what is it?
The Blackburn Iris was a British three-engined biplane flying boat of the 1920s. Although only five Irises were built, it was used as a long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft by the Royal Air Force, where it equipped a squadron for four years, being used to carry out a number of notable long-distance flights. The final version of the Iris, the Iris Mark V was developed into the aircraft that replaced it in Squadron service, the Blackburn Perth.
How to recognise it: 3 piston engines with propellers · biplane · 29.6 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 100 years ago, in 1926.
- Wingspan of 29.6 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
- Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 2 African elephants (~6 t each).
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1926-06-18
- introduced
- 1929
- retired
- 1934
- status
- retired
- number built
- 5
- role
- flying boat
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- makers
- Blackburn Aircraft
- engines
- 3× Rolls-Royce Condor IIIB
- crew
- 5
- length
- 20.5 m
- wingspan
- 29.6 m
- height
- 7.8 m
- max take-off weight
- 13.4 t
- top speed
- 190 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 3,231 m
- wings
- biplane
- landing gear
- flying boat
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q880753, Wikipedia: Blackburn Iris (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.