Maritime patrol aircraft and trainer used by the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II
The Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke is a maritime patrol aircraft and trainer used by the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Built by Fairchild-Canada, it was a license-built version of the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber.
Design and development
In 1935, the British Air Ministry issued Specification G.24/35 to procure a coastal reconnaissance/light bomber to replace the Avro Anson.[1] Bristol proposed the Type 149, based on its Blenheim Mk I, with Bristol Aquila engines to give greater range. While the Air Ministry rejected this proposal, a Blenheim Mk I, retaining its Mercury VIII engines, was converted as a Type 149 (Blenheim Mk III) for the general reconnaissance role.[2] The nose was lengthened to provide more room for the bombardier, with the upper left surface of the nose being scooped out to maintain pilot visibility during takeoff and landing.[1]
The longer range also fulfilled a Canadian requirement for a maritime patrol aircraft. Consequently, Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. (Canada) of Quebec started production of the Blenheim Mk IV as the Bolingbroke (the originally intended name for the Blenheim IV). This type was nicknamed the "Bolly". After a small run of aircraft constructed to British specifications, as the Bolingbroke Mk I, Fairchild switched production to the Bolingbroke Mk IV with Canadian and American instruments and equipment. These versions also included anti-icing boots and a dinghy. One of the early Mk IV variants was the Bolingbroke Mk IVW which was powered by two 825 hp (615 kW) Pratt & Whitney SB4G Twin Wasp Junior engines.[3] Incapable of maintaining altitude on one engine, the normal bomb load was reduced to 500 pounds on these aircraft to compensate for the low engine power.[4] The most-produced variant was the Bolingbroke Mk IVT trainer, of which 457 were completed.[5] A total of 626 Bolingbrokes were produced.[5] The remains of one can be seen at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre.
Operational history
Most of the 151 Mk IVs built served in their intended role as patrol bombers on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Canada between 1940 and 1944. Two squadrons of these aircraft also served in Alaska during the Aleutians campaign.[6] The Mk IVT trainers saw extensive use in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).[5]
Surviving aircraft
Bolingbroke IVT in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, Brandon, Manitoba
Bolingbroke in a Manitoba junkyard, 2006
- Belgium
- Canada
- 9059 – Mk. IV on static display at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon, Manitoba.[25][26]
- 9869 – Mk. IVT in storage at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba.[27]
- 9887 – Mk. IV under restoration to static condition at 17 Wing Winnipeg in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was donated from a farm in 2013.[28]
- 9892 – Mk. IVT on static display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, Ontario.[29]
- 9904 – Mk. IVT in storage at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.[30]
- 9944 – Mk. IVT on static display with the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon, Manitoba. This aircraft is displayed next to the Trans-Canada Highway in Brandon.[31][32]
- 9987 – Mk. IV on static display at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta.[33]
- 9997 – Mk. IVT under restoration to static display at the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum in Greenwood, Nova Scotia.[34]
- Composite – Mk. IV on static display at the British Columbia Aviation Museum in Victoria, British Columbia. It is a combination of two different airframes.[35]
- Composite – Mk. IVT under restoration to ground running condition at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario. It is a combination of eight different airframes.[36]
- Unknown ID – Mk. IV under restoration to static display at the Canadian Aviation Heritage Centre in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.[37]
- United Kingdom
- United States
Specifications (Bolingbroke Mk IV)
Data from War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Seven Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft [51]
General characteristics
- Crew: 3
- Length: 42 ft 9 in (13.03 m)
- Wingspan: 56 ft 4 in (17.17 m)
- Height: 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
- Wing area: 469 sq ft (43.6 m2)
- Airfoil: root: RAF-28 (18%); tip: RAF-28 (10%)[52]
- Empty weight: 9,835 lb (4,461 kg)
- Gross weight: 13,750 lb (6,237 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 14,500 lb (6,577 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Mercury XV 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 920 hp (690 kW) each at 9,250 ft (2,819 m)
- Propellers: 3-bladed variable-pitch propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed: 288 mph (463 km/h, 250 kn)
- Cruise speed: 200 mph (320 km/h, 170 kn)
- Range: 1,860 mi (2,990 km, 1,620 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 27,000 ft (8,200 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,480 ft/min (7.5 m/s)
- Wing loading: 29.3 lb/sq ft (143 kg/m2)
- Power/mass: 0.14 hp/lb (0.23 kW/kg)
Armament
- Guns: 1× fixed forward firing .303 in Browning machine gun and one .303 in Browning machine gun in power operated dorsal turret, alternately in the IVT, two Browning machine guns in a Bristol Type B1 Mk IV turret[53]
- Bombs: 2× 500 lb (230 kg) or 4 × 250 lb (114 kg) bombs
