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Bristol Type 140 Balmoral
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Bristol |
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This older British light bomber has seen service around the world in the service of the British Empire. Though it is no longer a cutting-edge aircraft, the Balmoral has become the mainstay of British colonial bomber support in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.
The Balmoral Type 140 bomber was the first monoplane bomber produced by Bristol after the Great War. Slow, sluggish, and heavily armored, the Balmoral served across the Empire in pinpoint bombing runs on rebels and enemies. The Balmoral continues in this role for British Dominions and possessions, but has been shouldered aside in the RAF by even heavier strategic bombers. The Balmoral does one winning feature—it is small enough to fit in the hangar of a zeppelin (which has extended its useful lifespan with the RAF considerably).
Balmorals are stationed all over the globe in Dominion air forces. Properly used as a hammering bomber, it serves for pinpoint bombing of nearly any target; it has rather poor range, however, and should be used against known targets. A typical British military zeppelin can carry up to three Balmorals, including payload.
The Balmoral is a zeppelin-carried plane, but launching the Balmoral is an exercise in nerve. The Balmoral must fold up its wingtips in order to stow in a zeppelin hangar, and the tips stay up until actually launched. This means that the pilot must start the engine and actually lower the tips in free fall. At high altitudes, this is comparatively safe, assuming the engine is primed and the wingtip levers don't jam.