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Thread: The Beaufighter Mk. V - Boulton Paul turret and Merlin powered!

  1. #1
    Combat pilot Kestrel's Avatar
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    The Beaufighter Mk. V - Boulton Paul turret and Merlin powered!

    Good day chaps!

    While we're waiting for the flyable Beaufighter, have a look at this interesting Beau prototype. I had heard of it before, but never came across a photograph until today.

    There were quite a few variants and protoypes of the Beau. We have the Mk I in CLoD, and you've probably heard of the Mk VI used by Coastal Command, the Mk X torpedo fighter, and the Australian Mk 21 with .50 inch guns replacing the .30s used in the Pacific. Ever seen the Mk V though?





    Further armament trials and experimental modifications were performed throughout the Beaufighter's operational lifespan. By mid-1941, a total of 20 Beaufighters were reserved for test purposes, including engine development, stability and maneuverability improvements, and other purposes.[14] In May 1941, a pair of Beaufighter Mk II aircraft, R2274 and R2306, were modified to the Beaufighter Mk III standard; removing the six wing guns and two inboard cannons to install a Boulton-Paul-built quad-gun turret directly behind the pilot. The turret, which was intended to overcome the impact of recoil and nose-down tendency that affected the aircraft due to the conventional armament, was found to obstruct the emergency egress of the pilot. -Wikipedia
    Only two were produced, and obviously never saw combat. It seems like a pretty interesting concept anyhow! The Defiant was somewhat of a failure, but I feel like this Beau could have hypothetically brought the concept of a turreted bomber-destroyer to fruition. The combination of forward-firing cannon and and a 4-gun forward firing turret would have interesting results. In my opinion, I feel like the removal of all the forward firing machine guns and two of the cannon would have made it a little less deadly to bombers. The primary advantage of this design might have ended up being the turret used as defensive armament.

    Hope you found this interesting. I certainly did! You learn something new every day...
    Last edited by Kestrel; Dec-13-2017 at 18:50.
    Kestrel

    GPU: NVidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5 GHz 6M Cache Skylake Quad-Core SSD: 240GB HDD: 1TB OS: Windows 10 Monitor: ASUS LED 25" 1920x1080 1 ms Gaming Monitor Joystick: Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 Quadrant: Logitech G Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant Head Tracking: Trackhat Clip


  2. #2
    TF Leadership RAF74_Buzzsaw's Avatar
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    Re: The Beaufighter Mk. V - Boulton Paul turret and Merlin powered!

    We will add the Mk Ic with bombs in TF 5.0... and expect to add the Mk VI and TFX at some point after that. If the Mk VI is added, one of the versions will have a rear gunner... but not a turret. Mk VI and X will have torpedo options.

    Won't be adding the Mk II, any of the prototypes and not the Australian models as we are not going to the Pacific.

    This turreted model would have been somewhat useful for Nightfighters as it would allow attacks from underneath like the 'Schrage Musik' installation on Bf-110's. but it would have slowed the aircraft considerably with the extra drag.

    The Defiant also used attacks from below in its nightfighting role.
    Last edited by RAF74_Buzzsaw; Dec-13-2017 at 19:25.

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  4. #3
    Combat pilot Kestrel's Avatar
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    Re: The Beaufighter Mk. V - Boulton Paul turret and Merlin powered!

    Quote Originally Posted by RAF74_Buzzsaw View Post
    We will add the Mk Ic with bombs in TF 5.0... and expect to add the Mk VI and TFX at some point after that. If the Mk VI is added, one of the versions will have a rear gunner... but not a turret. Mk VI and X will have torpedo options.
    That's awesome! I will really be looking forward to all of these! The Beau seems to be one of those "forgotten" planes of WWII, and they certainly deserve representation in CLoD. Three cheers for Team Fusion!



    I suppose if we're getting the Mk VI and X, with the current planeset for 5.0, it looks as if perhaps TF will be heading towards the Malta/Sicily area of operations after Tobruk.
    Last edited by Kestrel; Dec-14-2017 at 13:23.
    Kestrel

    GPU: NVidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5 GHz 6M Cache Skylake Quad-Core SSD: 240GB HDD: 1TB OS: Windows 10 Monitor: ASUS LED 25" 1920x1080 1 ms Gaming Monitor Joystick: Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 Quadrant: Logitech G Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant Head Tracking: Trackhat Clip


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