I attended the Duxford Autumn Airshow today, and despite being basically rained off, I had a good long talk (And tour!) of the Blenheim Restoration being undertaken by an amazing team of dedicated volunteers. They have acquired a long nosed Blenheim, and after its 'prang' it was decided to restore her back to a short nosed bomber. She has the support of many veterans, and hopefully will be in the air in a couple of years at the most, once the engines are built. Having then been shown inside the Blenheim, and around the workshop where they are also re-building a Lysander (the smell was absolutely wonderful) I can assure you both of these birds will fly again, and soon. As they do not have a forum of their own, i promised to link their website back to here in order to try and raise a little bit more awareness of their work. Blenheim Society So please keep an eye on their work, and if you are ever at Duxford, go and peer through the windows of Hut 66, otherwise known as Blenheim Palace :clapping:
Well done Kitty. I wanted to get down there myself but was unable to join them. I recently joined on account of my Father but watched the Blenheim fly at Biggin Hill about 3 years ago. When you see the old films, you realise how defenceless they really were and all credit to the crews that were able to keep them in the air. I have an affection for both these aircraft and it will be great to see them up there again. Regards, Nick
I saw her fly in '99 after the rebuild from the first crash which was in the late '80s, I think, and only just after they'd got her going again (or on her first flight or something equally as heart breaking). Just marvellous and, while much maligned by just about everyone, the Blenheim was made to do things above and beyond...and golly did she have brave crews. Hughis Edwards won a VC with 105 Sqn while on Blenheims as we all know. Were there any others? Sir Hughie Edwards Kitty, I managed to get into Hut 66 as well but not as behind the scenes as you as it was the Flying Legends weekend and there was so much to see. Met a guy called Taffy Smith (I think) and he was wonderfully friendly and showed us over a '109 they were rebuilding at the time. That smell you mention is one of my favourites - a mixture of, well, everything! IIRC, I read recently there is a move to get a syndicate sorted in NZ to get a Blenheim project in the US. So, eventually, there might be another one. Probably read it on here somewhere.
Blenheim Mk1. The Blenheim IV was a fair all rounder, but 114 Squadron found the Mk1 to be a killer in the first few months of service. They lost no less than fourteen, mostly fatal. Now hear this! Despite excellent primary flying controls the dangers of conversion were made worse by the poor layout of the secondary controls. The pitch controls were two push/pull plungers behind the pilot's left elbow, just below two identical plungers for the carburretor cut-outs - the latter were soon guarded by a sprung flap! Like the throttles, they were painted red and green for port or starboard engine. But that wasn't much use at night unless the pilot had colour sensitive elbows! The hydraulic system was controlled by three identical push/pull stirrup plungers down by the pilot's right thigh - and the circuit had to be energised from'Neutral' by selecting either 'Undercarriage and flaps' or 'Turret' followed by pushing or pulling the flaps or undercarriage slector up or down as needed. It was all too easy to retract the undercarriage rather than the flaps when landing, especially at night. Pilots had to remember to first activate the control to provide pressure in the correct circuit before raising or lowering the wheels or flaps, or providing power to the turret. If he didn't do this, nothing happened. Imagine, Messerschmidt approaching and no power to the turret!! The fuel cocks were on the right hand wall of the cockpit, behind the pilots right shoulder and difficult to reach from his seat, as were the winders for the engine cooling gills. The fuel gauges were mounted in the roof behind his head. All this with the many dangers of flying in the late 1930s. There were no Operational Training Units in those days. It is no wonder that the RAF lost over 10% of its Blenheim strength in accidents before the war. Ken
Ken, Thanks for that wonderful insight into flying a Blenheim. What was it, 3 months at OTU learning about the Blenheim before an operational unit. Not much preperation! Regards, Nick
I've actually stood under the Blenheim in question with my head inside her fuselage having good look around, she is tiny. How a full grown man moved around in her, let alone two men in the cockpit is still beyond my understanding. Woudl have been all too easy to push the wrong controls in the cramped conditions
View attachment 2523 View attachment 2524 View attachment 2525 View attachment 2526 View attachment 2527 The third image is the long nosed cockpit that has been removed for future restoration. When the Blenheim flies again she'll have a newly restored short nosed cockpit.
Ken, My Father ditched his Blenheim in the North sea off Holland, he and his navigator got out unscathed but his wireless operator/rear gunner was injured either before or after the crash landing and spent the next 2-3 weeks in hospital in Amsterdam, catching up with the rest of the crew at Stalag IXc. What was the escape proceedure in such an event. As they used a dingy, I have my Father's Goldfish club badge but very little on the ditching itself. I have checked with the Society, but thier records have long since been destroyed. Any help would be very useful. Regards, Nick
Nick I'll have a look at my copy of Battle-Axe Blenheims (105 Sqn) to see if there's any reference/aircrew comments re ditching. For some reason I am thinking the pilot's exit was out the top of the cockpit.
Andy, I think you are right but l really want to know crash positions, escape routes, etc. I can't imagine a Blenheim floating for very long, part of the time inflating the dingy. Regards, Nick
