A Surprising Success...For A Blackburn | Blackburn Kangaroo [Aircraft Overview #89]
Ғылым және технология
Today we're taking a look at the Blackburn Kangaroo, a WW-era biplane that enjoyed some much needed success in the early postwar years.
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Sources:
Jackson.A.J (1989), Blackburn Aircraft Since 1909.
Mason, F. (1994), The British bomber since 1914.
wilkinsfoundation.org.au/rese...
Пікірлер: 187
Testing out an updated, cleaner thumbnail style :) F.A.Q Section Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both. Q: Will you include video footage in your videos, or just photos? A: Video footage is very expensive to licence, if I can find footage in the public domain I will try to use it, but a lot of it is hoarded by licencing studies (British Pathe, Periscope films etc). In the future I may be able to afford clips :) Q: Why do you sometimes feature images/screenshots from flight simulators? A: Sometimes there are not a lot of photos available for certain aircraft, so I substitute this with digital images that are as accurate as possible.
@wacawkrol1824
Жыл бұрын
Its not an aircraft but the french after the ww2 had a project of sending tanks on the battlefield with v2 rockets
@plasmaburndeath
Жыл бұрын
Rex I will be emailing you the photo / link of Prop you mentioned in video :-) so expect my Plasmaburndeath email I swear I am not spam... 😀 *Edit* I Just emailed you, and did a new comment post for everyone that would like to see this now 🙂 take care and Cheers.
@gargolus.
Жыл бұрын
Any idea when part two of the balloon/airship series will be released?
@MakotoAtava
Жыл бұрын
Hope for a video about the Heinkel He-280 jet fighter in the future.
@akmzd6938
Жыл бұрын
Requesting a video on the Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech that certainly lived up to its name if nothing else. Great video, thank you again and keep up the good work!
Air Board: "You are without a doubt the worst aircraft manufacturer I've ever heard of." Blackburn: "But you *have* heard of me..."
@Allan_aka_RocKITEman
Жыл бұрын
🤭🤭🤭
@eyo8766
Жыл бұрын
"Let this be the day that you almost closed down Blackbur-" *Breaks the sound barrier in a Buccaneer*
@nemilyk
Жыл бұрын
@@eyo8766 Historians: "This is either brilliance, or madness." Blackburn: "Funny how often those two traits coincide."
@samuelhof8968
3 ай бұрын
G jeje
Blackburn is the company that stuck around almost out of spite.
@lokikinch
Жыл бұрын
Avro, Lockheed Martin Grumman etc: WHY CANT YOU JUST BE NORMAL?! Blackburn: *Autistic screeching*
@wbertie2604
Жыл бұрын
It was just hanging on until the Buccanneer.
@DidMyGrandfatherMakeThis
Жыл бұрын
@@wbertie2604 was just about to comment and then at very low level, comes the buc
@madbrowndog4887
Жыл бұрын
Total fantasy on my part, but I'm imagining some apprentice draughtsman at Blackburn in the 20's/30's doodling a sleek, swept-wing monoplane on the back of some discarded paper. No bracing, not a propeller in sight, just two tube thingies on the sides of the fuselage. Boss tells him to get back to work, then looks at the drawing and says "What the hell is that?" Apprentice replies "Just an idea."
@nickthompson9697
Жыл бұрын
Can't become a legend by giving up.
Other aviation channels, when faced with a lack of supporting information, will resort to showing, unrelentingly, unrelated aircraft and even engines being placed into Model A Fords on the assembly line. Your honesty and content is... refreshing...
@Colt45hatchback
Жыл бұрын
I take it the channel you are referring to tries to sound like the guy from the "unsolved mysteries" tv show from the 90"s?
@gusty9053
Жыл бұрын
Cough dark skies cough. I noticed that when they were doing a video on the F5 Tiger 2 and kept using F4 Phantom 2 video over Vietnam.
