Bristol Beaufighter | Australia's Forgotten Workhorse | The Whispering Death | Upscaled Documentary

The amazing stories of Australian WW2 heroes and their beloved aircraft: a Bristol Beaufighter, also known as the whispering death.The Beaufighter was a British aircraft, used by many nations, but the last surviving aircrafts where built by the Australians themselves.
The Beaufighter was a World War Two era heavy attack fighter that was fast (up to 515 kmph / 320 mph), heavily armed (4 x 20mm cannons, 4-6 machine guns, plus bombs and rockets) and very quiet at low-level, hence the nickname allegedly given to it by the Japanese “Whispering Death” (the sound thing is true, but the nickname was probably just great propaganda!).
he Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber. The Beaufighter proved to be an effective night fighter, which came into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain, its large size allowing it to carry heavy armament and early airborne interception radar without major performance penalties.
The Beaufighter was used in many roles; receiving the nicknames Rockbeau for its use as a rocket-armed ground attack aircraft and Torbeau as a torpedo bomber against Axis shipping, in which it replaced the Beaufort. In later operations, it served mainly as a maritime strike/ground attack aircraft, RAF Coastal Command having operated the largest number of Beaufighters amongst all other commands at one point. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) also made extensive use of the type as an anti-shipping aircraft, such as during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
The Beaufighter saw extensive service during the war with the RAF (59 squadrons), Fleet Air Arm (15 squadrons), RAAF (seven squadrons), Royal Canadian Air Force (four squadrons), United States Army Air Forces (four squadrons), Royal New Zealand Air Force (two squadrons), South African Air Force (two squadrons) and Polskie Siły Powietrzne (Free Polish Air Force; one squadron). Variants of the Beaufighter were manufactured in Australia by the Department of Aircraft Production (DAP); such aircraft are sometimes referred to by the name DAP Beaufighter.
he concept of the Beaufighter has its origins in 1938. During the Munich Crisis, the Bristol Aeroplane Company recognised that the Royal Air Force (RAF) had an urgent need for a long-range fighter aircraft capable of carrying heavy payloads for maximum destruction. Evaluation of the Beaufort concluded that it had great structural strength and stiffness in the wings, nacelles, undercarriage and tail, so that the aircraft could be readily developed further for greater speed and manoeuvrability akin to a fighter-class aircraft. The Bristol design team, led by Leslie Frise, commenced the development of a cannon-armed fighter derivative as a private venture. The prospective aircraft had to share the same jigs as the Beaufort so that production could easily be switched from one aircraft to the other.

As a torpedo bomber and aerial reconnaissance aircraft, the Beaufort had a modest performance. To achieve the fighter-like performance desired for the Beaufighter, Bristol suggested that they equip the aircraft with a pair of their new Hercules engines, capable of around 1,500 hp, in place of the 1,000 hp Bristol Taurus engines on the Beaufort. The Hercules was a considerably larger and more powerful engine which required larger propellers.

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%); 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