Blackburn YA.7 WB781

Blackburn YA.7 WB781 (msn 5615), on the Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough fire dump (struck off charge on 18 May 1955). (Note: Below the rear cockpit can be seen a blanked-off exhaust of the intended Napier Coupled Naiad turboprop Engine. Also, in the background the badly damaged fuselage of YA.8 WB788 can be seen, already partly consumed by fire). The Blackburn B-54 (company designation), or YA.5 (SBAC designation), was designed to meet Specification GR.17/45 for an advanced carrier-borne anti-submarine aircraft, competing with the Fairey 17 (later - Fairey Gannet). The original Y.A.5 was designed to take the new Napier Coupled Naiad turboprop Engine, consisting of two single Naiads driving contra-rotating propellers through a common gearbox. This Engine was cancelled, so the Y.A.5 flew as the Y.A.7 with a Rolls Royce Griffon 56 piston Engine driving contra-rotating propellers. B-54 / YA.7 WB781 - 2-seat - first flown 20 September 1949 - RR Griffon piston Engine B-54 / YA.8 WB788 - 3-seat - first flown 3 May 1950 - RR Griffon piston Engine B-88 / YB.1 WB797 - 3-seat - first flown 19 July 1950 - Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba turboprop Engine

2-seat Advanced Anti-submarine Badly Blackburn Cancelled Cockpit Competing Consisting Consumed Coupled Designation Dump Establishment Exhaust Fairey Farnborough Flew Flown Fuselage Gannet Gearbox Griffon Intended Mamba Naiad Naiads Napier Partly Piston Propellers Sbac Specification Struck Turboprop

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