Which British Aircraft Shot Down The Most Aircraft In WW2? | Top 11 RAF Planes

Video Statistics and Information

Video
Captions Word Cloud
Reddit Comments
Captions
go ahead and think of the very best aircraft the British operated during the second world war which of these do you think shot down the most enemy aircraft well to be honest in this list of The 11 most prolific axis annihilators you've probably already pictured most of them but before you click away from this video feeling like the genius military historian you are did you get them all in the right order also did you remember to include number seven on my list because it's not even a fighter I can also almost guarantee that less than 10 of the people watching will get the top three and even fewer in the right order if that wasn't enough of a challenge I want you to think about this there is a common link between eight of the aircraft on my list if you clock it let me know in the comments along with how many of the 11 you got in the right order but wait there's more I'm also going to include the most successful fighter aircraft of the fleet airon somewhere in the video as a nice little palette cleanser It Won't Be the One You're Expecting either well hold on tight chaps and let's jump to the first runner-up on the list number 11. it's often been dubbed one of the worst fighters of World War II While others have championed the turret fighter as a solid design for its intended role as a bomber Destroyer the simple fact is that the war that the defiant was designed for was not the one that it found itself in saying that for such a belittled aircraft it only just missed out on the top 10 of all deadliest British aircraft and when you see which aircraft pipped it to the post you'll be even more impressed also the fighter with no forward firing guns managed to bag no fewer than 148 aerial victories for the RAF a contemporary of some of the biggest names in British fighter design some of which we may meet later on the defiant was initially powered by the mighty Merlin 3 engine this gave it a similar look from certain angles as the Hawker hurricane this little appreciated fact the start of the war allowed the defiant to take chunks at the unwitting Germans who latched onto its tail this led the first day fighter defiant unit number 264 Squadron to having one of the best days a single unit has ever had in aerial combat in total 264 scoring and claims 65 victories during the war 37 of which were claimed on a single day the 29th of May 1940. now we should probably take that with a pinch of salt as overclaiming was especially rampant during the early days of World War II however the exploits of two men over Dunkirk on the same day Gunner Corporal Lippert and his Pilot flight Lieutenant cook are better documented this Duo claimed two bf-109 fighters and a bf-110 during the first salty that day then added five juncker's ju-87s in their second by the end of the day they had brought their score up to nine confirmed and three shared including successes from another action on the 12th of May the lads had very little time to take advantage of their new status as the first men to become an eight in a day during the new conflict both men would unfortunately die when their defiant was shot down as they continued to protect the ships and the troops on the beach on the 31st of May just two days later the Bolton pool defiant would ultimately be retired from the day fighter role it was pushed into and become a fairly successful night fighter later on it would be used in the airc rescue and Target tug rolls the turret of the Define is definitely its most striking feature but also its most deadly Colin r Bryant who flew in various defiant squadrons explained that their Gunners were given strict instructions to point their guns rearward unlike Landings this was to protect against any marauding German Knight Fighters however few Gunners did this as in that position the breaches blocked their escape exits there was always the floor escape hatch but in order for the Gunners to use this the pilots had to lower the wheels and flight if he forgot before bailing out himself or was dead then the Gunner would likely be impaled on the VHF aerial which was positioned on the aircraft's belly for landing this was automatically retracted as the undercarriage descended for this reason Mark Ansel in his book explained that most Gunners preferred not to use the floor escape hatch however a wounded Gunner would have to remember to rotate his turret to the right position in order to escape through the side doors this being said early on there was a chance these men would be jumping without a parachute the turret was too cramped for conventional parachutes to be worn despite space being available in the fuselage to store one it was Impractical to expect a man to get out the turret retrieve and put one on and then bail out of the aircraft instead a full body parachute was developed which doubled as a flotation device for water Landings so hats off to the defiant Gunner just making it into the top 10 is the famous North American P-51 Apache no no wait