Bristol Beaufighter
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The Beaufighter was a 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, first as a night fighter, then as a strike fighter, and eventually replaced the Beaufort as a torpedo bomber.
History
Built as a company-funded project to fill Air Ministry specification F.11/37, the prototype Beaufighter first flew on July 17, 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.
By fighter standards the plane was rather heavy and slow. It had an all-up weight of 16,000 lb (7 t) 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 were. With the weapons mounted in the lower fuselage, the nose was left clear for mounting the radar antennas, and the planes were adapted as night fighters as quickly as possible. 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.
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 use in anti-shipping and ground attack roles.
However well the Beaufighter performed, the Stirling bomber program had a higher priority for the Hercules engine by late 1941, and the Rolls Royce Merlin XX powered Mk. II was the result. There were no Mk. III's or IV's, and only two Mk. V's. 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 the line shut down in September 1945, 5,562 Beaufighters had been produced, the majority of them the later models.
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.
Following the production of the Beaufort in Australia, and the highly successful use of the Beaufighter by the RAAF, a total of 365 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.
Late in 1944, RAF Beaufighter units were engaged in the Greek Civil War, finally withdrawing in 1946.
Following the war, the Beaufighter was used by the Portuguese Air Force, the air forces of Turkey and the Dominican Republic, and briefly by the Israeli Air Force.
Survivors
The National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio is completing the restoration of a rare Beaufighter Mk. I. The aircraft is currently located in one of the Museum's restoration facility hangers. When completed the aircraft will be displayed as a USAAF Beaufighter Mk. IV used in the Mediterranean theater.A privately owned Beaufighter is currently undergoing a lengthy restoration in the UK Its owner hopes to eventually restore it to flying condition.
The Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon, London, UK has a Beaufighter TFX on display along with a Bristol Hercules engine.
Beaufighter Equipped Squadrons
Specifications (Beaufighter X)
References
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