POLSKIE SAMOCHODY PANCERNE Paper Model
View full image please click on image
W 1928 roku rozpoczęto produkcję samochodu ciężarowego Ursus A na licencji włoskiej. Sztab Generalny Wojska Polskiego zaplanował użycie jego podwozia do zbudowania samochodu pancernego. Miał on być cięższy, lepiej opancerzony i uzbrojony od wprowadzanego właśnie do uzbrojenia samochodu pancernego wz. 28. Zespołem projektantów Wojskowego Instytutu Badań Inżynierii kierował porucznik inżynier Rudolf Gundlach (twórca peryskopu odwracalnego).
Konstruktorzy nawiązali do konstrukcji samochodu pancernego Austin, projektując między innymi drugie, tylne stanowisko kierowcy. Pozwalało ono wycofać się spod ognia nieprzyjaciela, bez konieczności zawracania.
Konstrukcja wieży nawiązywała do zastosowanej w samochodzie pancernym White TBC - umieszczono w niej naprzeciw siebie działko i karabin maszynowy. Rozwiązanie to miało tę niedogodność, że aby zmienić rodzaj używanej broni, strzelec musiał wykonać półobrót wieżą. W drugiej, poprawionej wersji wieży, wadę tę zmniejszono i broń usytuowano pod kątem 120 stopni względem siebie. W tych czasach nie stosowano jeszcze powszechnie w pojazdach pancernych karabinów maszynowych sprzężonych z armatami.
W wieży zainstalowano także drugie jarzmo dla karabinu maszynowego. Było ono usytuowane na jej dachu i miało służyć do mocowania km-u podczas strzelań przeciwlotniczych. Szybko wzrastająca prędkość samolotów spowodowała, że stało się ono bezużyteczne, gdyż strzelec nie był w stanie "prowadzić" poruszającego się szybko celu i dlatego nie było ono używane. Konstruktorzy starannie opracowali kształt kadłuba nowego samochodu pancernego. Udało się im uzyskać pewne pochylenie poszczególnych płyt pancernych. Chroniły one załogę przed odłamkami i zwykłymi pociskami karabinowymi z każdej odległości. Na karabinowe pociski przeciwpancerne były odporne z odległości 300 metrów.
Prace projektowe zakończyły się w pierwszej połowie 1929 roku. Zbudowano prototyp, który poddano próbom poligonowym. Wykazały one wiele zalet pojazdu. Były to: silne uzbrojenie, dostateczne opancerzenie i tylne stanowisko kierowcy. Zalety te nie równoważyły jednak wad: małej prędkości i zwrotności, zbyt wysokiej sylwetki i małej sprawności w jeździe terenowej. Oprócz żelaznego prototypu, zbudowano najprawdopodobniej tylko 10 wozów. Seria ta została ukończona do lipca 1931.
Dane techniczne
Silnik 1 silnik benzynowy Ursus-2A 4-cylindrowy, 4-suwowy, dolnozaworowy o pojemności 2873 ccm o mocy 35 KM przy 2600 obr/min.
Poj. zb. paliwa 105 l
Pancerz z płyt stalowych, nawęglanych o grubości: 7 - 9 mm (przód), 6 - 9 mm (tył), 9 mm (boki), 9 mm (silnik), 10 mm (wieża)
Długość 5,49 m (maksymalna)
5,15 m (kadłuba)
Szerokość 1,85 m
Wysokość 2,475 m
Prześwit 0,35 m
Masa 4 800 kg (bojowa)
Moc jedn. 7,3 KM/t
Osiągi
Prędkość 35 km/h (droga)
Zasięg 380 km (droga)
250 km (teren)
Pokonywanie przeszkód
Brody (głęb.) 0,35 m
Kąt podjazdu 10°
Download : Click Here
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
SAMOLOT BREGUET XIX B-2
SAMOLOT BREGUET XIX B-2 Paper Model
View full image please click on image
The Breguet 19 was designed as a successor to a highly-successful World War I light bomber, the Breguet 14. Initially it was designed to be powered with two Bugatti engines, driving one four-bladed propeller, and such a prototype was shown on the 7th Paris Air Show in November, 1921. A new design was flown in March, 1922, featuring a conventional layout with a single 450 hp Renault 12Kb inline engine. The aircraft was built in a biplane planform, with shorter lower wings. After trials, the Breguet 19 was ordered by the French Air Force in September 1923.
