News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

The Bristol LIght Bom.ber
Night Fighter for the Royal AIr Foree
::
The Bristol Beaufighter, latest product of the
famous Bristol concern, follows closely in general
design and construction its forerunners, the Beaufort
andBlenheim. In night fighting it has proved
itself very successful. As a day fighter its most
spectacular engagement was the recent low-flying
attack on Catania aerodrome, in Sicily, when no
fewer than 34 Macchi-200 monoplane fighters were
destroyed without loss to ourselves.
The Beaufighter is built to an ultra-modern
specification for a twin-engined fighter. It is a
high-performance midwing monoplane, all-metal with
the exception of some of the control surfaces,
powered by Bristol Hercules sleeve-valve engines.
Classed as aday-and-night fighter, its outstanding
features are speed, long range and hitting power.
A crew of two is carried.
The principal dimensions and performance figures
are: Span, 57 ft. 10 in.; length, 41 ft. 4 in.;
height to top of rudder in rigging posi tion, 15 ft.
10 in.; wing area, 451 sq. fet.; gross area, 503 sq.
ft. All-up weight is 21,000 lb., of which no less
than 34 per cen t , , or 7,200 lb., represents disposable
load. Nominal top speed, at 14,000 ft.,
is over 330 m.p.h., and range, at an economical
cruising speed of 200 m.p.h., is 1,500 miles. The
sea. level rate of climb is 1,850 ft. per min., and
at 15,000 ft. this drops by only 400 ft. per min.
to 1,450 ft. per min. Service ceiling is 28,900
ft.
The armament is very heavy. Four 20 mm. shellguns
are carried in the floor of the fuselage and
six machine-guns of rifle calibre are remotely
controlled in the wings. Provision for a poweroperated
turret amidships is also made. The main
fixed forward-firing armament is operated by the
pilot, but the second member of the crew is responsible
for reloading the shell-guns.
All three wheels of the landing gear are retractable,
and all are hydraulically operated. The
main wheels retract backward into the engine nacelles
and are completely enclosed. The tail wheel
comes forward into a recess in the underside of
the fuselage. Electrical indicators in the pilot's
cockpit show the position of all three units and,
as a safeguard, there is the usual buzzer which
operates if the engine is throttled down beyond a
certain point while the undercarriage is still retracted.
The main landing legs are very robust, and the
need for this is obvious when it is remembered that
the wing loading is in the region of 46 lb./sq. ft.
and the landing speed correspondinRly high. Oleopneumatic
shock absorbers are fitted, together wi th
Dunlop pneumatically operated brakes. Automatic
safety locks operate to prevent retraction while
the machine is on the ground. Hand-operated land.
ing pins are also provided for attachment from the
ground. TIles!".ir e fitted with red flags which are
visible to the pi lot and must be removed before
OCTOBER 19f.r
The New Bristol Be8ufighter
25