Bristol Blenheim MK.IF

[WINGS]

[Feathered_IV]

Beautiful. I have no other words. Just beautiful.

[Finkeren]

It's an iconic aircraft to be sure. I just never understood, why it has been so lauded over the years. It really hasn't got a very impressive combat record and in pure numbers it is somewhat inferior to and produced in fewer numbers than the contemporary and quite similar Tupolev SB.

 

[Feathered_IV]

Finkeren, on 31 May 2015 - 21:15, said:

It's an iconic aircraft to be sure. I just never understood, why it has been so lauded over the years. It really hasn't got a very impressive combat record and in pure numbers it is somewhat inferior to and produced in fewer numbers than the contemporary and quite similar Tupolev SB.

 

 

It's an emotional attachment to a machine that has come to symbolise the spirit of willing sacrifice and heroic failure. It typifies that urge to push on regardless. It is the Charge of the Light Brigade. The hopeless gesture of defiance in the face of overwhelming odds that the British, and by extension other Commonwealth nations tend to prize more than victory.

 

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;

 

Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

[Finkeren]

Apart from the fact, that the Charge of the Light Brigade was the tragic result of poor communication between high command and the commander of the cavalry more than an act of defiance - the light horse were supposed to attack one of the flanking artillery positions, not attack the dug-in heavy artillery head on and subject to enfilading fire - much the same you said about the Blenheim can be doubly said for the Tupolev, yet it is almost universally disregarded and discredited while the Blenheim has become an icon.

 

Just to be clear: I'm not trying to make a political point about the general disregard for the Soviet Unions sacrifices. I think the I-16 for instance has become exactly that kind of symbol of resistance against hopeless odds. I'm just curious as to why the SB is held in so low regard.

[Sokol1]

 

 

It's an emotional attachment to a machine that has come to symbolise the spirit of willing sacrifice and heroic failure. It typifies that urge to push on regardless. It is the Charge of the Light Brigade. The hopeless gesture of defiance in the face of overwhelming odds that the British, and by extension other Commonwealth nations tend to prize more than victory.