I've just got the memo from the Brits they want to call it the Mustang now anyway this aircraft is often claimed to be the ultimate World War II fighter this is of course debatable but in the dark days of 1940 it was exactly the type of machine the British wanted North American was famously approached by the British purchasing commission and asked to build p-40s under contract instead they offered to design an entirely new and better aircraft they did this in just 185 days from being given the go-ahead to the First Flight of the Prototype the first airframe to reach the United Kingdom was unloaded roughly a year later arriving in October 1941 it was an instant hit with the British Pilots but its power plant limited its operational use the Allison v1710 although ideal for the low missions the Mustang had been designed for did not provide the power it needed at higher altitudes so the British mainly used the new Mustang for low-level Army cooperation work interestingly 57 must Stone 1as designed for army reconnaissance missions over Europe and North Africa were fitted with four 20 millimeter cannons the Mustang's first operational facility took place over Berks and there where number two six Squadron attacked the Airfield there on the 14th of January 1942. however the Mustang's first major operation came in August 1942 in operation Jubilee during a fight around yep one Royal Canadian Air Force pilot from number 414 Squadron would claim first blood for the Mustang shooting down a rather clumsy fw-190 pilot officer Hollis Hills would enter the history books by bagging the Mustang's first ever aerial Victory the first of nearly 5 000 destroyed by the fighter eventually RAF and Commonwealth Pilots would claim 185 victories while operating the type ironically though Hills was no Canadian who was actually one of the Brave Americans who had crossed the ocean to fight the Germans long before their country had been dragged into World War II if you want to hear more about men like hills please watch my Eagle Squadron video in the link above 691 allison-powered Mustangs reached Britain and later the RAF would take on roughly 1500 merlin-powered airframes these were also used for long-range escort missions much like their American cousins a total of 13 RAF Pilots became Aces flying the Mustang while a further 27 Aces achieved at least part of their scores in the aircraft while a fighter with one of the top scores of the Americans the British didn't operate as many and used the Mustang in different operational roles this might account for the huge disparity in aerial victories each Nation achieved in the type what do you think after it entered service in 1944 the Hawker Tempest was dubbed the raf's best low to medium altitude fighter but 801 Tempest fives that were eventually pushed into service would claim 267 and a half aerial victories over the luftwaffe 239 is generally the agreed on official tally for this fantastic aircraft as you might have guessed from the name of this channel I'm a huge fan of the Tempest and pretty much a hawker Fanboy too to me the development of the Tempest is just fascinating when you look at its lineage you come to understand the real pressure the British aviation industry was under to produce better and better Fighters The Tempest was originally designed as the typhoon 2 and was an attempt to drastically improve upon that 1937 design amazingly the contract for the Tempest was issued in November 1941 just five months or so after the first production typhoon 1A made by Gloucester was completed you could also say that the Tempest was the result of the aviation design version of throwing spaghetti at a wall six initial prototypes were fitted with a range of engines and radiator layouts some of the most promising were later abandoned due to production delays on those engines namely the Mark 1 and the Mark II eventually the Mark V Tempest with its Napier saber 2C faced the fewest issues and became the only variant to see active service during World War II a few key differences between its elder brother and the Tempest were the thinner lamina flow Wing design which was definitely inspired by the Mustang and seemingly by the Spitfire the near elliptical Wing shape allowed the twin hispanos of each Wing to be housed internally the 10 best also had a bubble canopy which gave it excellent visibility used mainly as a long-range fighter bomber The Tempest rained down fire on both the luftwaffe and the wehrmacht across France the low countries and later into Germany some of his most notable adversaries included the me262 and the V1 in terms of top RF Doodle Bug Killers The Tempest is top of the list claiming 638 flying bombs downed the mosquitoes second 623 and the Spitfire Mark 9 third were 305. the Tiffy another of my favorite British aircraft is the ultimate story of an ugly duckling turned into a deadly crowd Crusher however that's not where the Disney movie ends if things had gone differently we might be talking about the tornado here instead of the typhoon just before the Hawker hurricane joined Frontline squadrons in 1937 Sydney cam sat down to design