What about when the Blenheim was originally brought into service with the RAF? The services weren’t that keen on dual-control trainers at the time and the average service pilot would have been required to ‘solo’ on type with possibly far less experience that a modern display pilot.

Concerning learning to fly the Blenheim, Tony Tubbenhauer (pilot with 244 squadron at Sharjah in 1942) told me about his introduction to Blenheims at 70 OTU in Kenya in 1941. He had 4 duel flights (3 hours) with an instructor in the Blenheim I in 3 days, then soloed on the Mk IV the next day.