Depicts two Bristol Blenheim 142Ms in flight. The Blenheim was a development of the Bristol model 142 civil transports and was faster than the Royal Air Force fighters when it first appeared. It was the result of the initiative of Lord Rothermere who ordered a fast, twin-engine private transport plane that was capable of carrying 6 passengers and 2 crew members. He ordered it designed to be the fastest commercial plane in Europe, and it was. The Air Ministry immediately saw its potential and began tests in 1935. The aircraft had to be substantially altered for military use. After the wings were raised and the fuselage altered to accommodate a bomb load, it was first received by the RAF in 1937 with the Mk IV model becomming available in 1939. Both models saw a great deal of use in the first three years of WWII. The Mk I made the first Allied operational mission of the war flying a reconnaissance flight over Germany. The Blenheim Mk I was used mostly as a light bomber, while the Mk IV model was used as a light bomber, fighter, night fighter, reconnaissance aircraft and close-support aircraft depending on how it was equipped. All models of the Blenheim were very vulnerable to enemy fighters as they didn't have the power to evade them, and the rear-facing armament wasn't heavy enough to defend them properly. Early models had a blunt, glazed nose, while the Mk IV and later Blenheims featured an elongated 'stepped' nose with an asymmetric shape.