Blackburn Sydney

Sydney
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Role	Patrol flying boat
Manufacturer	Blackburn
First flight	18 July 1930
Number built	1

The Blackburn R.B.2 Sydney was a long-range maritime patrol flying boat developed for the Royal Air Force in 1930, in response to Air Ministry Specification R.5/27. It was a parasol-winged braced monoplane of typical flying boat arrangement with triple tailfins and its three engines arranged on the wing's leading edge. After evaluation, it was not ordered into production and no further examples were built.

With development of the Sydney abandoned, construction of a cargo-carrying variant powered by radial engines, the C.B.2 Nile was also ended.

Specifications (Sydney)

Data from British Flying Boats

General characteristics

• Crew: two pilots, plus gunners
• Length: 65 ft 7 in (19.99 m)
• Wingspan: 100 ft (30.49 m)
• Height: 20 ft 4 in (6.20 m)
• Wing area: 1,500 ft² (139.4 m²)
• Empty weight: 17,065 lb (7,741 kg)
• Loaded weight: 23,350 lb (10,591 kg)
• Powerplant: 3 × Rolls-Royce F.XII MS, 525 hp (381 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 123 mph (107 kn, 198 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 100 mph (87 kn, 161 km/h)
• Service ceiling: 16,500 ft (5,030 m)
• Rate of climb: 390 ft/min (2.0 m/s)
  
• Endurance:7 hours 30 minutes

Armament

• Guns: 3 × trainable .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun in open bow, dorsal and ventral positions
• Bombs: 1,102 lb (500 kg) of bombs or 2 × torpedoes

See also

Related lists

• List of seaplanes

References

Notes

Bibliography

• britishaircraft.co.uk

External links

• The Blackburn "Sydney" Flying Boat in Flight, September 5, 1930
• Blackburn flying boats 1924-1940
• Picture of the Sydney N241
• "Blackburn R.B. 2 Sydney", Youtube.com first flight
• "Huge All-Metal Flying Boat Weighs Ten Tons", March 1931, Popular Mechanics