Blackburn Aircraft Company
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| Industry | Aviation, aircraft engines |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquisition and merger |
| Successor | Hawker Siddeley Group |
| Founded | 1914 |
| Defunct | 1960 |
| Headquarters | Brough, Yorkshire |
Blackburn Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that concentrated mainly on naval and maritime aircraft during the first part of the 20th century.
Blackburn Aircraft was founded by Robert Blackburn, who built his first aircraft in Leeds in 1908.
The Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company was created in 1914, established in a new factory built at Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire in 1916, where Robert's brother Norman Blackburn was later Managing Director. By acquiring the Cirrus-Hermes company in 1937, Blackburn started producing aircraft engines, the Blackburn Cirrus range.
By 1937, pressure to re-arm was growing and the Yorkshire factory was approaching capacity. A fortuitous friendship between Maurice Denny, managing director of Denny Bros., the Dumbarton ship building company, and Robert Blackburn resulted in the building of a new Blackburn factory at Barge Park, Dumbarton where production of the Blackburn Botha commenced in 1939.
The company's name was changed to Blackburn Aircraft Limited in 1939, and the company 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. The Blackburn name 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 the UK company at cost.
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