Blackburn G.P.

The Blackburn G.P., short for General Purpose, was a British twin-engine reconnaissance and torpedo floatplane of the First World War, built by the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company. It was developed as an anti-submarine floatplane after the poor results of the Blackburn T.B. The aircraft had a long slim fuselage carrying a crew of three, a wire-braced wooden structure with fabric covering, and two engines mounted in nacelles on the lower wing. Two were built: the first with Sunbeam Nubian engines and the second, sometimes called the Special Purpose, with Rolls-Royce engines and a stronger structure. Trials took place at the Marine Aircraft Experimental Station on the Isle of Grain and at Brough, and the second aircraft went to the Royal Naval Air Service base at Great Yarmouth. No more were ordered, but the design formed the basis of the land-based Blackburn Kangaroo.