, with the legs joining the wings at the bottom of the X-form centre-section struts. Braced stub axles carried the arrester claws required by the longitudinal arrester wires of Royal Navy aircraft carriers up to 1926. The undercarriage assembly was designed so that it could be easily removed with the aircraft on trestles, and replaced with a pair of aluminium single-step, V-bottomed round-topped floats. These carried water rudders for manoeuvring afloat. The Sprat was powered by a water-cooled 275 hp (210 kW)

Rolls-Royce Falcon III The Rolls-Royce Falcon is an aero engine developed in 1915. It was a smaller version of the Rolls-Royce Eagle, a liquid-cooled V-12 of 867 cu in (14.2 L) capacity. Fitted to many British World War I-era aircraft, production ceased in 1927. ...

engine with a nose radiator, driving a four-bladed wooden propeller. As on the Velos, the upper engine cowling dropped smoothly away from the upper wing leading edge.

Operational history

The Sprat first flew at Blackburn's works at Brough Aerodrome, then went to Martlesham Heath for comparative trials with the other two contenders. In the end, though the Vendace was selected as the best aircraft for the specification, no orders were placed with any manufacturer because of economy cuts. The Sprat last appeared in public at the

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

RAF display in July 1926.

Specifications (landplane)

Blackburn Sprat 3 view NACA Aircraft Circular No

References

* {{Blackburn aircraft Sprat 1920s British military trainer aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Carrier-based aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1926