The first eleven Breguet 19 prototypes were powered by a number of different engines. A "trademark" of Breguet was the wide usage of duralumin as a construction material, instead of steel or wood. At that time, the aircraft was faster than other bombers, and even some fighter aircraft. Therefore, it met with a huge interest in the world, strengthened by its sporting successes. Mass production, for the French Air Force and export, started in France in 1924.
The Br 19 was a biplane (sesquiplane), conventional in layout, with braced wings. The fuselage, ellipsoid in cross-section, was a frame of duralumin pipes. The front part was covered with duralumin sheets, the tail with canvas. The wings were canvas covered. It had a conventional fixed landing gear, with rear skid. The crew of two, pilot and observer/bombardier, sat in tandem in open cockpits, with dual controls.
There were used many different engines fitted, mostly water cooled 12-cylinder inline engines :
* Renault 12Kb (450 hp), 12Kd (480 hp) - V12
* Lorraine-Dietrich 12Db (400 hp) - V12
* Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb (450 hp) - W12
* Hispano-Suiza 12Ha (450 hp), 12Hb (500 hp) - V12
* Farman 12W (500 hp).
* Gnome-Rhône 9Ab Jupiter (420 hp) (radial engine, in Yugoslav aircraft)
They carried 365 litres of fuel in a fuselage tank. The propeller was wood.
A fixed 7.7 mm Vickers machine gun with interrupter gear was operated by the pilot, while the observer had twin 7.7 mm Lewis machine guns. There was also a fourth machine gun, which could be fired by the observer downwards through an opening in a floor. According to some sources, the C2 and CN2 fighter variants were fitted with two pilot's machine guns. The bomber variant could carry up to 472 kg of bombs under the fuselage, or in a vertical bomb bay (small bombs up to 50 kg). The reconnaissance variant could carry twelve 10 kg bombs. The reconnaissance variant had a camera mounting, which was optional on the bomber variant. All variants had radio.
Download : Click Here
View full image please click on image
The Breguet 19 was designed as a successor to a highly-successful World War I light bomber, the Breguet 14. Initially it was designed to be powered with two Bugatti engines, driving one four-bladed propeller, and such a prototype was shown on the 7th Paris Air Show in November, 1921. A new design was flown in March, 1922, featuring a conventional layout with a single 450 hp Renault 12Kb inline engine. The aircraft was built in a biplane planform, with shorter lower wings. After trials, the Breguet 19 was ordered by the French Air Force in September 1923.
The first eleven Breguet 19 prototypes were powered by a number of different engines. A "trademark" of Breguet was the wide usage of duralumin as a construction material, instead of steel or wood. At that time, the aircraft was faster than other bombers, and even some fighter aircraft. Therefore, it met with a huge interest in the world, strengthened by its sporting successes. Mass production, for the French Air Force and export, started in France in 1924.
The Br 19 was a biplane (sesquiplane), conventional in layout, with braced wings. The fuselage, ellipsoid in cross-section, was a frame of duralumin pipes. The front part was covered with duralumin sheets, the tail with canvas. The wings were canvas covered. It had a conventional fixed landing gear, with rear skid. The crew of two, pilot and observer/bombardier, sat in tandem in open cockpits, with dual controls.
There were used many different engines fitted, mostly water cooled 12-cylinder inline engines :
* Renault 12Kb (450 hp), 12Kd (480 hp) - V12
* Lorraine-Dietrich 12Db (400 hp) - V12
* Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb (450 hp) - W12
* Hispano-Suiza 12Ha (450 hp), 12Hb (500 hp) - V12
* Farman 12W (500 hp).
* Gnome-Rhône 9Ab Jupiter (420 hp) (radial engine, in Yugoslav aircraft)
They carried 365 litres of fuel in a fuselage tank. The propeller was wood.
A fixed 7.7 mm Vickers machine gun with interrupter gear was operated by the pilot, while the observer had twin 7.7 mm Lewis machine guns. There was also a fourth machine gun, which could be fired by the observer downwards through an opening in a floor. According to some sources, the C2 and CN2 fighter variants were fitted with two pilot's machine guns. The bomber variant could carry up to 472 kg of bombs under the fuselage, or in a vertical bomb bay (small bombs up to 50 kg). The reconnaissance variant could carry twelve 10 kg bombs. The reconnaissance variant had a camera mounting, which was optional on the bomber variant. All variants had radio.
