Blackburn Mercury
The Blackburn Mercury was an early British aircraft designed as a pilot trainer for the Blackburn Flying School, Filey, in 1911. It was an enlarged, two-seat version of the Second Monoplane that flew earlier that year. It was a mid-wing monoplane of conventional configuration that accommodated pilot and student in tandem, open cockpits.
This prototype was displayed at the Olympia [Aero Show] in March 1911, and led to orders being placed for two racers to participate in the Daily Mail Circuit of Britain Air Race|Circuit of Britain] race. The first of these crashed on takeoff, and the second was first rebuilt into a two-seat trainer, then into a single-seat trainer known as the Type B. Another six Mercuries were built for various private buyers.
A full-scale non-flying replica of Mercury II configuration was constructed for the Yorkshire Television series Flambards and is now displayed at the Yorkshire Air Museum.