Blackburn Second Monoplane

The Blackburn Second Monoplane was a single early aeroplane built in Leeds, England, in 1910 by the pioneer aviator Robert Blackburn, and it was far more successful than his first aircraft, which had barely left the ground before crashing. It was strongly influenced by the French Antoinette monoplane designed by Leon Levavasseur, with a rectangular wing braced by wires from a kingpost, a tapering fabric-covered wooden fuselage and a divided rudder. The pilot sat at the trailing edge of the wing and used a triple steering column that moved the elevators, warped the wings and turned the rudders. Power came from an untried seven-cylinder radial engine designed by R. J. Issacson of the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds, driving a two-blade wooden propeller through a reduction gear. B. C. Hucks flew it at Filey on the Yorkshire coast, taking off for the first time on 8 March 1911 and flying at about 30 feet and 50 miles per hour before sideslipping into the sand. After repair it served as an instructional aircraft and brought publicity to Blackburn.