Bristol Blenheim
| Bristol Blenheim | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Light bomber |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
April 12, 1935 |
| Commissioning: |
1937 |
| Production time: |
1937 to 1943 |
| Number of pieces: |
4422 |
The Bristol Blenheim is a twin-engined British bomber that was used primarily by the Royal Air Force for low-level attacks against enemy ships during World War II . There was also a fighter version of the Blenheim.
development
The Blenheim goes back to Lord Rothermere's order to build an 8-seater all-metal passenger aircraft with retractable landing gear, the Bristol 142 Britain First , which first flew on April 12, 1935 . Lord Rothermere immediately made the aircraft available to the RAF for test flights. The Blenheim was developed from this aircraft according to specification B.28 / 35, with the civilian original low- wing configuration being changed to a middle- wing configuration in order to gain space for a bomb bay . The first flight of the prototype (RAF serial number K7033) took place on June 25, 1936. This aircraft was initially produced in series as the Blenheim Mk I (with a short, fully glazed nose) as the first all-metal aircraft of the British Air Force. The advanced construction made the bomber faster than all fighter aircraft of the time. A first supply contract was in place at that time and in March 1937 the No. 114 Squadron the first Blenheim I. 1280 Mk I were built; When the Second World War broke out, 1007 of them were in the RAF . Among these machines were also 147 aircraft manufactured as Mk-IF fighters with four Browning-MG cal. 0.303 (7.7 mm) in a tub under the fuselage.
commitment
The bombers were mostly used in the Middle and Far East , as the squadrons of the RAF had already been converted to the more advanced version Mk IV. On September 3, 1939, at the beginning of the war, 197 of these aircraft were available in the units. Ten Blenheim bombers from Nos 110 and 107 Squadron carried out the first British air raid on the German Reich on September 4, 1939 against the ironclad Admiral Scheer , which was anchored in the Jade estuary near Wilhelmshaven . Five Blenheim were lost.
From May 10, 1940, Blenheim's missions flew over the Netherlands and on May 13 they set up cover for the evacuation of Queen Wilhelmina . On the same day, the Blenheim IVF with the registration number P4854 was brought up to an He 111 from the Bawdsey radar station , possibly the first downing of an aircraft under radar guidance.
With 81 machine was named Blenheim IVL validity, where the letter L for L ong Range stood. This was achieved by installing additional wing tanks. By using the Mercury XV, the Mk IV also had a more powerful engine than the Blenheim I, which was equipped with the 840 hp Mercury VIII. In addition, the armament had been improved. Aircraft of this variant were manufactured in 1930.
In contrast to the Mk IV, the Mk V - the last British version - performed disappointingly. This variant was modified to meet the specification B. 6/40, so that in 1941 a prototype of the Mk-VA day bomber and the Mk-VB ground attack aircraft were built near Bristol. Rootes Securities Ltd built 942 aircraft, most of them in the Mk VD version (a tropical version of the VA), but some also in the VC version with double control as a training aircraft . However, the war losses to Mk VD were very high, so they were replaced by American Baltimore and Ventura as soon as possible .
Blenheim were used in every branch of the RAF and in every theater of war. Even before the outbreak of war, Blenheim I were exported to Finland , Romania , Yugoslavia and Turkey . Mk I were manufactured under license in Yugoslavia, Mk I and Mk IV in Finland. In Canada , Fairchild built 676 Blenheim for the Royal Canadian Air Force , which named these aircraft Bolingbroke Mk I to IV.
The name Blenheim was used again for the Bristol Blenheim , an exclusive vehicle of the British car manufacturer Bristol Cars Ltd. , which has been manufactured in very small numbers since 1993.
Production numbers
The Blenheim was built in Great Britain at Rootes in Speke, Stoke and Shawbury, at AV Roe and at Bristol.
| version | Bristol | AV Roe | Rootes / Speke | Rootes / Stoke | Rootes / Shawbury | total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mk I | 650 | 250 | 250 | 1150 | ||
| Mk IV | 300 | 750 | 2230 | 3280 | ||
| Mk V | 75 | 650 | 215 | 940 | ||
| total | 950 | 1000 | 2555 | 650 | 215 | 5370 |
| year | number |
|---|---|
| 1937 | 117 |
| 1938 | 447 |
| 1939 | 1077 |
| 1940 | 1518 |
| 1941 | 1383 |
| 1942 | 681 |
| 1943 | 147 |
| total | 5370 |
Military use
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- Free French Air Force
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- Regia Aeronautica 4 captured machines
-
Yugoslavia
- 24 copies were delivered and 36 built under license
-
Canada
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- Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske: 8 from the Kgl. Yugoslav Air Force took over machines
- Romanian Air Force: in addition to the 12 Mk.I's bought by Great Britain before the war, there were 6 of the former Kgl. Yugoslav Air Force
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- Turkish Air Force
Technical data (Blenheim IV)
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 3 |
| length | 8.60 m |
| span | 17.17 m |
| height | 3 m |
| Wing area | 43.6 m² |
| Wing extension | 6.8 |
| Empty mass | 4450 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 6545 kg |
| Cruising speed | 319 km / h |
| Top speed | 428 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 8310 m |
| Range | 2351 km |
| Engines | 2 × Bristol Mercury XV - radial engines each with 690 kW |
| Armament | 5 × Browning MG cal. 0.303 (7.7 mm) 454 kg bombs in the bomb bay 145 kg at outstations |
See also
literature
- C. Bowyer: Bristol Blenheim. Ian Allen, London 1984, ISBN 0-7110-1351-9 .
- Olaf Groehler : History of the air war 1910 to 1980. Military publishing house of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1981, p. 179.
- Francis K. Mason: The British Bomber Since 1914. Putnam Aeronautical Books, London 1994, ISBN 0-85177-861-5 .
- David Mondey: The Hamlyn Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II. Aerospace Publishing Ltd, London 1996, ISBN 0-7858-1361-6 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ according to Olaf Groehler: History of the air war 1910 to 1980. Military publishing house of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1981, p. 179 4442 pieces were built
- ^ CH Barnes: Bristol Aircraft since 1910. Conway Maritime Press Ltd., 1988, p. 271.
- ↑ Andrew Thomas: Defiant, Blenheim and Havoc Aces. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012, ISBN 978-1-84908-667-7 .
- ↑ a b National Archives, Kew, stock AVIA 10/311; AIR 19/524
- ^ British Warplanes of World War II. March 1998, p. 43.