The Bristol Beaufighter was designed as a two-seat long-range fighter. To speed up
production many parts of the older Bristol Beaufort were used. The tail, landing gear and
wings of the Beaufort were transplanted to the Beaufighter and most units were equipped
with airborne radar located in the nose for night-fighting. The Mk. IF was the initial
production and fitted with four 20 mm cannons in the nose along with six 7.7 mm machine
guns in the wings. There were a total of 553 of the IF version produced.

“B” for Bambi entered operations with 29 Squadron based at West Malling, Kent on July
27 1942. The regular crew was Squadron Leader Richards and Flight Sergeant Mills. In
November 1942 the aircraft undercarriage was damaged when it hit a tree on final
approach. The plane was repaired, painted the new grey/green night fighter camouflage
scheme and transferred to No. 51 OUT (Operational Training Unit). On September 17
1944 Bambi was destroyed when it dived out of cloud into the ground near Barton-in-the-
Clay, Bedfordshire.

Statistics - Bristol Beaufighter Mk IF
Crew
2 X (1) pilot (1) radio/radar operator

Engines
2 X Bristol Hercules XI engines / 1,500 hp

Fuel
100 octane
Capacity 550 Imp gallons / (660 US gallons) / (2,500 liters)

Performance
Max Speed - 321 mph at 15,800 feet / (520 km/h at 4,572 m)
ICR – 1,850 ft/min at sea level / (564 m/min at sea level)
Climb to 20,000 ft - 14 minutes 6 seconds / (6,095 m in 14 min 6 seconds)
Ceiling - 26,500 ft   / (8077 m)
Range - 1,170 miles at 5,000ft at 182 mph / (1,883 km at 1.524 km at 292.9 km/h)

Dimensions
Wing Span - 57ft 10in   / (17.64 m)
Wing Area – 503 sq. ft. / (46.73 m2)
Length: 41ft 8in / (12.6 m)
Height – 15 ft 10 in /   (4.83 m)

Weights
Empty weight – 14,069 lb / (6,382 kg)
Operational – 21,100 lb / (9,571 kg)

Armament
4 X 20mm cannon under nose 240 rounds per gun
6 X .303 machine guns in wings 1000 rounds per gun

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