A variant of the Bristol Beaufighter Mk X constructed in Australia. The first Bristol Beaufighter Mk 21 flew on 26th May 1944. 364 were completed up to the end of 1945 and were fitted with 4x Browning 50 calibre machine guns rather than the 6 x . 303 installed in British planes.
Where was the Beaufighter built?
The Bristol Beaufighter was designed and built in England as a development of the Beaufort bomber, and initially saw service as a night fighter. English built aircraft were delivered to the RAAF for service in the Pacific with No. 22, 30, 31 and 93 Squadrons operating this variant.
Who built the Beaufighter?
Bristol BeaufighterManufacturers
Was the Bristol Beaufighter a good aircraft?
The Beaufighter proved to be an effective night fighter, which came into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain, its large size allowing it to carry heavy armament and early airborne interception radar without major performance penalties.
Are there any Bristol Beaufighters still flying?
The brutish Bristol Beaufighter is a rare beast these days, with just a handful of complete survivors, and none currently in airworthy condition. The biggest problem with getting a Beau’ flying again, outside of their rarity of course, is sourcing rebuildable examples of the correct series Bristol Hercules engines.
What is the oldest bomber still in service?
B-52 Stratofortress
America’s legendary B-52 Stratofortress first took to the skies more than 70 years ago and will likely remain in service beyond its century mark. In fact, the B-52 is now slated to continue flying long after much newer bombers, the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit respectively, have already been sent out to pasture.
What engine did a Beaufighter have?
The Beaufighter Mk I had a top speed of 320 mph, thanks to its pair of 1,560-hp Hercules XI engines, a range of 1,500 miles and a service ceiling of 29,000 ft. Armament consisted of four 20mm cannons and six 0.303-in machine-guns, bomb load would consist of four 500lb bombs.
Was the Spitfire British or German?
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II.
How did they get B 17s to England?
The North Atlantic air ferry route was a series of Air Routes over the North Atlantic Ocean on which aircraft were ferried from the United States and Canada to Great Britain during World War II to support combat operations in the European Theater of Operations (ETO).
What planes did Bristol make?
Notable aircraft produced by the company include the ‘Boxkite’, the Bristol Fighter, the Bulldog, the Blenheim, the Beaufighter, and the Britannia, and much of the preliminary work which led to Concorde was carried out by the company.
What was the toughest bomber in ww2?
The heaviest bomber of World War II was the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, which entered service in 1944 with a fully pressurized crew compartment (previously used only on experimental aircraft) and as many as 12 . 50-inch machine guns mounted in pairs in remotely-controlled turrets.
What was Britain’s best plane in ww2?
The Spitfire, renowned for winning victory laurels in the Battle of Britain (1940–41) along with the Hawker Hurricane, served in every theatre of the war and was produced in more variants than any other British aircraft.
What was the most produced British plane in ww2?
Supermarine Spitfire (20,351)
The Supermarine Spitfire is maybe the most recognizable plane of World War Two, particularly for British people. This single-seat fighter was the most recognizable and most reliable of the RAF planes. The British military produced a whopping 20,351 of these planes during the war.
Why was the Beaufighter called Whispering Death?
“The Japanese nicknamed this plane ‘Whispering Death’ due to the speed at which it could suddenly appear, strike and disappear,” Agostino Alberti of the Air Crash Po group told Discovery News.
How many Bristol fighters were built?
A total of 5,329 aircraft were eventually constructed, mostly by Bristol but also by Standard Motors, Armstrong Whitworth and even the Cunard Steamship Company. According to Bruce, by the time of the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the “Bristol Fighter ended the war supreme in its class”.
Are there any short Stirling bombers left?
The Stirling Aircraft Project Charity based near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire is working on the Short Stirling, which was one of the RAF’s first four-engine bombers. The Stirling bomber entered service in 1941 and it was retired in 1946 – more than 2,300 were built but none now exist.
What is the best bomber ever built?
So, why does the B-2 Spirit carry the coveted title of the best bomber in the world? Built by Northrop Grumman, the B-2 Spirit is capable of penetrating the most sophisticated enemy defenses undetected via its stealth technology.
What is the most feared bomber?
The Boeing B-29 was the biggest American bomber of the Second World War, but perhaps what made it the most deadly was that it was the aircraft that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which in a way makes the aircraft infamous.
What is the largest bomber ever built?
The Douglas XB-19 Was the Biggest Bomber in the World — and a Big Failure. Operated by a crew of up to 18, the XB-19 was so large that its massive fuselage contained two decks and it had tunnels within the wings so the flight engineer could attend to the engines in flight.
Which was faster Spitfire or Mosquito?
The original estimates were that as the Mosquito prototype had twice the surface area and over twice the weight of the Spitfire Mk II, but also with twice its power, the Mosquito would end up being 20 mph (30 km/h) faster.
What was the fastest piston driven aircraft of WWII?
Dornier Do-335 A1 – (474 mph)
Also known as ‘The Arrow’, the Do 335 was the fastest piston of its time. The propellers were arranged in an unusual ‘push-pull’ configuration, with one engine on the front and one behind it.