Download : Click Here
OKTIABRSKAJA REWOLUCJA
OKTIABRSKAJA REWOLUCJA Paper Model
Rosyjski pancernik GANGUT na radzieckiej pocztówce wydanej w Moskwie w 1980 r.
Rysunek: V. Ivanov. Ze zbiorów autora.
Pancernik został wybudowany w Nowej Stoczni
Admiralicji w Petersburgu.
Położenie stępki: 15 czerwca 1909.
Wodowanie: 7 października 1911.
Wejście do służby: 15 grudnia 1914.
Jednostki bliźniacze:
SIEWASTOPOL (PARIŻSKAJA KOMMUNA)
POŁTAWA
PIETROPAWŁOWSK (radz. MARAT)
Dane techniczne (wg. Taschenbuch der Kriegsflotten 1928):
Wyporność: 23400 t. Prędkość: 23 w.
Zasięg: 900 Mm przy szybkości 23 węzłów i 1600 Mm przy 19
w..
Długość: 181 m. Szerokość: 26,5. Zanurzenie: 8,3 m.
Uzbrojenie: 12 dział 305 mm, 12 x 120 mm, 2 x 63 mm, 1 x 47
mm, 8 karabinów maszynowych, 4 aparaty torpedowe 450 mm.
Opancerzenie: pokład 36-78, stanowisko dowodzenia 250
mm, wieże artylerii głównej 203-305 a średniej 125, linia
wodna 100-225.
Układ napędowy: 8 turbin Parsonsa. 25 kotłów Yarrow.
Załoga: 1225.
Pancernik brał udział w I wojnie światowej, rewolucji
lutowej i wojnie domowej w Rosji.
W 1915 miał miejsce na nim bunt marynarzy.
W kwietniu 1918 wziął udział w "marszu lodowym" z
Helsingfors do Kronsztadtu.
W czerwcu 1925 przemianowany na
OKTIABRSKAJA REWOLUCJA.
Wziął udział w wojnie fińsko-radzieckiej (1939/40) i
wojnie ojczyżnianej (1941-1945).
Skreślony ze składu floty w 1956.
Download : Click Here
Rosyjski pancernik GANGUT na radzieckiej pocztówce wydanej w Moskwie w 1980 r.
Rysunek: V. Ivanov. Ze zbiorów autora.
Pancernik został wybudowany w Nowej Stoczni
Admiralicji w Petersburgu.
Położenie stępki: 15 czerwca 1909.
Wodowanie: 7 października 1911.
Wejście do służby: 15 grudnia 1914.
Jednostki bliźniacze:
SIEWASTOPOL (PARIŻSKAJA KOMMUNA)
POŁTAWA
PIETROPAWŁOWSK (radz. MARAT)
Dane techniczne (wg. Taschenbuch der Kriegsflotten 1928):
Wyporność: 23400 t. Prędkość: 23 w.
Zasięg: 900 Mm przy szybkości 23 węzłów i 1600 Mm przy 19
w..
Długość: 181 m. Szerokość: 26,5. Zanurzenie: 8,3 m.
Uzbrojenie: 12 dział 305 mm, 12 x 120 mm, 2 x 63 mm, 1 x 47
mm, 8 karabinów maszynowych, 4 aparaty torpedowe 450 mm.
Opancerzenie: pokład 36-78, stanowisko dowodzenia 250
mm, wieże artylerii głównej 203-305 a średniej 125, linia
wodna 100-225.
Układ napędowy: 8 turbin Parsonsa. 25 kotłów Yarrow.
Załoga: 1225.
Pancernik brał udział w I wojnie światowej, rewolucji
lutowej i wojnie domowej w Rosji.
W 1915 miał miejsce na nim bunt marynarzy.
W kwietniu 1918 wziął udział w "marszu lodowym" z
Helsingfors do Kronsztadtu.
W czerwcu 1925 przemianowany na
OKTIABRSKAJA REWOLUCJA.
Wziął udział w wojnie fińsko-radzieckiej (1939/40) i
wojnie ojczyżnianej (1941-1945).
Skreślony ze składu floty w 1956.
Download : Click Here
Bristol BEAUFIGHTER MK VI F
Bristol BEAUFIGHTER MK VI F Paper Model
The Bristol Beaufighter papercraft model is also the name of a car produced by Bristol Cars in the 1980s.
