Blenheim Seat

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19 years 2 months

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I have just acquired a seat which is supposed to be from a Blenheim.....lovely leather, padded and swivels....I will try and post a phot later, but does anyone have a piccy of the radio operator or whatever seats from a Blenheim (it is clearly not a pilot seat)

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Member for

20 years 6 months

Posts: 8,195

Hi Rocketeer,

Having a quick look through my notes. The pilot's seat is the familiar RAF bucket type. There is a Nav/obs seat which is a round base and rectangular back which is positioned next to the pilots. The gunner's seat in the turret is also a round base, recatangular back, but hinged to the turret pillar, and drops down for the gunner to get in and out.

There's also the nose Nav/obs seat, which I THINK is round, and backless - a stool, really; and there's the 'jump seat' for the gunner which I don't have any refs to so far.

HTH

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,553

I don't have a photo, but we had one of the ex-Blenheim nose car seats which we restored as the nav seat for the Beau, so I'd recognise one of those if I saw it.

The padded back should have flaps on both sides and the top, which will fold over and round the back of the seat and attach with the fasteners which pop over a kind of a pin mounted on the seat. Should be about five each side, and about three along the top edge, all on the rear face of the seat.

The swivel mount will be circular, about ten inches in diameter, rivetted to the underside of the seat. The seat itself will be of a bucket type, which would suggest that the occupant wore a seat-type parachute. It will have a recessed area in the base of it on one side, about six inches square and it might have a leather covering on the seat rim, this would be where the ripcord and D-ring for the chute would lay when the occupant was sitting in the seat.

Sorry for the poor description, it's a couple of years ago now...

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20 years 6 months

Posts: 8,195

Was that a pilot's sear Steve? I don't think the other crew had buckers for their parachutes as they were expected to move about the a/c in flight. (Just theorising!)

Sadly my Blenheim interior shots are all non-postable at the moment.

Member for

24 years 2 months

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No idea. We knew it had come from the Blenheim nose car, and I always assumed it was ex-Blenheim of some description but never found out exactly where in a Blenheim it would have gone. We did however find out that it was correct for the Beau nav station, so that was good enough for us! :D

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20 years 2 months

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Tony,

Just sent you a PM on that 'other' subject.

Cheers.....

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24 years 2 months

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Rockteer,

You lucky man, does your seat looks something like this?

Cheers

Cees

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Member for

19 years 2 months

Posts: 5,196

Rockteer,

You lucky man, does your seat looks something like this?

Cheers

Cees


err.....no!! I shall try and get a piccy tonight, thanx for advice from everyone so far!!

Member for

19 years 2 months

Posts: 5,196

Well here is a photo of it, the mount is not original and there are no visible plates...hugs the derriere very well(!) and has provision for a lap strap....

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 201

I don`t think its blenheim much too comfy :)
looks more like a VIP seat from a de havilland type

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20 years 6 months

Posts: 8,195

! That's a civil a/c seat. Can't see it in a military type.

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19 years 2 months

Posts: 5,196

! That's a civil a/c seat. Can't see it in a military type.

Are you sure as it is grotty green, how many civil seats swivelled? what was the gunner seat on a beau' like.....the chap was quite sure it was at least military (but then again he was toldit was Blenheim)....

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20 years 6 months

Posts: 8,195

Lockheed 14 interiors were a remarkable green, the Lockheed 12 used by the Canadian Air Min in the late thirties is a reddish brown interior.

A swivel seat in a civvie aircraft is quite possible. The Learjet wasn't the first exec aircraft by a long chalk!

I'm happy to admit I don't know what it is from, but it's too fancy for a military aircraft, IMHO. To complex, but not enough military widgetry. If it were British it may well be made by Rumbolds - are there any markings?

Good luck. :D

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24 years 2 months

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Putting the Blenheim idea together with the fact that it's a civvy seat,perhaps it could be from Lord Rothermere's Bristol 142 personal transport,the forerunner of the true Blenheim? Bit of a long shot,just a thought...

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24 years 2 months

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But it ain't Blenheim, that's for sure.

Cees

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 201

speaking from experience I have spent several hours perched on both the gunner and nav seats in the blenheim and would have loved to have had a seat like this to sit on. but no only the small button type was installed in the aircraft. but I agree it looks like a thirties style seat but maybe it originally did not pivot??

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19 years 2 months

Posts: 5,196

Oh well, if anyone does identify that would be great! I should really start a new thread with unidentified seat as most are probably bypassing this thread!