Off the bench June 20, 2023
The Bristol Beaufort is a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim light bomber. At least 1,180 Beauforts were built by Bristol and other British manufacturers.
Beauforts first saw service with Royal Air Force Coastal Command and then the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm from 1940. They were used as torpedo bombers, conventional bombers and mine-layers until 1942, when they were removed from active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared obsolete in 1945. Beauforts also saw considerable action in the Mediterranean; Beaufort squadrons based in Egypt and on Malta helped interdict Axis shipping supplying Rommel’s Deutsches Afrikakorps in North Africa.
Although it was designed as a torpedo-bomber, the Beaufort was more often used as a medium day bomber. The Beaufort also flew more hours in training than on operational missions and more were lost through accidents and mechanical failures than were lost to enemy fire.
General characteristics
Crew: 4
Length: 44 ft 2 in (13.46 m)
Wingspan: 57 ft 10 in (17.63 m)
Height: 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m)
Empty weight: 13,107 lb (5,945 kg)
Gross weight: 21,228 lb (9,629 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Taurus II, Taurus III, Taurus VI, Taurus XII or Taurus XVI 14-cylinder air-cooled sleeve-valve radial piston engine, 1,130 hp (840 kW) each
Propellers: 3-bladed de Havilland Hydromatic constant-speed propellers
Performance
Maximum speed: 271.5 mph (436.9 km/h, 235.9 kn) at 6,500 ft (2,000 m)
225 mph (196 kn; 362 km/h) at sea level
Cruise speed: 255 mph (410 km/h, 222 kn) at 6,500 ft (2,000 m)
Range: 1,600 mi (2,600 km, 1,400 nmi)
Service ceiling: 16,500 ft (5,000 m)
Rate of climb: 1,150 ft/min (5.8 m/s)
Wing loading: 42.2 lb/sq ft (206 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.106 hp/lb (0.174 kW/kg)
Armament
Guns: ** 3 .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers GO machine guns (two in Bristol Mk IV dorsal turret, one in port wing) or;
6 .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers GO machine guns (Two fixed in nose, two in turret, one in port wing and one firing laterally from entry hatch.) Late production.
1 .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine gun in rear-firing chin blister
Bombs: ** One 1,605 lb (728 kg) 18 in Mk XII torpedo or.
2,000 lb (907 kg) bomb or a torpedo under the fuselage or 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs in the bomb bay and 500 lb (227 kg) under the wings, or mines.