Blackburn Ripon

History of Blackburn Ripon

The Blackburn Group was founded in 1914 by aeronautical engineer Robert Blackburn as the Blackburn Aircraft and Motor Company, and when World War I engulfed Europe, the company turned to designing, developing and manufacturing its own military aircraft. Before the war, Blackburn had already built his first aircraft in 1909, and had several other aircraft follow the single-engine monoplane in the years before the war. In 1918, the last year of the war, Blackburn unveiled his most famous contribution to the war, the large twin-engine Blackburn Kangaroo, a three-seat biplane reconnaissance/torpedo biplane.

From this design, a steady stream of torpedo-guided platforms, including the postwar 1920 Blackburn Swift and 1921 Blackburn Dart.

The Blackburn Dart is a traditional biplane used primarily as a torpedo supplier. The aircraft entered the ranks of Fleet Aviation and the Royal Air Force, and 118 were produced in some noteworthy variants. Dart has also successfully exported small quantities to Japan, Spain and the United States. Piloted by an operator in an open-air cockpit, she has fixed wheeled landing gear and equal-span biplane wings with parallel struts. The platform is powered by a 450-horsepower Napier Lion IIB Series water-cooled 12-cylinder in-line engine.

Top speed is 107 mph, range is 400 miles, and service is capped at 12,700 feet. Armament includes a fixed forward-firing 7.7mm Vickers machine gun for attacking targets of opportunity.

As a torpedo bomber, the Dart can mount 1 x 457mm Mk VIII or IX series torpedoes below the fuselage centerline or 2 x 520lb bombs along the underwing lugs. The production of darts continued from 1922 to 1928.

With many years of operational service, Blackburn began to improve the dart design for the new 21/23 specification of the British Air Force - a move that gave rise to the Blackburn "Ripon" series of biplanes, the first of which 17 April 1926 The sun exploded in prototype form. The specification calls for torpedo bombers with long endurance and an auxiliary reconnaissance and collection role. One of the key changes to the Ripon's design compared to the Dart was the addition of a second crew member - a gunner/scout in the open-air rear cockpit. Two prototypes were initially considered - a traditional land-based form and a seaplane with floats for water operations.

Although the Ripon also failed to beat its smaller rivals during the initial formal evaluation phase, it was retested with new engines and improved wing surfaces and ended up in fleet aviation inventory. She would begin combat service in 1929 with fleet torpedo bombers No. 462 from the deck of HMS Furious.

Approximately 90 series aircraft were ordered.

The original Ripon production model was called the "Ripon II" since the first two prototypes were called the "Ripon I". Ripon IIs have a modest defensive armament with a 1 x 7.7mm Lewis machine gun mounted on a trainable bracket in the rear cockpit. Offensive bomb loads consisted primarily of 1 x 457mm torpedoes along the fuselage centerline, although this could be replaced with up to 3 x 530 lb drop bombs under the fuselage and wings.

For greater impact, 6 x 230 lb bombs can be carried.

About 20 Ripon II forms were produced before the arrival of the final "Ripon IIA", which introduced fixed forward firing (7.7mm Vickers) machine guns for the pilots and metal ribbing in the wing structure Durable end product. A total of 40 Ripon IIA units were produced.

The "Ripon IIC" was subsequently introduced with an all-metal wing, and about 30 aircraft of the brand were built. Powered by a 570-horsepower Napier Lion X, XI or XIA piston engine, the Ripon IIC has a top speed of 111 mph, a range of 400 miles, and a service ceiling of 10,000 feet.

The Ripon IIC is capable of reaching an altitude of 6,500 feet in 15.5 minutes.

"Ripon III" refers to a one-off prototype form that tested an all-new empennage and an extended forward fuselage. However, the brand was not chosen for mass production, but instead entered the pages of aviation history. The "Ripon IIF" became a well-known export model and was sold to Finland - the only other operator of the Ripon family of biplanes.

At least 26 aircraft appeared in the Finnish Air Force, the first of which was produced by Blackburn and the last 25 were produced by the Finnish Aircraft Factory under local license. The Finnish version used a variety of powerplants during its many years of service, an important feature of foreign brands.

The Blackburn Ripons in British service remained on the front lines as operational torpedo bombers until early 1935, often operating from land bases despite their surface capabilities. At this point, the type was replaced by the more modern Blackburn "Baffin", which turned out to be essentially the Ripon itself, but replaced with a 545 hp Bristol Pegasus I. MS radial piston engine Original wide arrow piston port.

Many existing Ripons (up to 68 samples) have even been upgraded to the new Baffin standard. The Baffins first flew in September 1932 and entered service in 1934, with 97 prototypes in service by 1941.

Blackburn during World War II (1939-1945), The Winter War (1939-1940) and The Lasting War The legacy of the Ripon truly lives on and the legacy of the Finns can truly endure (1941-1944) against the Soviet Union. As the all-metal monoplane with its streamlined, retractable landing gear and enclosed cockpit was the next evolution in military aircraft, mounts like the Ripon finally succumbed to the changes of war.

Thus, the last operational deployment of the Finnish Ripons took place in 1944, ending the legendary existence of the Blackburn design.

Ripon's official name is "Blackburn T. 5 Ripon".

Specification

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