@gusty9053
Жыл бұрын
I noticed an overall increase in quality though, if you look around a bit. Not only this channel but Bismark, Greg's, Ed Nash and Millenium all do better "documentaries" that even some of the old Discovery stuff (the good Discovery not the reality Tv it devolved into later).
@davidelliott5843
6 ай бұрын
I can put up with “illustrative” videos and stills but prefer the Drachinifel and Rex approach with extended shots of stills where video does not exist. This one would have benefitted by showing the typical bungee cord suspension used on aircraft of the period.
@davidelliott5843
6 ай бұрын
That passenger cabin would have made the rear fuselage stiffer. It seems odd the canopy was not extended all the way forward.
"...Blackburn, whose chief had clearly offended some sort of aviation deity..." It can be argued that Blackburn's chiefs went on offending the same deity over and over again until they finally got it right with the Buccaneer. Speaking of disastrous Blackburn aircraft, have you done the Botha yet?
@thedigitaldummy3098
Жыл бұрын
The Botha?
@anzaca1
Жыл бұрын
@@thedigitaldummy3098 Blackburn Botha.
@thedigitaldummy3098
Жыл бұрын
@@anzaca1 oh, I was genuinely under the assumption that was a “Botha deez nuts” joke before looking it up.
@Ensign_Cthulhu
Жыл бұрын
@@thedigitaldummy3098 The legend. Reportedly the test pilot commented on the poor placement of the entry door by writing "Getting into this aircraft is difficult. It should be made impossible."
@moblinmajorgeneral
Жыл бұрын
The Botha literally couldn't even train pilots correctly. If a trainer is dangerous for a novice pilot to fly, how are bomber pilots supposed to be trained?
I propose the following: If you are able to appreciate the weird wonderfulness of interwar Blackburns then you are an aviation aficionado. If not, you are merely an airplane dork.
Your creativity with your jokes continues to amaze me.
I'm an aircraft buff from childhood. At 5, I could tell the difference between a DC-3 and a Vickers Viscount, which helped me skip kindergarten. An, as a historian, I consider myself very rational. But something spooky just happened. Just before you mentioned the rumour of a Kangaroo hidden in a Cretan cave, I thought: wouldn't it be cool if someone found a Kangaroo in a cave or something? So maybe it's still out there? ALL your videos are great. accurate and entertainingly and wryly narrated.
Although the Kangaroo bears a superficial resemblance to the Handley-Page O-400 it should be kept in mind that the Kangaroo was designed for a very different purpose. Rather than a heavy strategic bomber, the Kangaroo was designed to perform the sort of over-water missions later carried out by RAF Coastal Command. In that sense one might think of it as a WW-I equivalent to the Bristol Beaufort or Short Sunderland rather than of the Avro Lancaster or Handley-Page Halifax.
Rex...love when you cover anything created by Blackburn. I can't imagine flying over miles of open ocean in one of these things. The white knuckled terror that would overcome one while flying this bird over the north sea in a stiff gale is too frightening to contemplate.
I love that Blackburn were always trying something new. Innovation comes through experimentation, after all.
@Colt45hatchback
Жыл бұрын
I cant remember, where did they get all the money to make so many "mistakes" but still stay in business for so long?
Looks pretty ok for a Blackburn...
I especially like that forward passenger "cabin", I'd certainly book that...👍
@anzaca1
Жыл бұрын
I know. Fantastic view.
@Colt45hatchback
Жыл бұрын
Me too, be like getting a cab ride on a train, except way more exciting after 5 min
This looks exactly like the plane featured in the opening credits of "Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines"
@lafeelabriel
Жыл бұрын
*sings* Stop the pigeon, stop the pigeon..
Don't worry about PwrPntesqueness. Some of us regularly watch Perun's hour long offerings.
@chrismaguire3667
Жыл бұрын
🤔?
All of Blackburn's sins were forgiven with the Buccaneer.
It shouldn't be a suprise it was a success. After all the Kangaroo is a good hopper...