its successor in answer to specification F 1837 four Hawker prototypes were created two fitted with the Napier saber two with a Rolls-Royce x-24 vulture engine the former known as the n-types were eventually dubbed for typhoon while the r-type vulture fitted prototypes became known as the tornado it's arguable that the tornado being lighter was actually the better aircraft it took flight a full seven months before the typhoon in October 1939. nevertheless the initial instruction to proceed with a thousand unit order for both designs was later canceled precedent was put on producing the much needed Hawker hurricanes this event meant the typhoon went into production in 1941 rather than its brother the tornado but don't feel too bad the vulture was the same engine used on the Avro Manchester so maybe we didn't miss much ultimately the typhoon was rushed into service before all its Kinks had been ironed out this was mainly because it was the only British fighter that could catch the fw-190 on the deck British intelligence apparently had known about the new German fighter and both aircraft were introduced pretty much the same week however while the fw-190 was a fully formed operational aircraft for the most part every new typhoon Aviator essentially became a test pilot the Germans had started to mount lightning yabo raids on the south coast of England and were seemingly Unstoppable in September 1941 two squadrons based at duxwood were equipped with the typhoon to counter this threat despite still being fairly structurally unsound the typhoon tasted First Blood on the 9th of August 1942 when pilot officer Munro and pilot officer Lucas of 266 Rhodesia Squadron shot down a Jung 88 another 265 aerial victories would follow interestingly Monroe was flying a Canon armed typhoon while Lucas was flying an earlier Mark 1 with 12.33 machine guns over time the many floors at the typhoon possessed some of which were fatal were eventually ironed out however it never became the High Altitude Interceptor replacement for the hurricane it was designed to be by 1943 the typhoon had been identified as an ideal close support fighter it had more Cannon ammunition than the Spitfire Mark IX and when armed with rockets is reported to have the same destructive force as a broadside from a raw Navy destroyer flying as part of the second Tactical Air Force during Operation Overlord the typhoon proved to be deadly to the vermact and played a huge part in the campaign as promised number seven on the list is indeed a bomber and perhaps the best known for engine bomber of World War II at least in Britain and across the Commonwealth this aircraft has been associated with some of the most daring operations of that war and is equally connected with bomber command's policy of area bombing the Lancaster will also always be associated with the less than remarkable Avro Manchester it turned out that the simplest fix to the Troublesome twin vulture engine bomber was to extend the Wings by 12 feet and slap on four Merlins this experiment turned out to be one of the best decisions Avro ever made the Lancaster would become the most produced British for engine bomber and carried out over 156 000 salty flying for the most part at night the Lancaster has nonetheless surpassed three fantastic Fighters and the defiant in this list of the deadliest British operated aircraft of World War II bombers like the Lancaster were at the mercy of gem flak batteries as well as the increasingly sophisticated Knight fighter defenses all that stood between the lanks and the luftwaffe were its two dedicated Gunners Manning the mid-upper and rear turrets supported by the bomb aimer who manned the nose turret these three men spread across the 7 377 lancasters reportedly built and those that saw active service accounted for 320 aerial victories this is fairly impressive when you consider for much of the war Lancaster turrets were only fitted with 0.33 machine guns which had a shorter range than most Canon armed German Fighters Also let's not forget that most of the combat these Gunners saw was at night and they didn't have radar to help them pick out their targets nor did they have the defensive fire of other lancasters flying nearby that being said bf-110s used predominantly as night fighters from 1941 and one of many types used in the role are reported as shooting down some 1500 lancasters between 1942 and 1945. it's almost impossible to say how many bf-110s were lost to Lancaster Gunners but a good guess is that between 5 and 20 lancasters were down for every bf-110 destroyed as Robert Fork set goes on to say in his book The Lancaster Gunners accounted for perhaps 150 bf-110s however more than likely these victories were over inexperienced German pilots and for much of the war lanks came off much worse against bf-110s and all other German Knight Fighters 3431 lancasters went down in combat many Under The Guns of German Fighters if you've ever wondered as I did which bombard you'd want to fight a war in the Lancaster would be 17 then check out my full analysis on this weird pondering in the link above the Gloucester Gladiator is