The Blackburn L.1 Bluebird was a British single-engine

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 ...

light trainer/tourer with side-by-side seating, built in small numbers by

Blackburn Aircraft Blackburn Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1914 to 1963 that concentrated mainly on naval and maritime aircraft. History Blackburn Aircraft was founded by Robert Blackburn (aviation pioneer), Robert Blackburn and Jessy ...

in the 1920s.

Design and development

The Bluebird L.1 was initially designed as a competitor in the

Lympne light aircraft trials Lympne (), formerly also Lymne, is a village on the former shallow-gradient sea cliffs above the expansive agricultural plain of Romney Marsh in Kent. The settlement forms an L shape stretching from Port Lympne Zoo via Lympne Castle facing Ly ...

to be held in September 1924 for a low-powered two-seater, fitted with a 67 in³ (1,100 cc)

Blackburne Thrush The Blackburne Thrush was a 1,500 cc three-cylinder radial aero-engine for light aircraft produced by Burney and Blackburne Limited. Burney and Blackburne were based at Bookham, Surrey, England and was a former motorcycle manufacturer. F ...

three-cylinder

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

. The Bluebird was a wooden single-bay biplane, with

folding wing A folding wing is a wing configuration design feature of aircraft to save space and is typical of carrier-based aircraft that operate from the limited deck space of aircraft carriers. The folding allows the aircraft to occupy less space in a co ...

s and was fitted with a single side-by-side cockpit.Jackson 1974, p. 208. Although first flying in 1924,Taylor 1989, p. 157 problems with the engine, which failed to give the expected power, meant that it could not compete in the 1924 competition.Jackson 1968, pp. 190–191. It was realised that the machines that resulted from the 1923 and 1924 light aircraft trials were too low-powered for serious use. The

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

sponsored a similar competition in September 1926, this time allowing the use of heavier and more powerful engines. The prototype Bluebird was then fitted with an

Armstrong Siddeley Genet The Armstrong Siddeley Genet is a five-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft use built in the UK, first run in 1926. It developed 80 hp at 2,200 rpm in its final form and was a popular light aircraft powerplant. Following ...

radial engine and dual controls for entry into the competition. Interest in the Bluebird following the competition and its success in the 1926 Grosvenor Cup air race, which it won, resulted in Blackburn manufacturing a batch of 13 production aircraft, known as the L.1A Bluebird II, which were similar to the prototype, and a further seven modified L.1B Bluebird IIIs.Jackson 1974, p. 209. The Bluebird formed the basis for the all-metal

Blackburn Bluebird IV The Blackburn Bluebird IV was a single-engine biplane light trainer/tourer biplane with side-by-side seating designed by the British aviation manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft. It was an all-metal development of the wooden Blackburn Bluebird I, ...

Operational history

The wooden Bluebirds were used mainly by flying clubs, and were heavily used, but several were quickly written off, with only three surviving for more than four years.Jackson 1974, p. 210. One Bluebird II was fitted with floats and another, the Bluebird III prototype, was fitted with an

ADC Cirrus The ADC Cirrus is a series of British aero engines manufactured using surplus Renault parts by the Aircraft Disposal Company (ADC) in the 1920s. The engines were air-cooled, four-cylinder inline types. They were widely used for private and l ...

engine as a testbed for the Bluebird IV.Jackson 1974, pp. 209–210. The last wooden Bluebird was destroyed in a firefighting demonstration in 1937.

Variants

;L.1 Bluebird I: Prototype. Originally powered by

engine, later refitted with

I radial engine and dual controls. ;L.1A Bluebird II: Production. Powered by Genet II engine. 13 built.Jackson 1968, p. 250. ;L.1.B Bluebird III: Modified internal structure. One prototype and six production aircraft.Jackson 1968, pp. 253–254.

Operators

; *

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Specifications (Bluebird II, III)

Notes

References

* * * {{Blackburn aircraft 1920s British sport aircraft

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous passerine birds in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. Bluebirds lay an ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1924 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft