Robert Blackburn (aviation pioneer)

[3] He moved to Filey and built a second monoplane which established his reputation as an aviation pioneer and in 1911 founded the Blackburn Aeroplane Company.

He introduced the first scheduled air service in Great Britain, offering half-hourly flights between Leeds and Bradford.

In 1919 he set up the North Sea Aerial Navigation Company, using surplus World War I aeroplanes, which operated a regular passenger service between Leeds and Hounslow, London as well as cargo flights between cities, including Leeds and Amsterdam.

Blackburn hoped to one day operate an airline that went from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt.

On his death in Devon in 1955 the Blackburn company's production facilities became part of Hawker Siddeley.