one of the unsung heroes of the RAF and was flown against the enemy for the first two years of the war it might surprise some to learn that the Gladiator was considered obsolete when it entered service in February 1937 yet it was still on the front line four years later this was the very last biplane Fighter the RF would operate but the Gladiator wasn't going to let the enemy have things all his own way Gladiators operated from Britain to Norway from Egypt to Crete on the high seas and in numerous other places around the world flying in other national colors highly maneuverable as a fighter the Gladiator was considered severely underarmed with its 4.303s nevertheless here it sits as the sixth most deadly aircraft operated by the British funny enough it was not a British pilot who scored the first victory in a gladiator that honor goes to Captain Zhong Huang sunshui or Buffalo to his mates a chinese-american captain Wong was leading 12 Gladiators from the 28th and 29th nationalist Chinese Pursuit fortunes on the morning of the 24th of February 1938 attacking a formation of Ean day float planes escorted by a5m clawed Fighters over the Nanking area one a5m fell to Wong's fire this would be the first of many Gladiator victims across the world incidentally on the 31st of May 1938 Wong downed an h8n near Cheng ya Singh this victory was not only Buffalo Wong's seventh and final Victory but also his fifth claim while flying the Gladiator making him the first ever Gladiator Ace Buffalo Wong would sadly not survive the war being shot down by a6m zeros on the 14th of March 1941 and dying of his wounds two days later the British opened their account with the Gladiator on the 17th of October 1939 B flight from 607 Squadron was sent out to intercept a mysterious plot over the North Sea see seeing very little through the broken Cloud the fourship formation of Gladiators turned back for home when suddenly they saw something below a flying boat clucked the British aircraft at the same time and descended to just 20 feet over the waves trying to evade them the four Gladiators riddled the German with 0.303 bullets and soon it was forced to land on the sea the crew were picked up by British destroyer and the Gladiator got its first victory over the Germans another 303 axis aircraft would fall under the guns of the British and Commonwealth Gladiators the Gladiator would produce no fewer than 18 fully fledged Commonwealth Aces including the amazingly named Marmaduke Thomas Sinjin pattle known to most as Pat the South African would claim more than 50 victories before his untimely death 15 and a half in the Gladiator and finally it was the gladiator that nearly cost the world's children the pleasure of such stories as The BFG and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl crashed his Gladiator in the Egyptian desert in 1940 only just escaping with his life but honestly that might have suited the more politically correct folk around these days okay so as promised let's talk about the often forgotten Fleet air arm this Naval Air Force was often lost in the list when it came to receiving the most advanced aircraft but they arguably produced one of the most outstanding Pilots ever if you know who I'm talking about name names in the comments if you were to guess what the top scoring Fleet air arm fighter was you might say something like the Sea Fire or even the sea hurricane perhaps your mind goes to the American designs used such as the martlet or the Hellcat did you think of this the fairy former doesn't really look like a fighter at first glance however this two-man Naval Interceptor accounted for 30 of all enemy aircraft down by the Fleet air arm only 40 of the 602 produced were reportedly lost to enemy action Crews that operated this aircraft between 1940 and as late as 1945 accounted for no less than 112 aerial victories this is astounding for an aircraft whose top speed was only 266 miles per hour at 9 600 feet which was often slower than the bombers it faced and almost always inferior to the fighters as with many naval aircraft its performance was compromised due to the necessity for it to serve in multiple roles during its service the former operated as a reconnaissance map a fighter both day and night a dive bomber and as a catapult fighter defending convoys fairy formats were introduced in June 1940 fitted with the Merlin 7 and saw action with the fleet in the North Sea and the Arctic convoys four Mars also meant the enemy in the Mediterranean around feet and during Operation Torch 55 squadrons would be equipped with a fighter between 1940 and 1945 including One RAF Squadron with a threat of Japanese invasion falling on Salon modern-day Sri Lanka number 273 Squadron was hastily re-equipped with four Mars replacing their aging Vickers wildebeests unfortunately the formats didn't perform well against the superior Mitsubishi zero a classic British fighter of its day the former was equipped with 8.33 machine guns but plans were made to replace these with just 4.50 caliber machine guns however this was something of a pipe dream 1940. if you want to find out why watch my