Unique Bristol Blenheim Mk.Ⅰ takes to the skies

摘要

After an absence of 11 years, a Bristol Blenheim is once again flying in the skies above Duxford. On November 20,2014, Aircraft Restoration Company (ARC) chief pilot John Romain and flight engineer James Gilmour taxied out and took Blenheim Mk.Ⅰ(f) L6739 (G-BPIV) into the orange-tinted skies above Duxford for a successful 26-minute test flight. After landing and taxiing back to the hangar, they were greeted with rapturous applause from the assembled staff of ARC and Historic Flying Ltd. Blenheim L6739 is the culmination of 11 years of repairs and reconfiguration by the engineering staff at ARC, with additional support from the Blenheim volunteer team. Previously operated from Duxford on behalf of the late Graham Warner, the aircraft was well known on the airshow circuit in its guise as a Blenheim Mk.Ⅳ, but suffered heavy damage as the result of a landing accident in August 2003.