The former Blackburn Aircraft Factory

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 8 Aug 2005

Construction of these factory buildings began in 1937, as a result of a business partnership between Sir Maurice Denny, Managing Director of the Dumbarton firm Denny Shipbuilders, and Robert Blackburn, of Yorkshire's Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company. The site on which the factory stood was called Barge Park; completed machines would be taken across the River Clyde by barge to Abbotsinch airfield. Aircraft built here included the Blackburn Shark B6 Mark III (a torpedo/spotter/reconnaissance biplane, assembled from components manufactured in Yorkshire), the Short Sunderland (a flying boat patrol bomber, built entirely at this site), and many others. By early 1961, the factory had closed. As the photo shows, the factory buildings survived rather longer, becoming part of a bottling plant. However, they have now been demolished; see Image For a detailed history of the factory, and of the circumstances surrounding its creation, and for details of the aircraft that were produced here, the best source of information is the booklet "The Blackburn: Dumbarton's Aircraft Factory" (1996) by Alan M. Sherry. The photograph was taken from one of the batteries of Dumbarton Castle. For views of the buildings from the road beside them, see Image and Image

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