 {| |} the bristol blenheim was a british light bomber aircraft designed and built by the bristol aeroplane company that was used extensively in the early days of the second world war. it was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the beaufighter. it was one of the first british aircraft to have all-metal stressed-skin construction, to utilise retractable landing gear, flaps, a powered gun turret and variable pitch propellers. a canadian-built variant named the bolingbroke was used as an anti-submarine and training aircraft. the blenheim mk i outshone most biplane fighters in the late 1930s but stood little chance against the german messerschmitt bf 109 during daylight operations, though it proved successful as a night fighter.wheeler 1992, p. 20. the mark iv variant was equally unsuccessful in its daylight bombing role, suffering major losses in the early stages of the war.wheeler 1992, p. 37.  ==design and development== in 1934, lord rothermere, owner of the daily mail newspaper, challenged the british aviation industry to build a high-speed aircraft capable of carrying six passengers and two crew members. at the time, german firms were producing a variety of record-breaking high-speed designs, such as the heinkel he 70, and rothermere wanted to recapture the title of fastest civilian aircraft in europe. bristol had been working on a suitable design as the 'type 135' since july 1933, and further adapted it to produce the type 142 to meet rothermere's requirements. named 'britain first', this first flew at filton on 12 april 1935,barnes 1964, p.258. and proved to be faster than any fighter in service with the royal air force at the time.barnes 1964, p. 259. the air ministry was obviously interested in such an aircraf
Bristol_Aeroplane_Company_aircraft British_bomber_aircraft_1930a1939 British_fighter_aircraft_1930a1939 Monoplanes Twin-engined_tractor_aircraft World_War_II_British_bombers