@robertdragoff6909
Жыл бұрын
I heard the newer landing gear with shocks was further modified with bungee cords….. I’ll let someone else come up with the punch line …..
@jlvfr
Жыл бұрын
@@robertdragoff6909 yeah, that one just jumps off...
@chrismaguire3667
Жыл бұрын
@Roger Dragoff, yeah, I'll bounce that back to you, once I get something good...😂
Talk about an aviation grail! That Kangaroo on Crete...
0:33 Hey man. Some of the greatest inventors of our time where huffers.
Blackburn's early thirties Shark torpedo bomber was relatively successful, and a rather striking looking craft also. It was the first of its genre to be operated by the RCAF, and a small batch was built under license in Canada by the Canadian division of Boeing. Unfortunately only a few small parts remain today. On the subject of Blackburn-built torpedo planes, Blackburn built quite a good proportion of the total run of Fairey Swordfish.
@robertwilloughby8050
Жыл бұрын
The Baffin was quite good too, a quote about it by a test pilot "The Baffin is safe, reliable and comfortable. Sadly, it is also slow. If it was any faster than the Swordfish, I could back it completely."
I look at that thing and just imagine how much wood and fabric were needed to build it. "Flying crate" is an apt description indeed.
Thank you for your sympathetic description of the dock workers strike. It was a refreshing change from the usually uninformed and sometimes negative assessments of important collective attempts to address the difficult working conditions of blue collar workers.
Another great video I wondered if there was any chance of you doing a Halifax video really enjoyed the 2 part Wellington videos cheers
Maybe it was called a Kangaroo because due to lack of shock absorbers it bounced a lot on landing :P
Great for short and long hops..
These Blackburn bits are my favourites. I've come around to strangely rooting for the company every time, as in vain as that may be.
Buried treasure in Crete!
@guidor.4161
Жыл бұрын
So the Minotaur is now guarding over this one...
Blackburn Aircraft Company with another winner? cough splutter... 😁😁😁👍
It is interesting that the Kangaroo had engines with opposite rotation, which seemed to be unusual for time. That means that the engine start truck which appears at 12:20 must have had a reversing gear to be able to start both.
Thank you so much for your videos, they are so much fun to listen to and are in my opinion some of the best when discussing specific aircraft that you generally don't see much on KZread while also in an easily understandable format.
Rex, we have to find the Kangaroo of Crete, and fly it back through the Anomaly! It's the only way to restore the timeline!
@Colt45hatchback
Жыл бұрын
Id be extatic if someone from there watches the video and thinks "hey i remember seeing a wooden thing in a cave that time on a walk with granddad before he told me to get the hell out from there... Wonder if its still there "discovers bowed mouse chewed blackburn kangaroo" welp, im set for life 👌 "hello england? I have something you may be interested in" 😂😂😂
@rays5073
6 ай бұрын
Man's predicted the Indiana Jones Dial of Destiny plot before the movie came out, just got the island wrong damn
Finally in the first 50 lol. As usual great video bud
Looks like a stretched Vickers Vimmy.
Rare Blackburn W.
So many new videos! Thats amazing!
Brilliant, I really enjoyed this one.
Great video, and don’t apologise for the absence of photos or video material if there isn’t any - your videos are always interesting and entertaining and I appreciate not showing irrelevant video material just to have something moving, like some documentaries sadly do.
Very interesting story from history of aviation and aviation building. Thanks to this lection!
Another fine video Rex. And one can never get too much Blackburn!
I love these videos on the early days of aviation
Best aviation history channel out there. Great job Rex!
How very amusing and interesting ! Thanks
Thanks!
@8:49 the customized model here with da enclosure is pretty dope... very cool.
This is a beautiful and stately aircraft.
@chrismaguire3667
Жыл бұрын
🤓
They had some really good looking aircraft. 👍🏻
Thanks for the posts REX, as a middle aged aircraft nerd these are right up my street.
awesome thanks rex
From the photos of the props, it appears that engines were counter-rotating. Interesting.
