Bristol Beaufighter
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| Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter | |
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| A Hercules-powered Beaufighter Mk XC in D-Day markings, armed with RP-3 rockets. | |
| Type | Heavy fighter |
| Manufacturer | Bristol Aeroplane Company |
| Designed by | Leslie Frise Roy Fedden |
| Maiden flight | 17 July 1939 |
| Introduced | 27 July 1940 |
| Retired | 1960 (Royal Australian Air Force) |
| Primary user | Royal Air Force |
| Produced | May 1940–October 1945 |
| Number built | 5,928 |
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, often referred to as simply the Beau, was a British long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design. Unlike the Beaufort, the Beaufighter had a long career and served in almost all theatres of war in the Second World War, first as a night fighter, then as a strike fighter and eventually replacing the Beaufort as a torpedo bomber.
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[edit] Design and development
Built as a company-funded project to fill Air Ministry specification F.11/37, the prototype Beaufighter first flew on 17 July 1939. This was little more than eight months after the design had started, and hints to the widespread use of the Beaufort's design and parts. A production contract for 300 machines had already been placed two weeks before the prototype flew, as F.17/39.
In general, the differences between the Beaufort and Beaufighter were minor. The wings, control surfaces, retractable landing gear and aft section of the fuselage, were identical to those of the Beaufort, while the wing center section was similar apart from certain fittings. The bomb-bay was dispensed with, and a forward-firing armament of four Hispano 20 mm cannons was mounted in the lower fuselage area. (These initially were drum-fed cannon, necessitating the radar operator having to manually change the ammunition drums—an arduous and unpopular task, especially at night and in the midst of a chase with a bomber target.) The areas for the rear gunner and bomb-aimer were removed, leaving only the pilot in a smoother, fighter-type cockpit. The navigator sat far to the rear in a small bubble where the Beaufort's dorsal turret had been located.
The earlier Taurus engines were replaced by the much-improved Hercules, whose extra power presented problems with vibration. In the end they were mounted on longer, more flexible struts, which stuck out from the front of the wings. This had the side effect of moving the center of gravity (CoG) forward, generally a bad thing for an aircraft design. It was then moved back into place by cutting back the nose area, which was no longer needed for the bomb-aimer in the fighter role. This put most of the fuselage behind the wing and moved the CoG back to where it should be, leading to the Beaufighter's famous stubby appearance.
[edit] Operational service
By fighter standards, the Beaufighter Mk I was rather heavy and slow. It had an all-up weight of 16,000 lb (7,000 kg) and a maximum speed of only 335 mph (540 km/h) at 16,800 ft (5,000 m). Nevertheless this was all they had at the time, as the otherwise excellent Westland Whirlwind had already been cancelled due to production problems with its engines.
The Beaufighter's main claim to fame would be that it was coming off the production lines at almost exactly the same time as the first British airborne radar sets. With the four 20mm cannons mounted in the lower fuselage, the nose was left clear for mounting the radar antennas, and the general roominess of the fuselage enabled the AI equipment to be fitted easily. Even loaded down to an even heavier 20,000 lb (9 t), their slow performance was more than enough to catch the even slower German bombers. By early 1941, they were an effective counter to Luftwaffe night raids. The various early models of Beaufighter soon commenced service overseas, where its rugged build and reliability soon made the aircraft popular with its crews.
Newer versions of the Hercules engine continued to increase the load capacity of the fighter, although performance did not improve. As the faster De Havilland Mosquito took over in the night fighter role in mid to late 1942, the heavier Beaufighters found stirling use in other areas of operation, such as anti-shipping, ground attack and long-range interdiction roles in every main theatre of operations.
Late in 1944, RAF Beaufighter units were engaged in the Greek Civil War, finally withdrawing in 1946.
It was rumoured (although it was most probably a propaganda invention) that Japanese soldiers referred to the Beaufighter as "whispering death;" with the majority of far eastern missions carried out at tree-top level, attacking aircraft often were unheard (or seen) until it was too late.
