Hi guys
decided i wanted to request this one, as it's another true 'forgotten' variant, and would be relatively easy to add to our arsenal, with just a little 3d work required, extra gunners and weight differential info could be added into FM. relatively easy, but still some work.
i would really love to see this one in our arsenal
The Blenheim Mk V was first proposed in early 1940 as a heavily armoured ground attack aircraft. As originally designed, it replaced the normal Mk IV nose with a solid “ducks bill” nose, containing four .303in machine guns. It would use engines optimised for low altitudes, and carry 600lbs of armour.
The need for a ground attack aircraft quickly disappeared in 1940 after the collapse of France. Work continued on the Mk V, under the name Bristol Bisley, but now with a navigator/ bomb aimers position located in the new nose. This was not an ideal compromise – the new nose was so cramped that the navigator had to be given a footwell, just in front of the rear-firing Frazer-Nash turret, hidden inside the turret fairing.
The Mk V also carried a new Bristol BX dorsal turret, again with two .303in machine guns. The combined changes increased the all in weight of the Mk V to 17,000 lbs, but the type used the engines of the same power as the Mk IV, and so performance was reduced.
The Mk V saw service in North Africa during Operation Torch. As would be expected, the new aircraft was increasingly vulnerable to German fighters and suffered heavy losses. It also saw service in the Far East, attacking Japanese positions in Burma.
The Bristol Bisley was the original name adopted for a proposed ground attack version of the Bristol Blenheim. When the aircraft finally entered production, it was decided to keep the Blenheim name instead, and so the Bisley became the Blenheim Mk V.
Production Statistics, Blenheim Mk V: 942 built.
a pretty crappy plan-view:
and some profiles:
Some more background history, for the fundi's -
By the time the Blenheim Mk V entered service in mid 1942 it was hopelessly underpowered and outclassed compared to its adversaries in the Mediterranean and Far East theaters. Designed to meet specification B.6/40 for a close support bomber the Mk V had a solid nose housing four .303 machine guns with 1000 rounds of ammunition each. A new larger and more effective BX dorsal turret was installed mounting twin machine guns. Other changes saw the installation of paired doors to replace the large aprons fitted to the undercarriage legs of earlier marks. In all other respects the new aircraft resembled the Mk IV. Two prototypes were built and production was to be undertaken by the Rootes factory. The machine gun solid nose section was replaced in favor of a glazed bomb aimer's position when the role requirement was changed to that of medium level bomber. A blister with a rear facing pair of machine guns was situated under the starboard section of the nose; the front portion of this blister formed the foot-well for the navigator. Despite retaining the power-plants of its predecessor, the "new" Blenheim gained 17 percent in gross weight. This meant it was an extremely slow aircraft even so, 940 Blenheim Vs were built and saw front-line service with 10 Squadrons. This model of the Blenheim was nicknamed the Bisley in reference to the home of the National Rifle Association in the UK. Its service record and high attrition reflected its outdated design and poor performance and after serious losses in Italy, it was withdrawn from service.
No 139 Squadron Bomber Command was the first to receive the new aircraft at Horsham in June 1942. Before they could use them operationally their Mk Vs were hastily withdrawn and replaced by de Havilland Mosquitoes. It was now blatantly apparent that the Blenheim was too slow and under armed for the European theater of war. No Mk V Blenheims exist today and only a single Blenheim IVT, actually a RCAF Bolingbroke, remains airworthy. It is owned and operated by the Aircraft Restoration Company at Duxford, UK, and has been flying since May 1993.
thanks for reading!
postscript: i haven't included any performance figures, as it is in essence the same as the MkIV which we already have, and would be the same except for the added weight of new gun positions, so it would in effect, perform slightly poorer than the MkIV.
but, more guns is always better, imho!
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Topic: Bristol Blenheim Mk V (Bisley) (Read 15727 times)