video about why the British were still using 0.303 brownlings for much of the war on many of their aircraft only the last few formers off the assembly line did get the harder hitting guns and they were mainly used as night Fighters the fairy former wasn't best received when it first landed on Royal Navy decks vice admiral Summersville then in charge of false H put more faith in the offensive potential of the blackburnt skewer often using formats in other roles during his operation nevertheless the former was used with success against the Germans Italians Japanese and Vichy French it opened its score sheet on the 2nd of September 1940 while serving on HMS illustrious by the end of the day four months had accounted for four down savoya machete sm-79s and a cant z501c plane another 107 victories would follow however the second man in the plane didn't directly contribute to these astounding results the former was the first Navy two-man fighter not to have a rear-facing gun for the telegraphist air Gunner so according to Jeffrey Bussey a few tags hit upon the idea to take Thompson's submachine guns into the air this practice was soon deemed to be too dangerous and ineffective so a more effective method of defense was devised as busy put it some tags tried to defer enemy Fighters with a very pistol or even throwing rolls of toilet paper into the slipstream he doesn't mention if they were unused though the Curtis P40 is yet another unsung hero of the second world war it would never be considered a thoroughbred fighter like the Mustang or Spitfire but it was a reliable aircraft that could help hold back the tide of the axis Onslaught the British purchased the P-40 as a stopgap fighter taking over the initial French order for 140 p-40bs in September 1940 dubbed tomahawks these were followed by 110 more some of which were modified by the British it was found that these early p-40s lacked the performance armor and Firepower to be effective in the European battles so far and so the Lion's Share was sent to the Middle East by August 1941 the British had started to receive newer p-40es they called them Kitty Hawks the Kitty Hawk Mark ones were armed with 4.50 caliber machine guns but subsequent models did receive two additional MGS this armor was a much harder hitting Arrangement than the tomahawks with their nose and wing-mounted 0.303s as with the early Mustangs the p40s didn't have the performance to act as high altitude interceptors but they were more than capable of carrying out medium to low altitude operations some later p40s even had the Allison engines exchanged for packard-built Merlins however these weren't the same models as used in high altitude Spitfires and Mustangs so they did little to change the kitty Hawk's role overall while operating the P40 the RAF and particularly Commonwealth Pilots including the South African Air Force managed to account for 680 aircraft destroyed between 1941 and 1945 one notable battle was the 22nd of April 1943 where p40s along with Spitfires of the Desert Air Force massacred German Transport Aircraft heading for the Africa core you can check out my full video on this operation in the link above another claim to fame Commonwealth Pilots have is the iconic look p40s have whenever I think about this aircraft I always picture the grilling shark's mouth synonymous with the Flying Tigers however this was not an invention of the AVG in fact it was 112 Squadron RAF who first decorated their p40s with the logo that lends itself so well out to the fighters cowling when AVG pilot Charles Bond hopefully drinking a martini first spotted the logo he was intrigued he saw the photo of South African flight letter in bulker he was standing on his grinning shark tooth tomahawk in a 1941 copy of The Illustrated weekly of India he quickly told everyone in the first Pursuit Squadron when the request to paint the aircraft got to the AVG Commander Clash Chenault there was a problem he refused to allow only the squadron's aircraft to be decorated in the Fearsome design instead ordering that every aircraft in the ABG be painted likewise the rest is history saying that there's little doubt that 112 Squadron chaps stole the idea from luftwaffa 110 Cruz but let's not allow the truth to get in the way of a good story now at the start of the video when I mentioned a bomber being on the list did you think of the mosquito yes as well you know this twin engine Beast was first designed as an unarmed bomber its subsequent success led to many variants including a fighter bomber and a night fighter I've covered the mosquito's development in another video where I rather facetiously ask you to choose between the dh-98 and the P38 you can watch that video after this one if you want to hear more for now let's just say the mosquito had devastating Firepower and was well suited to the night fighter and fighter bomber roll the first mosquitoes arrived at 157 Squadron in fighter command on the 13th of December 1941 the first night fighter sortie was on the night of the 22nd 28th of April 1942 following the night fighter prototype's initial flight of previous may as a new mosquito