Robert Blackburn

Robert Blackburn, OBE, FRAeS (26 March 1885 to 10 September 1955) was an English aviation pioneer and the founder of Blackburn Aircraft. Born in Kirkstall, Leeds, the eldest of three brothers, he studied engineering at the University of Leeds and built his first aircraft, a monoplane, in 1909, making his first short flight on the beach between Saltburn and Marske that spring. He built a second monoplane at Filey, which made his name as an aviation pioneer, and founded the Blackburn Aeroplane Company in 1911. With the help of his wife Jessy he created the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company, establishing a factory at Brough in 1916. He introduced the first scheduled air service in Great Britain between Leeds and Bradford, and set up the North Sea Aerial Navigation Company in 1919. He retired in 1950 and died in Devon in 1955, after which the Blackburn production facilities became part of Hawker Siddeley.