BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER MK.IF/VIF 'NO.68 SQ. RAF'

The Bristol Beaufighter is a British heavy, twin-engined night fighter, attack aircraft and torpedo plane, with a full metal, half-shell structure. It flew for the first time on June 17, 1939, and its serial production started in the same year. During the war, many versions of the Beaufighter were created, including Mk.I, Mk.II, TF Mk.X or TF Mk.XI. The Mk.I version was the first to function as a night fighter and was equipped with the AI Mk. IV. It also had strong armament: 4 20mm cannons and 6 7.7mm MGs. Mk..X version. was the last to be produced in large numbers and combined the advantages of a fighter plane with the strike force of a torpedo bomber. This version was powered by Bristol Hercules XVII engines with a capacity of 1770HP. Bristol Beaufighter planes served a total of 53 squadrons of the RAF, 15 squadrons of the Royal Navy and the Polish 307 Squadron of Lwowskie Puchacze. All versions and models of this plane were not easy to pilot and suffered badly from spinning and problems caused by the failure of one engine. In addition, the Bristol Beaufighter had a very weak rudder which resulted in poor directional stability. Mainly for these reasons, from 1943 they were successively replaced on the front lines by the DeHavilland Mosquito. Technical data: Maximum speed: 512 km / h, speed of climb: 8.17 m / s, maximum ceiling 5800 m, maximum range: 2816 km, armament (hunting version): fixed - 4 20mm Hispano cannons and 6 rifles machine gun caliber 7.7 mm, suspended-up to 906 kg of bombs.