![]() ![]() At the time, German firms were producing a variety of record-breaking high-speed designs, such as the single-engined Heinkel He 70, and Rothermere wanted the prestige of being able to claim to have the fastest civilian aircraft, as well as to purchase such an aircraft himself. In early 1934, Lord Rothermere, owner of the Daily Mail newspaper, challenged the British aviation industry to build a high-speed aircraft capable of carrying six passengers and two crew members – he referred to the ambition as seeking "the fastest commercial aeroplane in Europe, if not the world". Sir Archibald Russell described Barnwell's design as "close to being a replica of the Electra". ![]() When he returned home he discussed one of them, the Lockheed Electra 12A, with Roy Fedden and prepared a design to match it using Fedden's Bristol Aquila engine which produced 500 hp, the same power as the engine used in the Electra. In 1933 Frank Barnwell, Bristol's chief designer, went to the United States to collect first-hand information on their latest twin-engined, low-wing monoplane airliners. ![]() 3.4.1 First attack on the Japanese carrier force in the Pacific War.Both Blenheim types were used by foreign operators, and examples were licence built in Yugoslavia and Finland, in addition to Canada. The Blenheim was effective as a bomber but many were shot down. The Mk.I was faster than most of the RAF's biplane fighters in the late 1930s but advances soon left it vulnerable if flown in daylight, though it proved successful as a night fighter. The Blenheim was one of the first British aircraft with an all-metal stressed-skin construction, retractable landing gear, flaps, a powered gun turret and variable-pitch propellers. The Mk.IV was also used as a maritime patrol aircraft and both aircraft were also used as bombing and gunnery trainers once they had become obsolete as combat aircraft. 303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns mounted under the fuselage. In addition to operating as medium bombers, both versions were converted into heavy fighters by the addition of a gun pack with four Browning. The Type 160 Bisley was also developed from the Blenheim, but was already obsolete when it entered service. In service the Type 142M became the Blenheim Mk.I which would be developed into the longer Type 149, designated the Blenheim Mk.IV, except in Canada where Fairchild Canada built the Type 149 under licence as the Bolingbroke. Deliveries of the newly named Blenheim to RAF squadrons commenced on 10 March 1937. The Type 142 first flew in April 1935, and the Air Ministry, impressed by its performance, ordered a modified design as the Type 142M for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a bomber. ![]() Development began with the Type 142, a civil airliner, in response to a challenge from Lord Rothermere to produce the fastest commercial aircraft in Europe. The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |