The Blackburn B.26 Botha was a four-seat reconnaissance and torpedo bomber. It was produced by the British aviation company Blackburn Aircraft at its factories at Brough and Dumbarton. The Botha was developed during the mid 1930s in response to Air Ministry Specification M.15/35, and was ordered straight off the drawing board alongside the competing Bristol Beaufort. On 28 December 1938, the first production aircraft made the type's maiden flight; almost exactly one year later, it enter service with the RAF. During official evaluation testing of the Botha, stability issues were revealed, as well as the fact that it was underpowered. It was only briefly used in frontline operations before being withdrawn to secondary roles during 1941. It continued to be flown in secondary roles, largely being used for training and as a target tug, before the Botha was fully withdrawn during September 1944. In terms of its basic configuration, the Blackburn Botha was a twin-engined cantilever monoplane; the high-mounted wing was a deliberate design decision as to provide the best possible downwards view for its occupants. The pilot, which was seated in a relatively spacious and well-instrumented cabin at the front of the aircraft, had an exceptionally unobstructed forward-facing field of view, although the rearwards view was impinged upon by the placement of the engines. The navigator and wireless operator's positions were within a separate central cabin reached via an entrance door with a built-in stepladder on the starboard side of the fuselage. Crewmembers could move between their positions via a narrow gangway; the observer had to used this same passage to reach the prone bombing position in the aircraft's nose. The final crew member, the gunner, was positioned to the rear of the wing in an egg-shaped power-assisted turret on the upper fuselage. The forward fuselage was largely reminiscent of the Blackburn Skua, and had a flush-rivetted Alclad plated covering, while the rear portion of the fuselage was a metal skin over a tubular metal structure. Flight surfaces such as the rudder, elevator, and ailerons had fabric coverings. The center section of the wing housed the aircraft's three main fuel tanks, which normally had a combined maximum capacity of 435.75 gallons, but could be raised to 565.75 gallons for special operations. Hydraulically-actuated split flaps were present on the central section of the wing's trailing edge, while the balanced ailerons were fitted on the sharply-tapered outer wing panels. Both the fin and tailplane were unbraced cantilevers with stressed-skin construction. The undercarriage consisted of two oleo-pneumatic legs that retracted rearwards into the nacelles, which were fitted with spring-loaded doors; hand-operated hydraulic brakes were fitted. As built, the Botha I was powered by a pair of Bristol Perseus X radial engines, which each drove a de Havilland Type 5/11 Hydromatic three-bladed constant-speed propeller. The engines, which were mounted onto the central section of the wing in wide-chord cowlings, were fitted with controllable cooling grills. There was a special cell in the fuselage could accommodate a single torpedo, a single 500lb bomb, or two 250lb bombs; additional bombs could be fitted on external bomb racks on the mainplane. Other armaments included the pilot's forward-firing .303-inch Vickers machine gun and the twin Lewis guns installed in the turret. Comprehensive marine gear, including a collapsible dingy, was also provided. A total of 580 Bothas were produced. For details of development and operational history, click here. Variants Botha Mk I : Four-seat reconnaissance, torpedo bomber aircraft. Botha TT Mk I : Target tug aircraft.