nightfighter Crews were being trained up in the new aircraft and Equipment the luftwaffe started a new campaign against the UK known as the bay Decker Blitz the Nazis who let's face it are not the kind of people you want to share a first beer with started targeting British cities with cultural significance and limited strategic value to the war effort the more you hear about these guys the less you like them for nearly a month cruise from 157 and 151 Squadron flew in decisive interception sorties with the mosquitoes only drawing blood and not spilling it on the night of the 29th of May during a raid on Grimsby flight Lieutenant Pennington from 151 Squadron damage to high court he-111 over the North Sea but had one of his engines knocked out by German return fire number 157 Squadron damage to dornier do217s but could only claim one is properly destroyed had everything gone wrong could the mosquito really hit back at Germany finally on the 24th of June 1942 in the dead of night the mosquito's luck would change initially when Commander Blackie Smith and his Navigator flight Lieutenant Shepard engaged in a heinkel 111 at 8 000 feet and again they were only able to claim it as a probable then they heard the crackle of the RT a new Target had been identified Smith and Shepard caught German aircraft at 8 000 feet and took a one second burst at it just before it took evasive action the crew saw it burning as it struck the water below one Jerry downed and the first for the mozzie minutes later another contact was identified and they were vectored onto the tail of a do217 and about 300 yards Smith opened up with the loss of his 20 millimeter ammunition and sent the bomb into the ground totally engulfed in flames despite the entire aircraft being on fire a Plucky German in the dorsal turret returned fire Smith closed in to 100 yards and delivered the coup de grass with his .33 machine guns scratch Jerry 2 the first brace of an eventual 835 RF mosquito victories of World War II this brings us into the top three now I know if you've made it this far you probably know at least two of the aircraft on the rest of the list probably all three of them but before we go on as you are a dedicated Aviation Enthusiast why don't you give the video a like to help it spread to even more people so without beating around the bush even more yes you've guessed it the two Heroes of the battle Britain are on top of the list the deadless British fighter of all is of course the Spitfire developed by Vicar's supermarine under the Keen Eye of RJ Mitchell the Prototype flew on the 5th of March 1936 piloted by Matt Summers following Mitchell's death on the 11th of June 1937 Joey Smith would take over the project and lead the team through 24 different marks of the Spitfire a total of around 20 400 Spitfires are made and they flew with at least 34 Nations some were Allied countries during World War II and several other countries who purchased the Spitfire post-war the Spitfire would serve from 1939 right through to the end of the second world war in every theater the British Empire fought in it's best associated with the Battle of Britain where it helped to wrestle the skies from the luftwaffe during the course of those six years and one single day the Spitfire reportedly scored 5950 victories in the hands of RAF and Commonwealth Pilots it Remains the top scoring World War II fighter of all time the final Spitfire Victory ever was achieved by American Israeli air course volunteer Bill Schroeder on the 7th of January 1949 his flight misidentified a formation of Iris Spitfires escorted by Hawker Tempest as Egyptians the Israeli Air Force pilots flying Spitfire Mark 9s attacked and Schroeder shut down a Tempest piloted by David tattersfield killing him if you want to hear about yet another Israeli Air Force mistake check out my video about the Spitfire in the link above ultimately the events of the 7th of January 1949 are a sad ending to one of the most successful British fighters to date coming in second is the hookah hurricane which frankly is one of my favorite aircraft ever not as glamorous as the Spitfire nor as well suited to combat as the war went on it was a sturdy Mount which helped stem the axis tide the hurricane was another successful design from the Hawker Aircraft company and was a direct Bridge from the biplane designs of the 1920s and 30s and the new modern monoplane airframes that dominated the 1940s often referred to as the Workhorse of the Battle of Britain it turned out to be a better gun platform and more rugged than the Spitfire being built in higher numbers at the start of the war the hurricane accounted for more aerial victories than its Thoroughbred cousin in the summer of 1940. in another video I asked the question could the Hawker hurricane have won the battle Britain on its own if you want to check that out look at the link above as the war progressed and the opposition became more and more advanced the hurricane was eradicated to less crucial theaters and roles fitted with more powerful Armament including 40 millimeter cannons it became an excellent ground support fighter