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[Piotrek1]

Hello to all lovers of Beau (who does not like this beast ), today I would like to introduce you to additional weapons variant with which this agile aircraft could be equipped, unfortunately I can not do anything in this direction myself, I just hope that this post will inspire some modder.

I recently found a nice post on W.T. about what weapons in BeauX were used during the Arab-Israeli war,
https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/540446-bristol-beaufighter-tf-mkx-the-deadly-movie-star/
unfortunately there is only one photo and it is quite blurred showing the way of hanging bombs under the wings.
Thank you very much to the author and I hope that he will not mind using the his material :

Service in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war


One of the rare images of an Israeli Beaufighter. looking closely, one of the wing's bomb racks is visible

The 4 Beaufighters who made the trip to Israel were given to the 103 Squadron's B flight where they were led by Len Fitchett. This flight was made entirely by pilots of the "Mahal" (non Israeli volunteers who flew aircraft for Israel during the 1948 war). The Beaufighters received the IAF codes D.170-D.173. Regarding their armaments it is known for sure that the Israeli Beaufighters had 4 20mm cannons in the nose, however several sources cite that there is no evidence to suggest that they were ever fitted with the wing mounted 7.7mm machineguns (it is also evident from the few photographic proof that exists) and it is also likely that these Beaufighters did not use a back gunner as they had observer cupolas rather than gunner ones. In addition the Israelis had also armed their Beaufighters with Bomb racks, though with the severe lack of data it seems sources are debated on the specific amount of bombs and bomb types used. The 2 variations I had found on the claims for bomb loads were 1. 4 underwing 30kg bombs (2 per wing) and 2 250kg bombs under the fuselage. OR 2. 2 160kg bombs under the fuselage and 4 70kg bombs under the wings (2 bombs per wing). From these variations and considering the bombs in the Israeli inventory at the time it is likely that the actual loadout was comprised of German SD70 (70kg) and SC250 (250kg) bombs sold from Czechoslovakia.

It should also come as no surprise that the Beaufighters in Israeli service were not known to have used rockets or torpedos.

Not long after the Beaufighter's arrival, aircraft D.173 was seriously damaged in a landing accident on August 22nd. It was decided to cannibalize the aircraft to keep the other machines flying. Aircraft D.170 had also been badly damaged during training before October 1st and had remained grounded for a long time. due to the high rate of maintenance issues related to the Beaufighters they have seen very few flights in service.

Israeli BeaufighterTF.Mk.X
Specifications
Type:  Medium Bomber
Country of Origin: UK
Wing Span: 17.63 meters
Length: 12.70 meters
Height: 4.83 meters
Powerplants:  A pair of Bristol Hercules Mk.XVI engines rated at 1,670 hp each
Max speed: 502 km/h
Max altitude:  7,925 meters
Range: 2,382 km
Weight: Empty - 6,976 kg, Fully loaded - 11,520 kg

Armament:  4x20mm Hispano cannons with an unknown amount of rounds per gun. Additionally an unconfirmed bombload could be carried, according to the 2 different versions from the sources who mention it:

According to Danny Shalom: 4x30kg bombs under the wings + 2x250kg bombs under the fuselage.
According to Bill Norton: 4x70kg bombs under the wings + 2x160kg bombs under the fuselage.

It is likely that the actual loadout was comprised of German SD70 (70kg) and SC250 (250kg) bombs as those were present in the Israeli inventory at the time and were known to have been hung on British universal bomb carriers despite issues with incompatibility.


Both the BeaufighterMk.X and BeaufighterMk.21 were additionally equipped with a 200-gallon underslung fuel tank, and the BeaufighterMk.21 with Bomb HE-2000lb and mines, which I could only find mention of.
drawing from:
https://31squadronassociation.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Australian-Beaufighter-descriptive-Manual.pdf


Bristol Beaufighter TFX RD758 (SNAKE) with 200 gallons drop tank on torpedo rack,

quote from:
https://31squadronassociation.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Australian-Beaufighter-descriptive-Manual.pdf
A fuselage auxiliary tank for long duration flights can be fitted in exactly the same manner as the 2.000lb bomb (or mine), and is jettisoned through the bomb release and fuselage under load selektor switch.

If the mod authors didn't mind, the fuel tank could be borrowed from the Westland Lysander by MissionBug or the C6N1 Saiun by Dandolo.

Sorry for my english,

Thanks for reading,

Piotrek

[dsawan]

Can never have ebuff beaus. Like the idea. Heres the code we need for the request as is mia

Code: [Select]

General characteristics

    Crew: 2
    Length: 41 ft 4 in (12.60 m)
    Wingspan: 57 ft 10 in (17.63 m)
    Height: 15 ft 10 in (4.83 m)
    Wing area: 503 sq ft (46.7 m2) [54]
    Airfoil: root: RAF-28 (18%); tip: RAF-28 (10%)[55]
    Empty weight: 15,592 lb (7,072 kg)
    Max takeoff weight: 25,400 lb (11,521 kg) with one torpedo
    Fuel capacity: 550 imp gal (660 US gal; 2,500 l) normal internal fuel
    Maximum fuel capacity: 682 imp gal (819 US gal; 3,100 l) (with optional 2x 29 imp gal (35 US gal; 130 l) external tanks / 1x 24 imp gal (29 US gal; 110 l) tank in lieu of port wing guns / 1x 50 imp gal (60 US gal; 230 l) tank in lieu of stbd. wing guns)
    Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Hercules XVII or Bristol Hercules XVIII 14-cylinder air-cooled sleeve-valve radial piston engines, 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) each
    Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propellers

Performance

    Maximum speed: 320 mph (510 km/h, 280 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
    Range: 1,750 mi (2,820 km, 1,520 nmi)
    Service ceiling: 19,000 ft (5,800 m)
    Rate of climb: 1,600 ft/min (8.1 m/s)

Armament

    Guns: ** 4 × 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano Mark II cannon (240 rpg) in nose
        6 x .303 (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in wings four starboard two port (optional, replacing internal long range fuel tanks)
        1 × manually operated 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning for observer
    Rockets: 8 × RP-3 60 lb (27 kg) rockets
    Bombs: 2× 250 lb (110 kg) bombs or 1× British 18 inch (45 cm) torpedo or 1x Mark 13 torpedo
and maybe based off of what we have in game
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,37753.0.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_Beaufighter.svg

[Piotrek1]

Thanks for the data,
and yes, that's right I was referring to the excellent Docholiday mod and this one too:
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,41782.0.html