NB: The Kangaroo at 7:26 has twin Lewis guns on the rear Scarff ring.
@anzaca1
Жыл бұрын
Most likely an in-service modification, possbily to a single aircraft.
*REX: **_"...decided to imitate the German economy of 1918..."_* Good one...🤭
I like the flying canoe look
Nice images.
Thank you
thanks
For the Dick Dastidly maritime patrol service, got to stop that pigeon.
@chrismaguire3667
Жыл бұрын
Built by Klunk, no doubt. Drat, drat, and double drat!
One of my favourite aircraft of the Great War, and one of the forerunners of land-based MPA (Marine Patrol Aircraft)
I love All your videos, thanks for covering the enterwar yrs, maybe you could do a whole line of ww1-1946 aircraft piston engines v-type and air cooled 🆒🆒🆒🆒
Was Blackburn's chief engineer Klunk from Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines?
The difference between being innovative and a laughing stock depends entirely on whether you're successful.
do a video about the J7W Shinden
I believe that the Beverley was quite successful, though little loved and remember it in my childhood as being referred to as a close formation of spare parts.
I'm not a big fan of right angles but dang this is a pretty airplane.
I'd love to see a history of the Parnall aircraft
There was no bailing out of that thing... you weren't ejecting. You were chumming the waters.
It’s not as if Blackburn made terrible aircraft… they were just terrible to look at. 😁
@robertwilloughby8050
Жыл бұрын
What, even the Banana Jet? (half sarcasm, half real question)
Can you do video about PZL-37 Los. Polish 1937 bomber. Very manuverable so plans were to make it heavy fighter.
When Chris says "Engine" something was making me think.... Hmmm Then I realised when he says Engines it sound like he's says in-juns like an old Cow Boy Movie character might. Unfortunately now I can't un-hear that link in my mind, but it does make the videos even more entertaining as a consequence.
How happy would you feel as a passenger stuck in that front Nose section ..
P61 Black Widow when?
No suspension whatsoever?! Every little bump would steer you off course if you landed or took off from the ground, meaning lots of rudder usage. Wow, this actually appears to be the case with that emergency landing during the England-Australia competition.
f4 phantom and mig 21 please
Apart from the the buccaneer all of their airplanes looked like furniture with gun racks
That's what that was in that cave?! We paid it no mind. Unfortunately, I've completely forgotten where that cave was exactly located.
@kiwitrainguy
9 ай бұрын
Oh I found it after you. I didn't know what it was and it was a cold evening so we broke it up for firewood and used it to keep warm. What are those screams I can hear?
For the day and time of this kite, it's not that bad. We have seen worse from Rex.
What catches one's attention is how Blackburn sistematically incorporated what was required from the official specification into unorthodox designs. The guys just couldn't sit still.
Would LOVE to know what that engine is at the start of these videos.
At 00:32 in this video: Was that aircraft a 'competitor' to the _Fairey Gannet?_ At first I thought the aircraft pictured was a _Gannet,_ until I did a quick Google search. I could not remember the name of the _Gannet_ off the top of my head. That was when I realized I was thinking of the aircraft manufactured by _Fairey._
@therealunclevanya
Жыл бұрын
Looks like a B54, but, yes very similar design to the wonderfully odd Gannet. My dad loved Gannets, they brought the mail while he was on board HMS Ark Royal. I have photos somewhere of both the Gannet and the first Harrier landings on Ark Royal.
@Allan_aka_RocKITEman
Жыл бұрын
@@therealunclevanya >>> 👍👍
looks almost Caproni to me
What is that.....object at 0:30? I'm not sure I want to know, but it might make a interesting posting
@mikearmstrong8483
Жыл бұрын
He's done a video on it. The float retracts against the hull for streamlining.
Hi Rex. I thought you said if the aircraft was an American plane the pronunciation would be "militerry" and all other nations' aircraft would be the correct English pronunciation of "military" (militree). I'm an Aussie by the way.
