Beneath its refined exterior, the Ripon II retained the basic fuselage structure of its predecessors, stressed for catapult launches. It comprised three detachable units: a steel engine mounting, a steel-tube centre structure, and a tie-rod-braced wooden rear fuselage. The swept-back single-bay wings combined spruce spars and ribs with metal compression struts. Steel interplane struts sat inside streamlined fairings. For shipboard stowage, hinges on the rear spars of the upper and lower centre sections allowed the wings to fold aft, as on earlier Blackburn shipborne aircraft. Ailerons on all four wings followed Blackburn's standard practice.
Chapter · 1:20-1:58
The Ripon II's structure and folding wings
The Ripon II retained a mixed steel-and-wood fuselage stressed for catapult launches and Blackburn's established folding-wing arrangement for shipboard use.