The Blanchard BB-1 was a 1920s French racing flying-boat designed and built by Société des Avions Blanchard to compete in Schneider Trophy.^[1]

Design and development

The BB-1 was a single-seat parasol-wing monoplane flying-boat powered by a 380 hp (283 kW) Gnome-Rhône Jupiter radial piston engine.^[1] The BB-1 was tested in 1924 but the performance was poor and the aircraft was not developed further and was scrapped.^[1]

Specifications

Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1924^[2] Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 9.71 m (31 ft 10 in)
• Wingspan: 12.20 m (40 ft 0 in)
• Height: 3.00 m (9 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 21.00 m² (226.0 sq ft)
• Max takeoff weight: 1,280 kg (2,822 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Gnome et Rhône 9A Jupiter radial piston engine, 280 kW (380 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 240 km/h (150 mph, 130 kn)
• Time to altitude: 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 7 minutes
• Wing loading: 61 kg/m² (12 lb/sq ft)
• Power/mass: 0.2206 kW/kg (0.1342 hp/lb)