It was Haydon-Baillie’s ambition to restore one Blenheim to flying condition, with the other to be completed for static display, and the team set about collating knowledge and equipment required to begin the project in the mid-70s.

It will either damage a valve, crack a cylinder head or blow a cylinder head instantly – I’ve seen a B-25 where the head had departed and taken the side cowling with it. Aileron authority remains good as airspeed changes between climb and descent and though the large wing area offers excellent lift, elevators and rudder become heavier during steeper wingovers and pulls and the controls are not particularly well harmonised. With no electrics on-site at all, we had to set up an external generator – it was very primitive in those days.”. The plunger-type controls sit on the port side of the cockpit, aft of the pilot’s seat, requiring dexterity to reach behind and feel for the respective levers. Volunteering to assist the fledgling operation, John and his colleagues established an on-site aircraft maintenance and restoration facility.
Around 500ft and with airspeed bleeding below 90mph, the second stage of flap is introduced and the aircraft is descending rapidly now. Bristol employee Ralph Nelson owned the cockpit post-war, mounting it to an Austin Seven chassis and driving the hybrid around Bristol until it was damaged by fire in 1957. This can lead to an engine failure during the take-off run.” Advancing the throttle to -4 lb./sq.in. The start-up procedure begins the day before a flight, the ritual taking a team of two engineers up to five hours to complete. Extensive repairs to the aircraft’s damaged engines, wings, airframe and control surfaces and the fitment of a Mk.I nose section prolonged the restoration for almost a decade.

John emphasises that, “Fundamentally, the Mercury is a simple engine, but there are ground rules and best practices to looking after them.
A differential unit controls the brakes, with the appropriate rudder input and a tap on the brake push lever on the control column putting air through to the respective wheel brake bags.

Though early Blenheims outperformed many of their contemporaries, day-fighter Mk.Is had only a single forward-firing Browning .303 machine gun in the leading edge of the wing and turret-mounted .303s as defence and unescorted Blenheims were woefully outmatched by the Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109Es and Bf 110s that engaged them low-level during the early days of the conflict. The aircraft operated as a night fighter during the Battle of Britain before suffering damage that rendered it inoperable in December 1940. Video and Audio content isCopyright © 2017 Malcolm AuldThis video and audio material may not be used in any form without written permission.Please help to support this channel by subscribing.Some 200 Mk I bombers were modified into Mk IF long-range fighters.

“The 109Es would have had a field day – fast, fantastic ailerons and excellent manoeuvrability, they were great fighters for their time.

“The Mk.I has controls and instrumentation literally all over the place”, says John.

23 Squadron RAF, which had already operated the type under night time conditions, had better success.This aircraft fought throughout the Battle of Britain as a night fighter before being struck off charge in December 1940 after being damaged.

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