Ark Models 72008 Blackburn "Shark" British torpedo bomber

The Blackburn Shark was a British, on-board, torpedo and reconnaissance biplane reconnaissance plane with a wooden structure from the interwar period and World War II. The drive was provided by a single engine Armstrong Siddeley Tiger IV 700 hp. The prototype's flight took place in 1933. In the course of serial production, which lasted in the years 1934-1937, about 270 copies of this aircraft were made. The armament was 2 7.7 mm machine guns and a bomb load or a torpedo weighing up to 680 kg.

Blackburn Shark was originally established as a private betting initiative Blackburn Aircraft Ltd., however, went into series production after a series of successful tests by British Navy aviation. In its course, two development versions were created. The first, designated Mk. I was powered by a 700hp engine, while the Mk. II was powered by an engine Armstrong Siddeley Tiger VI already 760 hp. From 1937, Shark planes were replaced in-line by more modern Fairey Swordfish aircraft and transferred to flight schools. They were used to a marginal extent for patrol tasks against Japanese attacks in the Far East at the turn of 1941/1942. Canada undertook the license production of this aircraft, and Portugal bought the finished machines.