DAN SHUMAKER COLLECTION
No. 9520. Blackburn R.2 Airedale (N188) Royal Air Force
Aeroplane Photo Supply (APS) Photo No. 401

Blackburn R.2 Airedale

12/31/2009. Designed to Air Ministry specifications 37/22 by F.A. Bumpas the all-wood single-engine three-seat deck-landing aircraft was first flown in 1924, powered by a 385 hp Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar III fourteen-cylinder two-row radial engine. It carried a forward firing 0.5 in (12.7 mm) Vickers machine gun in the nose and a 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis machine gun in the gunner's position.

Two aircraft were produced, s/n N188 and N189. N188 crashed after competitive trials, while N189, distinguishable by auxiliary fins on the tail plane , was tested at Martlesham Heath in 1926. The type showed no advantage over its predecessors, and it was not taken into production.

Created December 31, 2009