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The Beaufighter was designed as a long-range heavy fighter, with many components in common with the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber. It saw service as a night fighter, a torpedo bomber, a ground attack fighter and an anti-shipping aircraft. In addition to operations in Europe, it also served in the Middle East and Far East. By September 1945 a total of 5 564 had been built in a variety of models and many continued in front-line service into the end of 1950s.
The Beaufighter was the first effective radar-equipped night fighter. In early versions of the aircraft, the radar operator, in addition to his normal duties, was also responsible for the four 20-mm cannon with ammunition. Resupply could be difficult, especially when an aircraft was manoeuvring in pursuit of a target and the ammunition drums weighed about 18 kg (40 lbs) each.
Detailed history of Beaufighter
| General characteristics | |||
| Primary function | Long-range heavy attack/fighter, night fighter, torpedo bomber | ||
| Power plant | Two Bristol Hercules XVII radial engines | ||
| Thrust | 2x 1,770 HP | 2x 1,320 kW | |
| Wingspan | 57 ft 10 in | 17.63 m | |
| Length | 41 ft 8 in | 12.6 m | |
| Height | 15 ft 10 in | 4.84 m | |
| Weight | empty | 15,650 lb | 7,100 kg |
| max. | 25,420 lb | 11,530 kg | |
| Speed | cruis. | 205 mph | 330 km/h |
| max. | 328 mph | 528 km/h | |
| Initial climb rate | 1,850 ft/min | 564 m/min | |
| Ceiling | 26,500 ft | 8,077 m | |
| Range | 1,500 mi | 2,400 km | |
| Armament | 4x 20mm Hispano cannon, 1x 7.7mm machine gun (fighters - 4x cannon, 6x machine gun); 728 kg torpedo or 2x 454 kg bomb or 8x rockets | ||
| Crew | Two | ||
| First flight | Prototype 17.7.1939 | ||
| Date deployed | July 1940 | ||
| Number built | 5,928 (incl. 364 built in Australia) | ||
Jirka Wagner
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