in the deserts of North Africa however it was in 1940 that the hurricane would be linked to one of the most outstanding acts of Bravery on the 6th of August 1940 Eric James Bradley Nicholson was flying in the number 249 hurricane near Southampton he came under Fire from a measure Smith bf110 which wounded him in the foot and blinded him in one eye the hurricane was also very badly hit and started to burn as Nicholson attempted to bow out and His Hands received serious Burns he saw a second 110 right in front of him dropping into the seat again he fired a burst into the German and sent him into a steep dive finally Nicholson managed to abandon the doomed hurricane and bowed out upon Landing he was fired upon by an unwitting local defense volunteer who thought he was a German he was actually hit in the leg with shotgun pellets for this act of bravery and complete disregard of his own safety the 23 year old was awarded the Victoria Cross it was the only one given out to fight a command for the entire War the hurricane would go out of production in July 1944 however hurricanes were still being operated by the Yugoslavian Air Force well into the 1950s 14 483 hurricanes in 24 variants were built between 1936 and 1944 and the Plucky fighter downed 4540 enemy aircraft while in British and Commonwealth hands and finally the third most deadly British aircraft of World War II is one that many people forget about the Beau fighter was a direct response to the air ministry's request for current and future aircraft designs to be adapted for Canon Armament Bristol Engineers were convinced that they could adapt their current Beaufort airframe into a fighter design that even went as far as presenting a proposal that reached the desk of Shoto Douglas in November 1938. he believed that the bristle design was the best option at the time and further talks were held in January in the next year with the air Ministry Bristol seemed confident they could deliver a prototype within six to eight months and despite air ministry's misgivings over the possible maneuverability of such a huge fighter they prepared no specification for the design which meant Bristol didn't need to compete with another company the first hercules-powered prototypes took the air on the 17th of July 1939. the Beau fighter with dental service just over a year later on the 26th of July 1940. it was soon identified as an ideal night fighter being big enough to carry the large radar units then available both Fighters were also the best option for a long-range fighter then needed by Coastal command especially in the MTO initially fitted with a Wellington fuel tank in the belly of the aircraft this configuration was soon replaced by internal Wing tanks of course this meant the Mark 1cs had to forego their wing mounted 0.303s that still left their four 20 millimeters in their noses interestingly in earlier variants The Observer was expected to replace the cannon drums which weighed about 50 pounds it was soon agreed that the bowfighter needed to have a belt-fed ammunition configuration installed one often forgotten fact is that the beaufighter 2 was fitted with Merlin 10 engines though they were intended to carry in Merlin twenties however only 450 of these variants were produced as other aircraft such as the Spitfire hurricane and Lancaster had first dibs for the Merlin type engines production of the Mark II by far deceased in July 1942 this led to Mark 1 by Fighters being equipped with Hercules sixes which gave birth to the Beau fighter Mark VI the bowfighter claimed its first Victory on the night of the 25th of October 19 40 sergeant hodgkinson of 219 Squadron was vectored onto a bandit and about 16 000 feet and close to 200 yards he fired two bursts at the enemy bomber attempting a third from just 70 yards but the Cannons failed the enemy aircraft was seen to dive steeply into Cloud without returning fire and was identified as a dornier the beaufighter proved to be a fantastic bomber destroyer and accounted for at least 40 German aircraft between September 1914 and may 1941 using very primitive AI radar both Fighters will shoot a total of 965 enemy aircraft out of the Skies delivering death from Europe to the Mediterranean to the Far East however they never did it while whistling and if you made it this far in the video you are a superstar and why not like the video to help it spread to more people if you like the kind of videos that I make consider supporting me in any way that you can by going to the page calabarising.com support and of course I've mentioned lots of my other videos throughout this one that you can watch and I've put them all into a nice little playlist so you can start watching them right now [Music]
Info
Channel: Caliban Rising - Aviation History
Views: 760,313
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: aviation history, military aviation
Id: 8L7veLuzF1E
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 34min 19sec (2059 seconds)
Published: Tue Dec 27 2022
Related Videos
Note
Please note that this website is currently a work in progress! Lots of interesting data and statistics to come.