The Bristol Blenheim fighter bomber
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About the Bristol Blenheim
When it was found to outperform the existing fighters, it was presented to the nation and served in roles including fighter, bomber and reconnaisance among others. Often called "The Forgotten Bomber" its achievements, including as a night fighter in the Battle of Britain, have been overlooked in favour of the more glamorous Spitfire and Hurricane day fighters.
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Contents
Bristol Blenheim Bomber Souvenir Mug by gregoryolney2
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- The origin of the Blenheim
- The Blenheim at War
- Speed Problems
- A Tribute to the Blenheim
- Technical Information
- Photographs of the Blenheim
- The Blenheim in flight
- Featured Item: The Blenheim Story
- Pilot's Manuals and Notes
- Faith, Hope and Charity
- More Aviation Lenses
- Blog Posts from fans
- Other lenses about aircraft
- Avro Vulcan Restoration projects
- Love this lens?
- What are your views?
- About the lensmaster
- Tirial's Bio and Featured Lenses
The origin of the Blenheim
A newspaper competition for the fastest aircraft
Bristol Blenheim Prototype
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The winning prototype, called "Britain First" was built to challenge speed records, and was quickly discovered to be 50mph faster than the fighters in service at the time. Viscount Rothmere presented the aircraft to the nation in 1935, and it was developed into the Bristol Blenheim.
The Bristol Blenheim: A Complete History
Amazon Price: $41.43 (as of 05/26/2012)
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Used Price: $41.69
Release Date: 12/31/1969
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The Blenheim at War
Bomber and Nightfighter
Bristol Blenheim by Hanger_19
More Bristol T-Shirts
By 1943 it had been almost entirely replaced, but its service in the early years of the war was vital. As a bomber it handled a number of raids, taking horrific casualties as the aircraft's speed was reduced by a full bomb loads. As a fighter it served well early on, but was quickly outperformed by the newer machines.
However, while the daylight of the Battle of Britain belonged to the Spitfire and Hurricane, it handled the majority of night fighting over the UK. Allowing the development of nightfighting tactics, it had some notable successes until replaced eventually by the Bristol Beaufighter and of course the "Wooden Wonder" - the deHavilland Mosquito.
In India it had a prolonged lease of life, as the glue that held the Mosquito together did not fare well in heat and humidity.
The last Blenheims were part of the Finnish airforce, used in every role from bombing to reconnaisance over their long lifespan and were finally retired in 1957.
One surviving Blenheim still displays, appropriately painted as a nightfighter.
Speed Problems
The prototype's great speed was never fully realised in production. The weight of the bombs and the redesign to fit cannon both slowed her significantly, leaving her vulnerable to better armed, more modern fighters.
A Tribute to the Blenheim
The Forgotten Bomber
Technical Information
The specifications of the Bristol Blenheim
Type:
Light Bomber / Nightfighter
Crew:
2/3
Max Speed:
266mph
Service Ceiling:
22,000ft
Range:
1500 miles
Engines:
2 x Bristol Mercury engines
Length:
42 ft 7 inches
Wingspan:
56 ft 4 inches
Height:
9 ft 10 inches
Weight:
15,000lbs
Two technical diagrams of the Blenheim are available from Amazon.co.uk:
Photographs of the Blenheim
Photographs from Flickr
Commercial images of the Blenheim are available from Media Storehouse
Below are images from Flickr which users have kindly made public.
Featured Item: The Blenheim Story
A 3 DVD set covering history and operations
Covering the development of the plane after Vicount Rothmere presented his protoype to the nation, through to its performance during World War II and the Dieppe landings.
Pilot's Manuals and Notes
Flying the Bristol Blenheim
Faith, Hope and Charity
An unlikely role was playing in the defense of Malta, when the three Gloucester Gladiator biplanes that made up the island's only air defense were fitted with engines from a Bristol Blenheim to improve performance.
They were fast enough to make Italian intelligence think there were more planes!
More Aviation Lenses
An index of my Aviation lenses is here:
British Aviation
Blog Posts from fans
More about the Bristol Blenheim
- WWII pilot Flt Sgt Angus McBean honoured at Hempholme
- Flt Sgt McBean, who was 25, died when his Bristol Blenheim MK1 twin-engined aircraft crashed on a night-time training flight. Richard Hampshire, Yorkshire Water's Tophill Low warden, said: "The family were absolutely elated to find out more news.
- The Oldest Cars Still In Production
- Bristol Blenheim (Type 603) This car is like a vampire that lives on snobbery instead of blood. First built in 1976, you can still buy a Blenheim, provided you've got around $250000 and a staggering blindness to massive panel gaps and outdated ...
- TOP: cele mai bătrâne modele în producţie
- Bristol Blenheim (Type 603) a fost pus pentru prima oar? în vânzare, în anul 1976, ?i de atunci se tot produce. San?ele ca aceast? ma?in? s? se fabrice ?i peste zece ani sunt destul de mari dintr-un motiv foarte simplu: sunt produse foarte pu?ine ...
- Девять автомобилей-долгожителей
- Bristol Blenheim Type 603: ??????-??????, ?????????????? ???? ?????????????, ????????? ????? ?? ??????? ??????. ? ??? ????? ??????? ?????, ??????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ?? ?????????? 1976 ???? ? ?????? ??????? ? ????? ????? ?????????
Other lenses about aircraft
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Avro Vulcan Restoration projects
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TheWhistler
Nov 10, 2009 @ 1:42 pm | delete
- Great lens, very informative.
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About the lensmaster
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Aviation, IT, History, Gaming, I'm interested in just about anything! I made the Squidoo Top 100 Club in June 2009. My first novel, "Fire Season", is now out, and I have a new title, "The Docks", out in Nov 2011.
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