Blackburn Seaplane

[DAVE JOHNSON]

Back in early 2015,sevaral LMA members incuding myself were asked to drive over to B A Systems at Brough near Hull to discuss plans that were being considered to build a large flying model of the very first aircraft to be built at the Factory 100 years ago this year.Because of the location of the factory alongside the Humber---it was a Seaplane and they had their own slipway into the water direct from the site . On our first visit,we came away thinking it was a dream that would not see fruition---considering that the group involved were more used to building full size Hawk aircraft with composite materials etc.
The plan was to have the aircraft ready to fly by September this year for the Factory families day.
After several more visits and many phone calls over the last year discussing best ways of construction etc,a couple of months back saw the initial model taking shape and nearly ready for final inspection and covering etc.2 DA 170 twin engines were installed .
A few weeks back I was asked to carry out the initial test flights,and CAA paperwork was applied for.I decided initially that it would make sense to fit some wheel bogies onto the floats so the tests could be done first on dry land---and at some future date we would then float test and test on water.
At the side of the factory,is a brilliant disused runway ,where many fantastic Blackburn aircraft have been flown from,including Bucaneers and Hawks ,so permission was granted for us to use the facilty ,and a few weeks back the initial test flights were done ---followed this last Friday,and with a few weight changes ,another 3 solid hours of flying -and as the pics show it flew great.the top speed of the original was approx. 75 mph,and the model flies at approx. 40mph ,but with the telemotory system built in ,the engineers in the adjoining factory were logging all the data,and on one downwind pass we managed just over 50 mph.
On the stall tests I obviously gained height just in case ,but a very gentle stall followed but I was amazed to hear from the data room that it lost 150 ft on the recovery--it certainly didn't look it and recovery was effortless.The pics give an idea of how big the model is at some 7 m wingspan---weighing in at just over 200lbs.
So the initial flights are now complete and ready for the BA Systems guys to decide on the next steps--ie do they float and do we fly from water---time will tell !!!!

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[Karl mander]

WOW!

[paul needham]

Certainly a 'large' project, well done to all involved.

[Steve Morris]

It's certainly different, great job guys.
Will we see it on the show circuit?

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

Dave, we have talked about this model a few times, but this is the first time i have seen it! Tremendous stuff, credit to the BAE guys, and the historic Blackburn factory, hope the public will get to see it, 23 foot span! Is this the biggest model aircraft in the UK?

[DAVE JOHNSON]

Steve--it certainly is different---and some will say UGLY---but it has character.As for seeing it in public---originally it was going to be all certified just for one "special "flight,then put in there heritage museum---but the thoughts now are they would like it to be seen for publicity---The logistics of transport are an issue---it wont fit in any normal size large van ,also it does use a lot of airspace and it wouldn't be suitable for smaller shows,but places Like Elvington etc have been discussed already,so watch this space.

[Dave Parry]

That definitely goes on my list of Ugly planes, but what an achievement, well done to all involved. Dave what will you fly next.

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

This would be a showstopper at Elvington, i cant imagine BAE being short of transport, its ugly, but its Majestic,

[stuart knowles 1611]

That's amazing, Congrats to the builders, a bit different to their day job. I also imagine that the pilots job on the first flight came under the heading of 'buttock clenching' so well done Mr J.

I hope that we get the chance to see it fly at some point, it would be a real shame if it was put on display somewhere to gather dust.

[Stuart Solomon]

Cyparis in the construction :-)

[Cary Bailey]

Brilliant achievement guys! Mr J I guess you were pretty much "butted" out after that first flight!!
Cary

[paul needham]

Here are a couple of films of some of the test flying......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptm1976co9U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ll03mkErSs

[Alex Jones]

What a great project! Well done to all involved... It would be good to float the SeaDart along side it.