Type 156 Beaufighter
Beaufighter, armed with rockets
Role Heavy fighter / strike aircraft
Manufacturer Bristol Aeroplane Company
First flight 17 July 1939
Introduction 27 July 1940
Retired 1960 (Australia)
Primary users Royal Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
Produced May 1940 – 1946
Number built 5,928
Developed from Bristol Beaufort
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. The name Beaufighter is a portmanteau of "Beaufort" and "fighter".
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 fighter bomber and eventually replacing the Beaufort as a torpedo bomber. A unique variant was built in Australia by the Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) and was known in Australia as the DAP Beaufighter. paper model
Design and development papercraft model
The idea of a fighter development of the Beaufort was suggested to the Air Ministry by Bristol. The suggestion coincided with the delays in the development and production of the Westland Whirlwind cannon-armed twin-engined fighter. By converting an existing design the "Beaufort Cannon Fighter" could be expected to be developed and produced far quicker than starting a completely fresh design. Accordingly the Air Ministry produced specification F.11/37 written around Bristol's suggestion for an "interim" aircraft pending proper introduction of the Whirlwind. Bristol started building a prototype by taking a part-built Beaufort out of the production line. The prototype first flew on 17 July 1939, a little more than eight months after the design had started and possible due to the use of much 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 centre section was similar apart from certain fittings. The bomb-bay was omitted, and four forward-firing Hispano 20 mm cannons were mounted in the lower fuselage area. These were initially fed from 60-round drums, requiring the radar operator to change the ammunition drums manually — an arduous and unpopular task, especially at night and while chasing a bomber. As a result, they were soon replaced by a belt-feed system. The cannons were supplemented by six 0.303 inch (7.7 mm) Browning guns in the wings; four in the starboard wing and two to port. The areas for the rear gunner and bomb-aimer were removed, leaving only the pilot in a fighter-type cockpit. The navigator / radar operator sat to the rear under a small perspex bubble where the Beaufort's dorsal turret had been located.
The Bristol Taurus engines of the Beaufort were not powerful enough for a fighter and were replaced by the more powerful Bristol Hercules. The extra power presented problems with vibration; in the final design they were mounted on longer, more flexible struts, which stuck out from the front of the wings. This moved the centre of gravity (CoG) forward, a bad thing for an aircraft design. It was moved back by shortening the nose, as no space was needed for a bomb aimer in a fighter. This put most of the fuselage behind the wing, and moved the CoG back where it should be. With the engine cowlings and propellers now further forward than the tip of the nose, the Beaufighter had a characteristically stubby appearance.
Production of the Beaufort in Australia, and the highly successful use of British-made Beaufighters by the Royal Australian Air Force, led to Beaufighters being built by the Australian Department of Aircraft Production (DAP), from 1944 onwards. The DAP's variant was an attack/torpedo bomber, known as the Mark 21: design changes included Hercules CVII engines, dihedral to the tailplane and enhanced armament.
By the time British production lines shut down in September 1945, 5,564 Beaufighters had been built in England, by Bristol and also by Fairey Aviation Company, (498) Ministry of Aircraft Production (3336) and Rootes (260).
When Australian production ceased in 1946, 365 Mk.21s had been built.
Operational service
Bristol Beaufighter Mk 1 in No. 252 Squadron, North Africa
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 that was available at the time, as the otherwise excellent Westland Whirlwind had already been cancelled due to production problems with its Rolls-Royce Peregrine engines.
The Beaufighter found itself coming off the production line at almost exactly the same time as the first British Airborne Intercept (AI) radar sets. With the four 20 mm cannons mounted in the lower fuselage, the nose could accommodate the radar antennas, and the general roominess of the fuselage enabled the AI equipment to be fitted easily. Even loaded to 20,000 lb (9 t) the plane was fast enough to catch German bombers. By early 1941 it was an effective counter to Luftwaffe night raids. The various early models of the Beaufighter soon commenced service overseas, where its ruggedness and reliability soon made the aircraft popular with crews.
A night-fighter Mk VIF was supplied to squadrons in March 1942, equipped with AI Mark VIII radar. As the faster de Havilland Mosquito took over in the night fighter role in mid to late 1942, the heavier Beaufighters made valuable contributions in other areas such as anti-shipping, ground attack and long-range interdiction in every major theatre of operations.
