MK 1 Blenheim out in the open air

[baz62]

Some of you may know of the rebuilt Blenheim (actually a Canadian built Bolingbroke) that flew, crashed , rebuilt crashed and finally being rebuilt using an original MK 1 Blenheim front fuselage which was actually modified into a little car!
This will look amazing once flying and will be the only short nose Mark 1 flying (albeit a modification)
Click HERE

[baronbeeza]

Once it returns to the skies, the Blenheim will be the world’s only airworthy example of this beautiful aircraft.

Ummm, beautiful ??
The author must be English.

[vs]

cool picture. What ever happened to the one they were looking at bringing into Omaka?

[aeromedia]

Yeah not a fan of that nose. It's even uglier than mine !!!!!!

[ZacYates]

I dunno, I think she looks much better as a Mk.I than a IV - never really liked that crooked nose! They're doing amazing work.

[nuuumannn]

Ummm, beautiful??

Something about being in the eye of the beholder, in this case, I think...

The engines for the first incarnation of Graham Warner's flying Blenheim, before the first time it crashed came from Fairchild Bolingbroke RCAF 9940, which was undergoing restoration to flying condition at Strathallan, which is where Warner and his team came by the two Boli airframes that were used in the restoration. 9940 is undergoing long term static display in Scotland.

We had the Boli at our airshow in 2000 and it landed on the runway. It was the first time a Blenheim, or one of its decendants had landed at the site since WW2:



This was the Fighter Command colour shceme it wore when it had its prang. Quite a difference in snout on the Mk.IV compared to the Mk.I I went down to DX to look at it after it had done so and it didn't look too bad at first, until I looked at the mid fuselage area and saw that it had broken its back. I think they should call it Lazarus.

[komata]

Very nice. Thanks baz62 and baronbeeza for finding the information / updates and bringing them to our attention. Does anyone know what colour scheme / unit markings and serial the aircraft will be carrying / replicating? The article doesn't seem to tell us.

Thanks.

[nuuumannn]

It's been restored as the Mk.IF from which the nose section came, L6739 of 23 Squadron. For awhile it wore Finnish pale blue swastikas for some occasion.

[komata]

nuumann

Thanks for the information. The 'Finnish' markings would no doubt have caused a 'stir' in some quarters...

[Andy Wright]

Yes, the number of people on Facebook, full of experts as it is, who started banging on about the Germans made me want to bang my head against the wall.

[nuuumannn]

Yep, although the comments I saw were more along the lines of "Finnish Blenheims never wore those colours!" and copius colour images of Finnish Blenheims were posted as proof! It's interesting to note that the number of Fairchild Bolingbroke survivors is quite high compared to that of Bristol built Blenheims, in fact the only surviving examples of the type built by Bristol, actual Blenheims, exist in Finland.

[komata]

nuummann

True, and the Finn's have a definite appreciation of the role that air power has played in their history.

[Andy Wright]

I bet there was someone at ARCo, having painted on the Finnish markings, having a damn good chuckle to themselves. I have to admit to appreciating the 'tip of the hat' to the Finns more than anything else.

[komata]

As there was no mention of it in the article, I wasn't aware that ARCo had done a 'repaint' of this aircraft into 'Finnish AF' colours. No doubt it looked good. Does anyone have any pics of it in that scheme?

Thanks.