Blackburn Type L

The Blackburn Type L was a single-engine, two-seat seaplane biplane built for the 1914 Daily Mail Circuit of Britain race. It was Robert Blackburn's first biplane, after six earlier monoplanes, and was assembled at the Olympia Works in Leeds. It had two-bay wings with long ailerons, a wooden fuselage with fabric covering, and floats with an unusual step close to the nose. It was powered by a 130 horsepower Salmson nine-cylinder water-cooled radial engine built under licence. The race was due to start from Calshot on 14 August 1914, but the outbreak of the First World War led to all the competing aircraft being impounded by the Admiralty. The Type L was then based near Scarborough and used for offshore reconnaissance, with some modifications, until it was lost in a crash at Speeton early in 1915.