In the Mediterranean, the USAAF's 414th, 415th, 416th and 417th Night Fighter Squadrons received 100 Beaufighters in the summer of 1943, achieving their first victory in July 1943. Through the summer the squadrons conducted both daytime convoy escort and ground-attack operations, but primarily flew defensive interception missions at night. Although the Northrop P-61 Black Widow fighter began to arrive in December 1944, USAAF Beaufighters continued to fly night operations in Italy and France until late in the war.
By the autumn of 1943 the Mosquito was available in enough numbers to replace the Beaufighter as the primary night fighter of the RAF. By the end of the war some 70 pilots serving with RAF units had become aces while flying Beaufighters.
Coastal Command
1941 saw the development of the Beaufighter Mk.IC long-range heavy fighter. This new variant entered service in May 1941 with a detachment from No. 252 Squadron operating from Malta. The aircraft proved so effective in the Mediterranean against shipping, aircraft and ground targets that Coastal Command became the major user of the Beaufighter, replacing the now obsolete Beaufort and Blenheim.
Coastal Command began to take delivery of the up-rated Mk.VIC in mid 1942. By the end of 1942 Mk VICs were being equipped with torpedo-carrying gear, enabling them to carry the British 18-inch or the US 22.5-inch torpedo externally. The first successful torpedo attacks by Beaufighters came in April 1943, with No. 254 Squadron sinking two merchant ships off Norway.
The Hercules Mk XVII, developing 1,735 hp at 500 feet, was installed in the Mk VIC airframe to produce the TF Mk.X (Torpedo Fighter), commonly known as the "Torbeau." The Mk X became the main production mark of the Beaufighter. The strike variant of the "Torbeau" was designated the Mk.XIC. Beaufighter TF Xs would make precision attacks on shipping at wave-top height with torpedoes or RP-3 rockets. Early models of the Mk Xs carried metric-wavelength ASV (air-to-surface vessel) radar with "herringbone" antennae carried on the nose and outer wings, but this was replaced in late 1943 by the centimetric AI Mark VIII radar housed in a "thimble-nose" radome, enabling all-weather and night attacks.
The North Coates Strike Wing (Coastal Command), based at RAF North Coates on the Lincolnshire coast, developed attack tactics combining large formations of Beaufighters on anti-flak suppression with cannon and rockets while the Torbeaus attacked on low level. These tactics were put into practice in mid 1943 and in a 10-month period 27,000 tonnes of shipping were sunk. Tactics were further adapted when shipping was moved from port during the night. North Coates Strike Wing operated as the largest anti-shipping force of the Second World War, and accounted for over 150,000 tons of shipping and 117 vessels for a loss of 120 Beaufighters and 241 aircrew killed or missing. This was half the total tonnage sunk by all strike wings between 1942-45.
Pacific war
Beaufighter of No. 30 Squadron RAAF over the Owen Stanley Range, New Guinea, 1942.(AWM OG0001)
The Beaufighter arrived at squadrons in Asia and the Pacific in mid-1942. It has often been said — although it was most probably a propaganda invention — that Japanese soldiers referred to the Beaufighter as "whispering death", supposedly because attacking aircraft often were not heard (or seen) until too late. (The Beaufighter's Hercules engines featured sleeve valves which lacked the noisy valve gear common to poppet valve engines. This was most apparent in a reduced noise level at the front of the engine.)
South east Asia
In the South-East Asian Theatre the Beaufighter Mk VIF operated from India on night missions against Japanese lines of communication in Burma and Thailand. The high-speed, low-level attacks were highly effective, despite often atrocious weather conditions, and makeshift repair and maintenance facilities.
South west Pacific
Before DAP Beaufighters arrived at Royal Australian Air Force units in the South West Pacific theatre, the Bristol Beaufighter Mk IC was employed in anti-shipping missions.
The most famous of these was the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in which they co-operated with USAAF A-20 Bostons and B-25 Mitchells. No. 30 Squadron RAAF Beaufighters flew in at mast height to provide heavy suppressive fire for the waves of attacking bombers. The Japanese convoy, under the impression that they were under torpedo attack, made the fatal tactical error of turning their ships towards the Beaufighters, leaving them exposed to skip bombing attacks by the US medium bombers. The Beaufighters inflicted maximum damage on the ships' anti-aircraft guns, bridges and crews during strafing runs with their four 20 mm (0.787 in) nose cannons and six wing-mounted .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns. Eight transports and four destroyers were sunk for the loss of five aircraft, including one Beaufighter.
