The Boulton Paul Balliol - The Last Merlin Powered Aircraft

Fonthill Media

eBay Store Design by Visualsoft\n\nThe Boulton Paul Balliol - The Last Merlin Powered Aircraft\n\n--\n\u00A314.99\n\n--|\n\nAsk a Question\n\nDescription\n\nThe Boulton Paul Balliol was the last British aircraft powered by the iconic Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, and the last piston-powered advanced trainer in both the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm. Yet it began life as the world's first turbo-trainer, conceived in the last days of the Second World War, and became the first aircraft with a single prop-jet, beating the rival Avro Athena into the air by two weeks. However, policy changed and it was with the trusty Merlin that the Balliol ultimately went into production.\n\n Boulton Paul Aircraft hoped for huge orders-opening a second production line at Blackburn Aircraft in anticipation-but the RAF decided to switch to all-jet training; even though a dozen were sold to the Royal Ceylon Air Force, total Balliol production only ever amounted to just over 200 examples. Consigned to at