Harold Blackburn (pioneer aviator)
| Harold Blackburn | |
|---|---|
Harold Blackburn, Royal Flying Corps, after receiving the Military Cross for service in Palestine, January 1916.
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| Born |
19 January 1879 Dymock, Gloucestershire, England |
| Died | 29 April 1959 (aged 80) Jersey, Channel Islands |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Aviator |
| Known for | Pre-World War I demonstration flying |
| Spouse(s) | Violet Louise Lister (1896–1966) ended by divorce in 1935 Ruth Morley (1908–1982) ended by his death |
| Children | 1 daughter, Susan Eileen Blackburn |
| Parent(s) | Edwin Waller Blackburn (father) Sarah Jane Tate (mother) |
| Awards |
Military Cross Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) |
Wing Commander Harold Blackburn, MC, AFC (19 January 1879 – 29 April 1959) was a British aviation pioneer. Blackburn was the first pilot to carry newspapers for commercial sale by air and on 22 July 1914 piloted the first scheduled airline service in Great Britain.
Born on 19 January 1879 in Dymock, Gloucestershire, Blackburn was the third child of Edwin Waller Blackburn and Sarah Jane Blackburn (née Tate). Soon after his birth the family moved to Carcroft, near Doncaster, Yorkshire, where his father took up an appointment as a schoolmaster. Harold became an engineer and by 1901 worked as a bicycle maker and repairer in Doncaster.
Blackburn moved to London around 1909. In association with Albert Walker he built the Blackburn-Walker biplane, a tailless three-bay tandem pusher biplane with a canard elevator and the engine in front of its two occupants. It is not known how – or even if – this machine ever flew. Blackburn gained Royal Aero Club pilot’s certificate no. 79 at Brooklands on 9 May 1911, flying a Bristol Boxkite.
In 1912 Harold Blackburn helped establish a motorcycle manufacturing business with C. S. and E. A. Burney. When the first machines were successful the business was incorporated as Burney and Blackburn Ltd., although at this point Blackburn sold his stake. Despite his absence the business built motorcycles and engines under the brand name 'Blackburne'. As a "dividend" for his investment, Harold Blackburn was given a motorcycle and sidecar which he later used to promote flying displays in Yorkshire.
In September 1912 aircraft constructor Robert Blackburn (no relation to Harold Blackburn) moved his flying school from Filey Bay in Yorkshire to Hendon. Harold Blackburn was appointed instructor and test pilot. The school’s activities were reported in Flight magazine but it ceased operations some time in early 1913.
Harold Blackburn became a demonstration pilot for Robert Blackburn’s latest aircraft, the Blackburn Type D single-seat monoplane (which survives in flying condition with the Shuttleworth Collection) and its two-seat derivative, the Blackburn Type I. The Type I was demonstrated extensively throughout Yorkshire in the late summer of 1913 by Blackburn and its owner, Dr. M. G. Christie. They visited locales that had seen little or nothing of flying, such as Bridlington where Blackburn took 9-year-old American Isla Tudor up to a height of 6,000 feet (1,800 m). Tudor became known as the “Little Air Lady”.
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