The sole-surviving airworthy Blenheim bomber will be leading the aviation display at a major anniversary event held at a heritage site.

Exactly 79 years to the day since a Bristol Blenheim last flew out of RAF Bicester in active service, Bicester Heritage has confirmed the only surviving aircraft will be up in the skies above the site’s flagship flywheel event on June 17 and 18.

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Bicester Heritage is based on the site of RAF Bicester, a former bomber station for Bristol Blenheim aircraft during the second world war.

On February 28, 1944, the final Blenheim flew out of the RAF base for good.

The aircraft was restored by Aircraft Restoration Company (ARCo) at Duxford in a restoration spanning 11 years and over 25,000-man hours. It is owned by ARCo.

It will arrive at the site at around 3.30pm on Saturday, until 11am on Sunday.

The flywheel event will see a host of classic motoring marques join the displays along the tree-lined avenues of the historic site, and some will take to the experience and demonstration track.

Guests will also have the chance to explore the technical site and meet with the 50 specialist businesses across the weekend.

There will also be arts and design workshops in the hangar, as well as a huge display of classic cars around the Bicester Heritage site.

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1