Everything about The Bristol Blenheim totally explained
The
Bristol Blenheim was a
British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the
Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the
Second World War. It was later adapted into a successful
long-range fighter and
night fighter. A Canadian-made variant named the Bolingbroke was used as an
anti-submarine and
training aircraft. It was one of the first British aircraft to have all-metal stressed skin construction, to utilise retractable landing gear,
flaps, powered gun turret and variable-pitch
propellers.
Design and development
In 1934
Lord Rothermere, owner of the
Daily Mail, issued a challenge to the British aviation industry to build a high-speed aircraft capable of carrying six passengers and two crew members. At the time German firms were producing a variety of high-speed designs that were breaking records, and Rothermere wanted to recapture the title of fastest civilian aircraft in Europe. Bristol had been working on a suitable design as the
Type 135 since July 1933, and further adapted it to produce the
Type 142 to meet Rothermere's requirements.
When it first flew as
Britain First at
Filton on
12 April 1935, it proved to be faster than any fighter in service with the
Royal Air Force at the time.
The aircraft was ordered directly from the drawing board with the first production model, known at the time as the
Bolingbroke (pronounced Bolling-
brook), serving as the first and only prototype. The name then became
Blenheim Mk.I with subsequent deliveries started in March 1937, with
114 Squadron being the first squadron to receive the Blenheim.
Finland
In 1936, the Finnish Air Force ordered 41 Mk.Is from Britain and two years later, they obtained a manufacturing license for the aircraft. Fifteen aircraft were constructed in Finland prior to the
Winter War at the
Valtion lentokonetehdas and a further 41 were constructed later on, bringing the total number up to 97 aircraft (75 Mk Is and 22 Mk IVs). The Finns obtained large supplies of ex-Yugoslavian spares from the Germans during the war.
The Finnish Blenheims flew 423 bombing missions during the Winter War, and some further 3,000 bombing missions during the
Continuation War. Blenheim machine gunners also shot down five Soviet fighters. Half of the Blenheims were lost to all causes during the wars.
After the war, Finland was prohibited to fly bomber aircraft. However, some of the Finnish Blenheims continued in service as target tows until 1958.
Operators
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Survivors
There are currently no Blenheim or Bolingbroke aircraft that are airworthy. Two examples of the type are owned by the Aircraft Restoration Company in Duxford, Cambridgeshire. The first airworthy Blenheim had been rebuilt from a scrapped Bolingbroke over a 12-year period, only to be destroyed within a month of completion. A replacement Bolingbroke Mk.IVT was rebuilt to flying status in just five years and painted to represent a Blenheim Mk.IV in RAF wartime service. It began appearing at air shows and exhibitions in the UK, flying since May 1993 and was used in the 1995 film version of Shakespeare's Richard III. This aircraft crashed on landing 18 August 2004, and is presently undergoing an extensive repair.
In Canada, a number of other Bolingbrokes survived the war but were summarily consigned to the scrap heap. Postwar, enterprising farmers often bought surplus aircraft such as these for the scrap metal content, tires for farm implements, and even for the fuel remaining in the tanks. Some surviving examples in Canada of the Bolingbroke can be traced back to this period. The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario has been rebuilding a Bolingbroke to what is hoped to be airworthy status. The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon, Manitoba has restored the exterior of one Bolingbroke, painting it in the Air Training Plan yellow color. This particular aircraft is on display at a location on the Trans-Canada Highway in Brandon.
In Finland, the sole surviving original Blenheim in the world, a Mk.IV registered as BL-200 of the Finnish Air Force, is stored for restoration in the Aviation Museum of Central Finland. A project is underway to build a room for a public exhibition for this aircraft.
In Greece a Bristol Blenheim Mk.IVF was recovered from the sea and moved to the Hellenic Air Force Museum for restoration.
Specifications (Bristol Blenheim Mk I & IV)
|climb rate alt=7.6 m/s
|loading main=30.7 lb/ft²
|loading alt=150 kg/m²
|power/mass main=0.13 hp/lb
|power/mass alt=0.21 kW/kg
|guns=
- 1× .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine gun in port wing
- 1 or 2× .303 in Browning guns in rear-firing under-nose blister or Nash & Thomson FN.54 turret
- 2× .303 in Browning guns in dorsal turret
|bombs=
- 4× 250 lb (110 kg) bombs or
- 2× 500 lb (230 kg) bombs internally, and
- 8× 40 lb (18 kg) bombs externally
|}}
Further Information
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