Time Period: Interwar Period, World War II
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Type: Fighter Aircraft
Manufacturer: Blackburn Aircraft, Boulton Paul
Blackburn Roc Aircraft Overview
The Blackburn Roc was a British naval fighter aircraft built by Blackburn Aircraft Limited in the late 1930s. It was designed to replace the biplane Hawker Osprey as a turret fighter, a type of aircraft that carried a gun turret behind the cockpit.
The Roc had a monoplane design and was powered by a Bristol Mercury engine. It was armed with four machine guns in the turret and two in the wings. The aircraft first flew in 1938, and a total of 136 were produced.
However, the Roc was found to be underpowered and had poor maneuverability, and it never saw combat in World War II. Instead, it was primarily used for training and coastal defense duties. By 1943, the Roc had been withdrawn from service and replaced by more advanced aircraft.
Blackburn Roc Specifications
- Crew: 2
- Length: 35 ft 7 in (10.85 m)
- Wingspan: 46 ft 0 in (14.02 m)
- Height: 12 ft 1 in (3.68 m)
- Wing area: 310 sq ft (29 m2)
- Empty weight: 6,121 lb (2,776 kg)
- Gross weight: 7,950 lb (3,606 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Perseus XII nine-cylinder air-cooled sleeve-valve radial piston engine, 890 hp (660 kW)
- Propellers: 3-bladed variable-pitch propeller.
Blackburn Roc Performance
- Maximum speed: 194 kn (223 mph, 359 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
- Cruise speed: 117 kn (135 mph, 217 km/h)
- Range: 700 nmi (810 mi, 1,300 km) with 70 imp gal (320 l; 84 US gal) long-range tank
- Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,500 ft/min (7.6 m/s)
Blackburn Roc Armament
- Guns: four × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in power operated dorsal turret
- Bombs: eight × 30 lb (14 kg) bombs