Beaufighters were operated by a variety of other air forces of the British Commonwealth, including the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force and South African Air Force, as well as the United States Army Air Forces.
[edit] Variants
However well the Beaufighter performed, the Short Stirling bomber program by late 1941 had a higher priority for the Hercules engine and the Rolls Royce Merlin XX-powered Mk II was the result. There were no Mk IIIs or IVs, and only two Mk Vs built. The Hercules returned with the next major version in 1942, the Mk VI, which was eventually built to over 1,000 examples. The last major version (2,231 built) was the Mk X, probably the finest torpedo and strike aircraft of its day. By the time production lines shut down in September 1945, 5,564 Beaufighters had been built in England with 498 produced by Fairey Aviation, Manchester; the majority of them being later models.
Following the production of the Beaufort in Australia and the highly successful use of the Beaufighter by the RAAF, a total of 364 Mk 21 Beaufighters were built by the Australian Department of Aircraft Production (DAP), from 1944 onwards. This version is generally known as the DAP Beaufighter.
[edit] Operators
- Australia
- Dominican Republic
- Dominican Air Force
- Israel
- New Zealand
- Portugal
- South Africa
- United Kingdom
- United States
[edit] Units using the Beaufighter
[edit] Specifications (Beaufighter X)
Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2: pilot, observer
- Length: 41 ft 4 in (12.6 m)
- Wingspan: 57 ft 10 in (17.65 m)
- Height: 15 ft 10 in (4.84 m)
- Wing area: ft² (m²)
- Empty weight: 15,592 lb (7,072 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 25,400 lb (11,521 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Bristol Hercules 14-cylinder radial engines, 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 320 mph (280 knots, 515 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m)
- Range: 1,750 mi (1,520 nm, 2,816 km)
- Service ceiling: 19,000 ft (5,795 m) without torpedo
- Rate of climb: 1,600 ft/min (8.2 m/s) without torpedo
Armament
- 4× Hispano 20 mm cannon (60 rounds per cannon, 240 rounds total) in nose, and
In Fighter Command service
- Guns:
- 4× .303 in (7.7 mm) machine gun (outer starboard wing)
- 2× .303 in machine gun (outer port wing)
- Rockets: 8× RP-3 rockets or
- Bombs: 2× 1000 lb bombs
In Costal Command service
- Guns:
- 1× manually-operated Vickers GO or
- 1× manually-operated .303 Browning for observer
- Bombs: 1× 18 in (457 mm) torpedo
[edit] Postwar
Following the war, the Beaufighter was used by the Portuguese Air Force, also by the air forces of Turkey and the Dominican Republic. The Beaufighter was used briefly by the Israeli Air Force.
[edit] Survivors
The National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio has completed the restoration of a rare Beaufighter Mk I. The aircraft is displayed as the USAAF Beaufighter flown by Capt. Harold Augspurger, commander of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron, who shot down an He 111 carrying German staff officers in September 1944. The Beaufighter went on display on 18 October 2006.
The Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon, London, UK has a Beaufighter TF X on display along with a Bristol Hercules engine.
The Canada Aviation Museum presently is storing Beaufighter TF X RAF #RD867 for future restoration. The museum aircraft is a semi-complete RAF restoration with no engines, cowlings or internal components, received in exchange for a Bristol Bolingbroke on 10 September 1969.
A privately owned Beaufighter is currently undergoing a lengthy restoration in the UK. Its owner hopes to eventually restore it to flying condition.
[edit] References
- ^ Bridgman, Leonard, ed. “The Bristol 156 Beaufighter.” Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London: Studio, 1946. 110-111. ISBN 1-85170-493-0.
- Flintham, V. (1990) Air Wars and Aircraft: A Detailed Record of Air Combat, 1945 to the Present. Facts on File. ISBN 0816023565