Postwar
From late 1944, RAF Beaufighter units were engaged in the Greek Civil War, finally withdrawing in 1946.
The Beaufighter was also used by the air forces of Portugal, Turkey and the Dominican Republic. It was used briefly by the Israeli Air Force.
Variants
Beaufighter Mk IF
Two-seat night fighter variant.
Beaufighter Mk IC
The "C" stood for Coastal Command variant; many were modified to carry bombs.
Beaufighter Mk II
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.
Beaufighter Mk IIF
Production night fighter variant.
Beaufighter Mk III/IV
The Mark III and Mark IV were to be Hercules and Merlin powered Beaufighters with a new slimmer fuselage carrying an armament of 6 cannon and 6 machine guns which would give performance improvements. The necessary costs of making the changes to the production line led to the curtailing of the Marks. [1]
Beaufighter Mk V
The Vs had a Boulton Paul turret with four 0.303 machine guns mounted aft of the cockpit supplanting one pair of cannons and the wing-mounted machine guns. Only two Mk Vs were built.
Beaufighter Mk VI
The Hercules returned with the next major version in 1942, the Mk VI, which was eventually built to over 1,000 examples.
Beaufighter Mk VIC
Torpedo-carrying variant dubbed the "Torbeau".
Beaufighter Mk VIF
This variant was equipped with AI Mark VIII radar.
Beaufighter Mk VI (ITF)
Interim torpedo fighter version.
Beaufighter TF Mk X
Two-seat torpedo fighter aircraft. The last major version (2,231 built) was the Mk X, among the finest torpedo and strike aircraft of its day.
Beaufighter Mk XIC
Built without torpedo gear for Coastal Command use.
Beaufighter Mk 21
The Australian-made DAP Beaufighter. Changes included Hercules CVII engines, a dihedral tailplane, four 20 mm in the nose, four Browning .50 in the wings and the capacity to carry eight five-inch High-Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR), two 250 lb bombs, two 500 lb bombs and one Mk13 torpedo.
Beaufighter TT Mk 10
After the war, many RAF Beaufighters were converted into target tug aircraft.
Download : Click Here
Type 156 Beaufighter | |
---|---|
Type 156 Beaufighter
Beaufighter, armed with rockets
Role Heavy fighter / strike aircraft
Manufacturer Bristol Aeroplane Company
First flight 17 July 1939
Introduction 27 July 1940
Retired 1960 (Australia)
Primary users Royal Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
Produced May 1940 – 1946
Number built 5,928
Developed from Bristol Beaufort
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. The name Beaufighter is a portmanteau of "Beaufort" and "fighter".
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 fighter bomber and eventually replacing the Beaufort as a torpedo bomber. A unique variant was built in Australia by the Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) and was known in Australia as the DAP Beaufighter. paper model
Design and development papercraft model
The idea of a fighter development of the Beaufort was suggested to the Air Ministry by Bristol. The suggestion coincided with the delays in the development and production of the Westland Whirlwind cannon-armed twin-engined fighter. By converting an existing design the "Beaufort Cannon Fighter" could be expected to be developed and produced far quicker than starting a completely fresh design. Accordingly the Air Ministry produced specification F.11/37 written around Bristol's suggestion for an "interim" aircraft pending proper introduction of the Whirlwind. Bristol started building a prototype by taking a part-built Beaufort out of the production line. The prototype first flew on 17 July 1939, a little more than eight months after the design had started and possible due to the use of much 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 centre section was similar apart from certain fittings. The bomb-bay was omitted, and four forward-firing Hispano 20 mm cannons were mounted in the lower fuselage area. These were initially fed from 60-round drums, requiring the radar operator to change the ammunition drums manually — an arduous and unpopular task, especially at night and while chasing a bomber. As a result, they were soon replaced by a belt-feed system. The cannons were supplemented by six 0.303 inch (7.7 mm) Browning guns in the wings; four in the starboard wing and two to port. The areas for the rear gunner and bomb-aimer were removed, leaving only the pilot in a fighter-type cockpit. The navigator / radar operator sat to the rear under a small perspex bubble where the Beaufort's dorsal turret had been located.
