Aerospace Bristol’s Bolingbroke project has so far proceeded somewhat out of the limelight, but is now making major strides
Given the paucity of original Bristol Blenheims, for the Aerospace Bristol museum on the old factory air-field site at Filton to be able to exhibit an example of the versatile wartime twin, a Canadian-built Bolingbroke is the only option. - Thanks to the generosity of an expat Bristolian living in the USA, it not only has one, but also an airframe with much wartime history. During 2006 it came to Britain for the first time, and now an in-depth restoration has ensued. Looking at the airframe in its current workshop, not far from where so many Blenheims were turned out in period, it looks right at home, even if it’s thousands of miles from its actual birthplace.
That was at the Fairchild Aircraft plant in Longueuil, Québec. Newly delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force on 8 October 1941, Bolingbroke IV serial RCAF 9048 was allocated to Eastern Air Command and initially stored. Its first assignment followed on 25 November, to No 8 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron at Sydney, Nova Scotia. Long-range Atlantic patrols were the order of the day, helping protect convoys of merchant shi…
