Book review of the Bristol Blenheim
Mk I, Mk IF, Finnish Variant, “Pelti-Neikki”, Mk. IV, Mk-IV/IVF
Author: Anirudh Rae
Kagero Publishers
Top Drawings no. 7130
ISBN: 978-83-67294-04-1
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $21.95
Top Drawings no. 7130
ISBN: 978-83-67294-04-1
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $21.95
HISTORY:
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. 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 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.
Deliveries of the newly named Blenheim to RAF squadrons commenced on 10 March 1937. 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. The Type 160 Bisley was also developed from the Blenheim, but was already obsolete when it entered service.
In addition to operating as medium bombers, both versions were converted into heavy fighters by the addition of a gun pack with four Browning .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns mounted under the fuselage. 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.
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.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 effective as a bomber but many were shot down. Both Blenheim types were used by foreign operators, and examples were licence built in Yugoslavia and Finland, in addition to Canada.
SPECIFICATIONS:
(Blenheim Mk IV)
Crew: 3
Length: 42 ft 7 in (12.98 m)
Wingspan: 56 ft 4 in (17.17 m)
Height: 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Wing area: 469 sq ft (43.6 m2)
Airfoil: RAF-28 (18%)
Empty weight: 9,790 lb (4,441 kg)
Gross weight: 14,400 lb (6,532 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Mercury XV 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 920 hp (690 kW) each
Propellers: 3-bladed Hamilton Standard variable-pitch propellers, built under a license agreement (1935) by de Havilland
Maximum speed: 266 mph (428 km/h, 231 kn) at 11,800 ft (3,600 m)
Cruise speed: 198 mph (319 km/h, 172 kn)
Range: 1,460 mi (2,350 km, 1,270 nmi)
Service ceiling: 27,260 ft (8,310 m)
Time to altitude: 6,500 ft (2,000 m) in 4 minutes 10 seconds
Wing loading: 30.7 lb/sq ft (150 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.13 hp/lb (0.21 kW/kg)
Armament:
Guns: 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine gun in port wing, 1 or 2 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning guns rear-firing in under-nose blister or Nash & Thompson FN.54 turret, 2 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning guns in dorsal turret
Bombs: 1,200 lb (540 kg) total, 4 × 250 lb (110 kg) General Purpose bombs or 2 × 500 lb (230 kg) GP bombs internally and 8 × 40 lb (18 kg) GP bombs externally
Avionics: T1082 (transmitter) and R1083 (receiver) radio sets
THE BOOK:
Kagero Publishers is based in Lublin, Poland. Their books are done in both Polish and English. This book is in both languages.
The book is of soft-cover of 20 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. It comes in a clear self-sealing plastic cello envelope.
The cover art is divided diagonally in half, being red at the top and black at the bottom. The black half has a white line drawing on it showing the top of a Blenheim. Over it there is 2 color side views of Blenheims.
The one at the top is in a wave-pattern of tan and green over an azure undercarriage. It is only shown from the wing rearwards. It carries the British roundel on the sides of the fuselage and a blue, white and red vertical fin flash.
The second one is in overall tan over an azure undercarriage. It is shown from the wing forward. It carries Finish AF blue swastika roundels under the wingsl
One of these are repeated again in the book.
The book begins with a small history of the Blenheim. Followed by 31 line drawing profiles of various marks of the Blenheim, engine, bulkheads, skis and pontoons.
On the center 4 pages of the book, there is a color 4-view of the British Blenheim that is shown on the book’s cover. (already described above). It is a Mk. IV variant, that was assigned for use by General Wladyslaw Anders in the Middle East, in 1943.
The 4th page and the back cover of the book shows another color 4-view of a Mk.IV version, that is in a wave pattern of 2 shades of grey. It has a small illustration of an ace of hearts card on one side of its nose, yellow wing tips, Finish AF white roundels with blue swastikas on them in 6 positions, a yellow fuselage band, 19 bombing mission marks on the rudder, above an illustration of a black reindeer. This obviously is not the same one as shown on the cover….strange.
It was with the Finish AF (BL-129), 1/LeVel 44th Onttola, May 1942.
Loosely inserted into the book are 2 line-drawing blueprints. Both are in 23 ¼” x 15 ½” format, printed on both sides and folded 4 times to fit the book.
One has 7 profiles of a Mk. IV, and other variants and their inner fuselage bulkheads in 1/48th scale.
