18-493: The Blackburn Cirrus Minor is a British four-cylinder, inverted, in-line air-cooled aero-engine that was designed and built by the Cirrus Engine Section of Blackburn Aircraft Limited in the late 1930s. The Cirrus Minor started life as a clean-sheet replacement for the original Cirrus and Hermes series of light aircraft engines. Design was led by Technical Director C. S. Napier, son of Montague Napier , and
36-690: A new company also named General Aircraft Limited. Also included in the new company were the assets of National Flying Services Ltd, the owner of London Air Park in Hanworth near Feltham, plus adjoining industrial premises built in 1917 by Whitehead Aircraft Ltd. In early 1935, the Croydon production facilities were transferred to the Hanworth site. Production then restarted with the Monospar ST-12, Monospar ST-18, and Monospar ST-25. In 1936, GAL received an order to build 89 Hawker Fury IIs ; this
54-491: The Cirrus-Hermes Engineering company in 1934, beginning its manufacture of aircraft engines. However an updated range of engines was under development and Blackburn wanted to wait until it was established before giving its name to them, so Cirrus Hermes Engineering was retained as a separate company for the time being. The company's name was changed to Blackburn Aircraft Limited in 1936. In 1937, with
72-613: The Sopwith Cuckoo (1918) and the Fairey Swordfish (1942), both of which were built at Blackburn's Sherburn-in-Elmet factory. Related lists General Aircraft Ltd General Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1931 to amalgamation with Blackburn Aircraft in 1949 to become Blackburn and General . Its main products were military gliders and light transport aircraft. On 27 February 1931, General Aircraft Limited (GAL)
90-586: The Fleet Air Arm. Major overhauls were carried out at Hanworth on the helicopters, plus experimental work in Air Sea Rescue, limited by the weight-lifting capacity of the helicopters. After World War II, GAL diversified into the construction of pre-fabricated houses and car bodies. The company had designed and built a large transport aircraft, the GAL.60 Universal . However, GAL realised it did not have
108-464: The Hermes IV. The Claudel-Hobson down-draught carburetter featured independent altitude control, and the dual-redundant magnetos were of B.T.H. S.G.4/2 type. The Cirrus Minor was introduced in 1935. Two years later, Cirrus Hermes Engineering lost its identity as a separate company and was adopted as an operating division of its parent company, which by then had become Blackburn Aircraft . The Minor
126-719: The UK company at cost. The company had factories at Olympia in Leeds, Sherburn-in-Elmet , Brough (East Yorkshire) and Dumbarton. In the early days, Blackburn himself flew aircraft on the beaches at Marske and Filey , with the company also using the former RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor . Before production shifted to Sherburn-in-Elmet and Brough from the Leeds site, aircraft were flown in and out of Olympia works by an adjacent airstrip in Roundhay Park. The company also produced aircraft from other aircraft companies' specifications, such as
144-567: The building of a new Blackburn factory at Barge Park, Dumbarton where production of the Blackburn Botha commenced in 1939. Blackburn amalgamated with General Aircraft Limited in 1949 as Blackburn and General Aircraft Limited, reverting to Blackburn Aircraft Limited by 1958. As part of the rationalisation of British aircraft manufacturers, its aircraft production and engine operations were absorbed into Hawker Siddeley and Bristol Siddeley respectively in 1960/1961. The Blackburn name
162-618: The new Cirrus engines now well established, engine manufacturing was brought into the parent company as an operating division, giving rise to the Blackburn Cirrus name. By 1937, pressure to re-arm was growing and the Yorkshire factory was approaching capacity. A fortuitous friendship between Maurice Denny , managing director of William Denny and Brothers , the Dumbarton ship building company, and Robert Blackburn resulted in
180-480: The previous inverted engines, being air-cooled inverted four-cylinder inline designs. Like the others the Minor had a robust steel five-bearing crankshaft, but unlike them the long studs bolting the cylinder heads to the crank housing were replaced by short studs and flanges at each end of the cylinder barrels. Light alloy was used for the cylinder heads and con rods, while the valve gear was adopted with little change from
198-488: The room or capacity to produce the aircraft in quantity, and approached Blackburn Aircraft Ltd , that was looking for work to keep its factory at Brough Aerodrome busy. On 1 January 1949, this led to the two companies merging to form the Blackburn and General Aircraft Ltd . The first GAL.60 was transported by road from Hanworth to Brough and chief test pilot Harold 'Tim' Wood made its first flight there on 20 June 1950, and
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#1732786746100216-594: Was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1914 to 1963 that concentrated mainly on naval and maritime aircraft. Blackburn Aircraft was founded by Robert Blackburn and Jessy Blackburn , who built his first aircraft in Leeds in 1908 with the company's Olympia Works at Roundhay opening in 1914. The Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company was created in 1914 and established in a new factory at Brough , East Riding of Yorkshire in 1916. Robert's brother Norman Blackburn later became managing director. Blackburn acquired
234-690: Was already under way when in 1934 Cirrus-Hermes Engineering was taken over by the Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company and moved to Brough in Yorkshire. Napier remained Technical Director and, while he completed the development and initial sales of the Cirrus Minor and its larger stablemate the Cirrus Major , Blackburn kept Cirrus Hermes Engineering as a separate company (though without the hyphen in its name). Although completely new designs, they were of generally similar layout to
252-715: Was dropped completely in 1963. An American company, Blackburn Aircraft Corp., was incorporated in Detroit on 20 May 1929 to acquire design and patent rights of the aircraft of Blackburn Airplane & Motor Co., Ltd. in the USA. It was owned 90% by Detroit Aircraft Corp. and 10% by Blackburn Airplane & Motor Co., Ltd. Agreements covered such rights in North and South America, excepting Brazil and certain rights in Canada and provided that all special tools and patterns were to be supplied by
270-498: Was followed by other subcontract work including the conversion of 125 Hawker Hinds into trainers. In 1938, the company bought the design of the Cygnet light aircraft from the foundering C.W. Aircraft Ltd and it was further developed as the GAL.42 Cygnet II . GAL also operated an RAF elementary flying training school at Fairoaks Aerodrome , Surrey. During World War II, GAL became an important designer and manufacturer of gliders. It
288-642: Was formed to undertake production of aircraft using the 'monospar' wing designs of the Monospar Wing Company Ltd. Both firms were headed by Helmut J. Stieger, the Swiss inventor of the technique. GAL produced about 28 examples of the Monospar series of twin-engined light transport aircraft at Croydon Aerodrome between 1932 and 1934. In October 1934, both companies were re-capitalised by investment group British Pacific Trust, and were re-formed in
306-699: Was known for excellent reliability, and had a major "win" when it was selected to power the RAF 's Taylorcraft Auster observation aircraft. The RAF's version had several modifications, known as the Series I . Although externally identical, the Series II engine was redesigned to operate on 77 octane fuel, as opposed to the original's 70, increasing power to 100 hp (75 kW). Data from Lumsden Related development Comparable engines Related lists Blackburn Aircraft Blackburn Aircraft Limited
324-598: Was part of the Civilian Repair Organisation , to repair Supermarine Spitfires at Hanworth, and Beaufighters at Fairoaks. It also modified Hawker Hurricanes to enable catapult-launching from convoy escort ships. In 1943, Sikorsky helicopters were imported from the US for experimental work. Supplied in crates, they were assembled and flown at Hanworth Aerodrome – one squadron for the RAF, and two squadrons for
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