Blackburn F3

Role	Fighter
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Blackburn Aircraft
Designer	George Edward Petty
First flight	not flown
Introduction	1934
Status	Prototype only
Number built	1

The Blackburn F3 (also called the Blackburn F.7/30) was a British single-engined fighter aircraft produced in response to Air Ministry Specification F.7/30.

Following the release of Air Ministry Specification F.7/30 for a single-seat day and night fighter, eight different companies proposed 12 different designs and three, including Blackburn Aircraft, received contracts to produce a prototype. Blackburn's design, the F.3, was a single-bay biplane of unequal wingspan and with an unusual configuration, the upper wing being mounted approximately halfway up the stressed-skin fuselage and the lower wing about two feet below it, the gap being occupied by an enclosure for the condenser of the evaporatively-cooled Goshawk III engine. The undercarriage was attached to the lower wing's front spar, with diagonal struts transmitting the landing loads to the fuselage longerons. Initially the wheels were fitted with spats, but these were later removed. The four Vickers machine guns were fuselage mounted, two in mid-position on the fuselage and the other two on either side of the top of the condenser housing.

Taxying trials of the F.3 began on 20 July 1934, but the aircraft was difficult to taxi safely, due to the combination of a short fuselage and a high centre of gravity. Additionally, the engine suffered from cooling problems. Further development was stopped when, after an inspection revealed damage to the rear fuselage resulting from the taxying trials, the Air Ministry withdrew support for the project since the aircraft would have been too delayed to take part in the evaluation trials. Following evaluation of F.7/30 designs an order was placed for the Gloster Gladiator.

Data from The British Fighter since 1912

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

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