16 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS
BLACKBURN
PERT
1934 TO 1936
BLACKBURN
PERTH
Right
The RAF received just
four Perths. All were
ordered from the
Blackburn Aeroplane
and Motor Co at
Brough, Yorkshire,
and were delivered
between October 1933
and March the following
year. K3580 was the
fi rst to be produced
and it entered service
with 209 Squadron in- The squadron was
based at Mount Batten
on Plymouth Sound
at the time, but later
moved to Felixstowe
before the Perths
were retired in 1937
and replaced by Short
Singapores and Saro
Londons. ANDY HAY/WWW.
FLYINGART.CO.UK
Below
Perth K3582 water
taxies out at the start of
another patrol sortie.T
he Blackburn Perth was
introduced into RAF service
as a replacement for the Iris
[see page 12] from which it
was developed.
This new flying boat was created
in 1931 to meet Air Ministry
Specification 20/32 and employed
the basic Iris airframe. It also shared
the same Rolls-Royce Buzzard
engines used in the latest upgrade
of the Iris (to Iris V standard) but
differed from its predecessor in
several important ways.
From the crew’s perspective the
most welcome development was the
addition of an enclosed cabin for the
pilot and co-pilot, and all other crew
members (increased from a total of
five to six) were accommodated in
more spacious internal areas. Below
decks there was the addition of
sleeping bunks as well as a canteen,
galley and separate wireless and
navigation cabins – the latter with a
large chart plotting table.Type: Six-crew general reconnaissance fl ying boat
First fl ight: October 1933; entered service 1934
Powerplant: Three 825hp (615kW) Rolls-Royce Buzzard piston engines
Dimensions: Span 97ft (29.57m), length 70ft (21.34m)
Weights: Empty 20,927lb (9,492kg), all-up 32,500lb (14,742kg)
Max speed: 132mph (212km/h) at sea level
Range: 898 miles (1,445km)
Armament: One 37mm automatic gun and one .303 gun in bows, one .303 gun
amidships and one .303 gun in tail. Bomb load: 2,200lb (998kg)
Replaced: Blackburn Iris
Taken on charge: 4
Replaced by: Short Singapore and Saro CloudBLACKBURN PERTH
1918 2018