Boulton Paul
Balliol T.2
Unfortunately the only shot I received from
Boulton Paul of a Balliol was this almost head on
"attacking"
portrait of the prototype which, although not showing salient profile
details of the
machine, does
give the impression of a fairly advanced trainer, which, in fact, is
what it was.
Like the competing
(and unsuccessful) Avro Athena, the design was originally to have been
a
turbo-prop
powered aircraft. Later changes in Air Ministry specs led to the
1,235 hp Rolls
Royce
Merlin 35 powered variant seen above. 200 were built
by Boulton Paul and Blackburn,
although they
did not serve long, since the A.M. once again changed its mind and
opted for jet
trainers
. Most Balliols had been replaced with Vampire T.11s by the mid
1950s..