The Bristol Taurus engines of the Beaufort were not powerful enough for a fighter and were replaced by the more powerful Bristol Hercules. The extra power presented problems with vibration; in the final design they were mounted on longer, more flexible struts, which stuck out from the front of the wings. This moved the centre of gravity (CoG) forward, a bad thing for an aircraft design. It was moved back by shortening the nose, as no space was needed for a bomb aimer in a fighter. This put most of the fuselage behind the wing, and moved the CoG back where it should be. With the engine cowlings and propellers now further forward than the tip of the nose, the Beaufighter had a characteristically stubby appearance.
Production of the Beaufort in Australia, and the highly successful use of British-made Beaufighters by the Royal Australian Air Force, led to Beaufighters being built by the Australian Department of Aircraft Production (DAP), from 1944 onwards. The DAP's variant was an attack/torpedo bomber, known as the Mark 21: design changes included Hercules CVII engines, dihedral to the tailplane and enhanced armament.
By the time British production lines shut down in September 1945, 5,564 Beaufighters had been built in England, by Bristol and also by Fairey Aviation Company, (498) Ministry of Aircraft Production (3336) and Rootes (260).
When Australian production ceased in 1946, 365 Mk.21s had been built.
Operational service
Bristol Beaufighter Mk 1 in No. 252 Squadron, North Africa
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 that was available at the time, as the otherwise excellent Westland Whirlwind had already been cancelled due to production problems with its Rolls-Royce Peregrine engines.
The Beaufighter found itself coming off the production line at almost exactly the same time as the first British Airborne Intercept (AI) radar sets. With the four 20 mm cannons mounted in the lower fuselage, the nose could accommodate the radar antennas, and the general roominess of the fuselage enabled the AI equipment to be fitted easily. Even loaded to 20,000 lb (9 t) the plane was fast enough to catch German bombers. By early 1941 it was an effective counter to Luftwaffe night raids. The various early models of the Beaufighter soon commenced service overseas, where its ruggedness and reliability soon made the aircraft popular with crews.
A night-fighter Mk VIF was supplied to squadrons in March 1942, equipped with AI Mark VIII radar. As the faster de Havilland Mosquito took over in the night fighter role in mid to late 1942, the heavier Beaufighters made valuable contributions in other areas such as anti-shipping, ground attack and long-range interdiction in every major theatre of operations.
In the Mediterranean, the USAAF's 414th, 415th, 416th and 417th Night Fighter Squadrons received 100 Beaufighters in the summer of 1943, achieving their first victory in July 1943. Through the summer the squadrons conducted both daytime convoy escort and ground-attack operations, but primarily flew defensive interception missions at night. Although the Northrop P-61 Black Widow fighter began to arrive in December 1944, USAAF Beaufighters continued to fly night operations in Italy and France until late in the war.
By the autumn of 1943 the Mosquito was available in enough numbers to replace the Beaufighter as the primary night fighter of the RAF. By the end of the war some 70 pilots serving with RAF units had become aces while flying Beaufighters.
Coastal Command
1941 saw the development of the Beaufighter Mk.IC long-range heavy fighter. This new variant entered service in May 1941 with a detachment from No. 252 Squadron operating from Malta. The aircraft proved so effective in the Mediterranean against shipping, aircraft and ground targets that Coastal Command became the major user of the Beaufighter, replacing the now obsolete Beaufort and Blenheim.
Coastal Command began to take delivery of the up-rated Mk.VIC in mid 1942. By the end of 1942 Mk VICs were being equipped with torpedo-carrying gear, enabling them to carry the British 18-inch or the US 22.5-inch torpedo externally. The first successful torpedo attacks by Beaufighters came in April 1943, with No. 254 Squadron sinking two merchant ships off Norway.
The Hercules Mk XVII, developing 1,735 hp at 500 feet, was installed in the Mk VIC airframe to produce the TF Mk.X (Torpedo Fighter), commonly known as the "Torbeau." The Mk X became the main production mark of the Beaufighter. The strike variant of the "Torbeau" was designated the Mk.XIC. Beaufighter TF Xs would make precision attacks on shipping at wave-top height with torpedoes or RP-3 rockets. Early models of the Mk Xs carried metric-wavelength ASV (air-to-surface vessel) radar with "herringbone" antennae carried on the nose and outer wings, but this was replaced in late 1943 by the centimetric AI Mark VIII radar housed in a "thimble-nose" radome, enabling all-weather and night attacks.
