Sunday, 11 February 2018

Babbling About Bristols


I am willing to wager that most players in World of Warplanes have a daily "go to" plane.

There are a variety of reasons to have one; token missions, childhood favorite, personal experience with a real version, a "just can't lose" plane and so on. For me, it should be somewhat obvious to those who have followed me since returning in 2.0 that one particular aircraft has not only grown on me, but I have made a real concerted effort to improve my skills with it.

In fact, I will just have a quick chat with the lads and take off for a sortie....


Granted, it's not a real brag worthy battle on my part, but I don't really care.

There is something about flying the Bristol Blenheim that I just can't put my finger on. In the real world, I had the privilege to see (and touch) Canadian built examples named Bolingbrokes, one complete, another needing extensive restoration. Ingame, I used the Heavy Fighter Blenheim F (long ago) and the premium bomber IV variant. I have even offered up the suggestion of introducing a premium version of a Bolingbroke, which is a mute point to pursue now.

So, what is it with this plane? It's not what some would consider a "handsome" design, nor was it "state of the art" when the war broke out. It was also rather large, not very maneuverable, poorly armed and wasn't as fast as it's evolving contemporaries. Despite all of that and more, the Blenheim was a highly versatile aircraft, able to perform tasks beyond it's original airframe design, from reconnaissance, bombing, ground attack, anti-shipping (taken over by the ever improving Bristol Beaufort), night-fighter operations (later to be replaced by the Bristol Beaufighter) and so on.

Perhaps, it's this level of flexibility that has made it into the game, from high altitude bombing, to chasing other bombers/fighters/heavy fighters around and shooting them up, to low level attacks that trim the tops of tall trees and turn buildings into rubble, that I find appealing, win, lose or draw.

Do you have have a "go to" plane too?

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