Blackburn Firecrest

Infobox Aircraft
name=Blackburn B-48 Firecrest
type=Strike fighter
manufacturer=Blackburn Aircraft


caption=Firecrest prototype VF172
designer=G. E. Petty
first flight=1947-04-01
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user=Fleet Air Arm
produced=1947
number built=3
unit cost=
variants with their own articles=The Blackburn B-48 Firecrest or YA.1 was a single-engined naval strike fighter built by Blackburn Aircraft. It was a development of the troublesome B-35 Firebrand. It was designed to Air Ministry Specification S.28/43, for an improved Firebrand more suited to carrier operations.

Design

Operational experience had found that Blackburn's Firebrand strike fighter to be far from suited to carrier operations. Particularly, the pilot sat behind the wing trailing edge, looking over a very long and wide nose, which gave a particularly poor view for landing. The Firecrest had a redesigned, inverted gull wing and moved the pilot forwards and raised his position so that he was now looking over the leading edge, and down the nose, rather than along it. Four Fowler flaps were fitted to give good low-speed handling for landing and the wing had retractable dive brakes on both surfaces. The wing folded in two places to allow storage in carrier hangars. In other respects, the Firecrest was a conventional monoplane design with a tailwheel undercarriage and particularly clean lines.

Despite a promising performance, the Firecrest project was abandoned in 1948 as existing types would fill its role satisfactorily until the new generation of turbine-powered aircraft entered service.

Operators

;UK
*Fleet Air Arm (never entered service)

pecifications

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

ref=
crew=One pilot
span main=44.94 ft
span alt=13.7 m
length main=39.37 ft
length alt=12.0 m
height main=14.57 ft
height alt=4.44m
area main=361 ft²
area alt=33.58 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main=10,522 lb
empty weight alt=4,773 kg
loaded weight main=15,183 lb
loaded weight alt=6,887 kg
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=

engine (prop)=Bristol Centaurus 59
type of prop=18-cylinder radial engine
number of props=1
power main=2,473 hp
power alt=1,844 kW
max speed main=382 mph
max speed alt=332 knots, 615 km/h
cruise speed main=298 mph
cruise speed alt=260 knots, 480 km/h
cruise speed more=at 10,000 ft (3,050 m)
stall speed main=75 mph
stall speed alt=65 knots, 121 km/h
range main=1,440 mi
range alt=1,250 nm, 2,315 km
range more=with torpedo and drop tanks
ceiling main=33,500 ft
ceiling alt=10,210 m
climb rate main=2,106 ft/min
climb rate alt=10.7 m/s
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=

guns=4× 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannon, two in each wing
bombs=
** 1× 1,850 lb (840 kg) torpedo, "or"
** 2× 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs, one under each wing, in place of torpedo

ee also

aircontent
similar aircraft=
* Westland Wyvern

related=
* Blackburn Firebrand

see also=

lists=
* List of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm

References

* "Fly Navy; Aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm since 1945", Ray Williams, Airlife, 1989, ISBN 1-85310-057-9