The North Coates Strike Wing (Coastal Command), based at RAF North Coates on the Lincolnshire coast, developed attack tactics combining large formations of Beaufighters on anti-flak suppression with cannon and rockets while the Torbeaus attacked on low level. These tactics were put into practice in mid 1943 and in a 10-month period 27,000 tonnes of shipping were sunk. Tactics were further adapted when shipping was moved from port during the night. North Coates Strike Wing operated as the largest anti-shipping force of the Second World War, and accounted for over 150,000 tons of shipping and 117 vessels for a loss of 120 Beaufighters and 241 aircrew killed or missing. This was half the total tonnage sunk by all strike wings between 1942-45.
Pacific war
Beaufighter of No. 30 Squadron RAAF over the Owen Stanley Range, New Guinea, 1942.(AWM OG0001)
The Beaufighter arrived at squadrons in Asia and the Pacific in mid-1942. It has often been said — although it was most probably a propaganda invention — that Japanese soldiers referred to the Beaufighter as "whispering death", supposedly because attacking aircraft often were not heard (or seen) until too late. (The Beaufighter's Hercules engines featured sleeve valves which lacked the noisy valve gear common to poppet valve engines. This was most apparent in a reduced noise level at the front of the engine.)
South east Asia
In the South-East Asian Theatre the Beaufighter Mk VIF operated from India on night missions against Japanese lines of communication in Burma and Thailand. The high-speed, low-level attacks were highly effective, despite often atrocious weather conditions, and makeshift repair and maintenance facilities.
South west Pacific
Before DAP Beaufighters arrived at Royal Australian Air Force units in the South West Pacific theatre, the Bristol Beaufighter Mk IC was employed in anti-shipping missions.
The most famous of these was the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in which they co-operated with USAAF A-20 Bostons and B-25 Mitchells. No. 30 Squadron RAAF Beaufighters flew in at mast height to provide heavy suppressive fire for the waves of attacking bombers. The Japanese convoy, under the impression that they were under torpedo attack, made the fatal tactical error of turning their ships towards the Beaufighters, leaving them exposed to skip bombing attacks by the US medium bombers. The Beaufighters inflicted maximum damage on the ships' anti-aircraft guns, bridges and crews during strafing runs with their four 20 mm (0.787 in) nose cannons and six wing-mounted .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns. Eight transports and four destroyers were sunk for the loss of five aircraft, including one Beaufighter.
Postwar
From late 1944, RAF Beaufighter units were engaged in the Greek Civil War, finally withdrawing in 1946.
The Beaufighter was also used by the air forces of Portugal, Turkey and the Dominican Republic. It was used briefly by the Israeli Air Force.
Variants
Beaufighter Mk IF
Two-seat night fighter variant.
Beaufighter Mk IC
The "C" stood for Coastal Command variant; many were modified to carry bombs.
Beaufighter Mk II
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.
Beaufighter Mk IIF
Production night fighter variant.
Beaufighter Mk III/IV
The Mark III and Mark IV were to be Hercules and Merlin powered Beaufighters with a new slimmer fuselage carrying an armament of 6 cannon and 6 machine guns which would give performance improvements. The necessary costs of making the changes to the production line led to the curtailing of the Marks. [1]
Beaufighter Mk V
The Vs had a Boulton Paul turret with four 0.303 machine guns mounted aft of the cockpit supplanting one pair of cannons and the wing-mounted machine guns. Only two Mk Vs were built.
Beaufighter Mk VI
The Hercules returned with the next major version in 1942, the Mk VI, which was eventually built to over 1,000 examples.
Beaufighter Mk VIC
Torpedo-carrying variant dubbed the "Torbeau".
Beaufighter Mk VIF
This variant was equipped with AI Mark VIII radar.
Beaufighter Mk VI (ITF)
Interim torpedo fighter version.
Beaufighter TF Mk X
Two-seat torpedo fighter aircraft. The last major version (2,231 built) was the Mk X, among the finest torpedo and strike aircraft of its day.
Beaufighter Mk XIC
Built without torpedo gear for Coastal Command use.
Beaufighter Mk 21
The Australian-made DAP Beaufighter. Changes included Hercules CVII engines, a dihedral tailplane, four 20 mm in the nose, four Browning .50 in the wings and the capacity to carry eight five-inch High-Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR), two 250 lb bombs, two 500 lb bombs and one Mk13 torpedo.
Beaufighter TT Mk 10
After the war, many RAF Beaufighters were converted into target tug aircraft.
Download : Click Here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)