The second one has another 7 profiles of more variants with bulkheads in 1/48th scale.
This book will be of interest to modelers wanting to build a Blenheim variant and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Kagero Books and all Kagero titles can be viewed on Casemates' website at:
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. 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 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.
Deliveries of the newly named Blenheim to RAF squadrons commenced on 10 March 1937. 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. The Type 160 Bisley was also developed from the Blenheim, but was already obsolete when it entered service.
In addition to operating as medium bombers, both versions were converted into heavy fighters by the addition of a gun pack with four Browning .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns mounted under the fuselage. 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.
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.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 effective as a bomber but many were shot down. Both Blenheim types were used by foreign operators, and examples were licence built in Yugoslavia and Finland, in addition to Canada.
SPECIFICATIONS:
(Blenheim Mk IV)
Crew: 3
Length: 42 ft 7 in (12.98 m)
Wingspan: 56 ft 4 in (17.17 m)
Height: 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Wing area: 469 sq ft (43.6 m2)
Airfoil: RAF-28 (18%)
Empty weight: 9,790 lb (4,441 kg)
Gross weight: 14,400 lb (6,532 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Mercury XV 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 920 hp (690 kW) each
Propellers: 3-bladed Hamilton Standard variable-pitch propellers, built under a license agreement (1935) by de Havilland
Maximum speed: 266 mph (428 km/h, 231 kn) at 11,800 ft (3,600 m)
Cruise speed: 198 mph (319 km/h, 172 kn)
Range: 1,460 mi (2,350 km, 1,270 nmi)
Service ceiling: 27,260 ft (8,310 m)
Time to altitude: 6,500 ft (2,000 m) in 4 minutes 10 seconds
Wing loading: 30.7 lb/sq ft (150 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.13 hp/lb (0.21 kW/kg)
Armament:
Guns: 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine gun in port wing, 1 or 2 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning guns rear-firing in under-nose blister or Nash & Thompson FN.54 turret, 2 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning guns in dorsal turret
Bombs: 1,200 lb (540 kg) total, 4 × 250 lb (110 kg) General Purpose bombs or 2 × 500 lb (230 kg) GP bombs internally and 8 × 40 lb (18 kg) GP bombs externally
Avionics: T1082 (transmitter) and R1083 (receiver) radio sets
THE BOOK:
Kagero Publishers is based in Lublin, Poland. Their books are done in both Polish and English. This book is in both languages.
The book is of soft-cover of 20 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. It comes in a clear self-sealing plastic cello envelope.
The cover art is divided diagonally in half, being red at the top and black at the bottom. The black half has a white line drawing on it showing the top of a Blenheim. Over it there is 2 color side views of Blenheims.
The one at the top is in a wave-pattern of tan and green over an azure undercarriage. It is only shown from the wing rearwards. It carries the British roundel on the sides of the fuselage and a blue, white and red vertical fin flash.
The second one is in overall tan over an azure undercarriage. It is shown from the wing forward. It carries Finish AF blue swastika roundels under the wingsl
One of these are repeated again in the book.
The book begins with a small history of the Blenheim. Followed by 31 line drawing profiles of various marks of the Blenheim, engine, bulkheads, skis and pontoons.
On the center 4 pages of the book, there is a color 4-view of the British Blenheim that is shown on the book’s cover. (already described above). It is a Mk. IV variant, that was assigned for use by General Wladyslaw Anders in the Middle East, in 1943.
The 4th page and the back cover of the book shows another color 4-view of a Mk.IV version, that is in a wave pattern of 2 shades of grey. It has a small illustration of an ace of hearts card on one side of its nose, yellow wing tips, Finish AF white roundels with blue swastikas on them in 6 positions, a yellow fuselage band, 19 bombing mission marks on the rudder, above an illustration of a black reindeer. This obviously is not the same one as shown on the cover….strange.
It was with the Finish AF (BL-129), 1/LeVel 44th Onttola, May 1942.
Loosely inserted into the book are 2 line-drawing blueprints. Both are in 23 ¼” x 15 ½” format, printed on both sides and folded 4 times to fit the book.
One has 7 profiles of a Mk. IV, and other variants and their inner fuselage bulkheads in 1/48th scale.
The second one has another 7 profiles of more variants with bulkheads in 1/48th scale.
This book will be of interest to modelers wanting to build a Blenheim variant and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Kagero Books and all Kagero titles can be viewed on Casemates' website at:
Highly recommended.