Blackburn Triplane

The Blackburn Triplane was a single-engine pusher single-seater designed specifically to attack Zeppelins. It flew in 1917 but was not successful. It was the third unsuccessful attempt at an anti-Zeppelin fighter in which Blackburn was involved. The mid-line of the nacelle, with the engine at its rear, lay on the centre plane, which gave the pilot a slightly poorer view than in the earlier Scout. It was the third unsuccessful anti-Zeppelin fighter involving Blackburn, after the Twin Blackburn and the AD Scout. Harris Booth, the Scout's designer, moved to Blackburn in 1916 and created the heavily revised Triplane. The Admiralty requirement to carry a quick-firing recoilless Davis gun, which could not be synchronised with a propeller, made a pusher layout necessary, and a triplane wing arrangement was chosen to improve roll rate. Only one was built, and it was accepted by the Admiralty on 20 February 1917.