Did the kangaroos flying from Raf seaton Carew have any involvement in the shooting down of the zeppelin over Hartlepool .
Well, they did do some serious damage to the U-boats and initiated several commercial services, so this gawky aircraft didn't do too badly.
Is it fair to say a U-boat would "rue" the day it was spotted by this aircraft?
5:42 A better example would be to say The undercarriage imitated the British economy of 2023
@anzaca1
Жыл бұрын
What are you talking about. The only economy collapsing right now is Russia's.
@wazza7575
Жыл бұрын
@@anzaca1 really? With the British inflation rate at 10.5%? Nope, the Brits are in the sh*t.
Would you know,where,on crete it forcelanded?
@chrismaguire3667
Жыл бұрын
Somewhere near Kon...
Just HOW big is your Hanger, what other marvels lurk in it`s far recesses amongst the cobwebs? the progress over 100+yrs is amazing but littered with failures - nice to see they OCCASIONALLY got it (almost) right -should that have a `W` in front? Great Channel - cobwebby T Shirt req`d, please NOT designed by Blackburn! (Although the Buccaneer was Awesome!).
14:08 So it could still be there.
G-EAIU is very close to the famous G-EAOU "God "Elp All Of Us"
I would love to see a video about the Supermarine Walrus sea plane. So many questionable decisions...
@tobyrobson2939
Жыл бұрын
Eh? An aircraft with a long and successful service record....
@johnhudghton2287
Жыл бұрын
The Supermarine Walrus was an excellent aircraft. Fully aerobatic if you did not mind the bilges sloshing into the cabin.
@tobyrobson2939
Жыл бұрын
... one of the few aircraft to see service from before to AFTER WW2 (and thats the worlds definition of WW2, not the version which starts 2+ years after everyone else ;) )
'Cause nothing says flying like a kangaroo🤨
Not sure I agree interwar Blackburn aircraft where thinking outside the box, I think they accidentally stumbled out of the box after sniffing too many fumes.
What is the aircraft at 0:31?
@DIREWOLFx75
Жыл бұрын
Floatplane with retractable centerline float. And after some googling, it's the Blackburn B-20. Go to Ed Nash's military matters and search for the video named "Neither Fish nor Fowl; The Blackburn B20, B40 and B44". He did a fine video on it and related aircraft.
@jaxpc
Жыл бұрын
@@DIREWOLFx75 I looked again and it's the aircraft at 0:33.
12 May 24
"The Kangaroo was more of a conventional design" .....by what definition of the word "conventional"? Like, it had wings I guess.
British engineering at its best.....
wait a minute. this video feels a bit like a power point presentation. I hope he apologies in advance.
@chrismaguire3667
Жыл бұрын
That was a bit... pointed, don'tcha think?😁
If the metal fittings were machined, it's likely they were AVIATION alloy instead of steel. Edit : The word aviation had been added for pedantic trolls who have nothing better to do than irritate every single person they contact in the comments field about 100yr old Aircraft..😆
@brokeandtired
Жыл бұрын
Almost all steels are alloys. Be it manganese added or otherwise.
@edwardfletcher7790
Жыл бұрын
@@brokeandtired I was referring to aviation alloys....jeez
@iffracem
Жыл бұрын
@@edwardfletcher7790 but what alloys are you referring to? Duralumin? Chrome-molly? Steel is often machined, it's normal to machine it, not uncommon, so that statement is irrelevant. Your comment is vague at best ... "jeez"
@edwardfletcher7790
Жыл бұрын
@@iffracem Why don't you go research the history of Blackburn aviation and tell us then smart ass.... LoL I'm not an expert on what lightweight alloys were common in 100yr old Aircraft.
Vickers should offered a Vimy for the delivery of underwear and other clothing to Dutch ladies as the headlines could have virtually written themselves.
Every clown gets his or her 15 minutes of glory.