The impressive, powerful and heavily-armed Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter was one of The Bristol Aeroplane Company's most important aircraft contributions to the Second World War.
Originally conceived as the Beaufort bomber, for use during the Munich Crisis following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, the twin-engined Beaufighter night fighter and maritime strike aircraft was eventually developed as a private venture against Specification F.37/35. It was based on re-using the wings and tail surfaces of the Bristol Type 152 Beaufort so that both aircraft could be produced with the same jigs so that manufacturing could be switched between aircraft types at short notice.
Led by L. G. Frise, the design team determined that one of the most notable characteristics of the Beaufighter would be its heavy armament with four 20 mm cannon mounted in the lower nose below the cockpit and six 0.303 machine guns, four in the starboard wing and two in the port.
Designated as the Bristol Beaufighter in March 1939, four prototypes and seven pre-production aircraft were ordered, followed by production aircraft (Beaufighter Mk.I) powered by two Bristol Hercules engines.
The first prototype Beaufighter (R2052) was first flown (unarmed) on 17th July 1939, and two variants were developed as the Mk.1F for Fighter Command and a Mk.1C for Coastal Command. The later Beaufighter Mk.II was purely a night fighter version and was equipped with much-improved Merlin XX engines.
A number of experimental versions were produced during the war, including two examples (R2274 and R2306) fitted with a four-gun turret immediately behind the pilot's cockpit. In this variant, the six wing guns and two cannons were removed.
The next full production variant was the Beaufighter Mk.VI, fitted with the more powerful Hercules VI and XVI engines and used as a maritime strike aircraft carrying either rockets or an 18 inch torpedo.
The final variant to achieve large scale production was the Beaufighter TF Mk.X, with a further increase in power. The Beaufighter Mk.XIC was similar to the Mk. X but not equipped for torpedo carriage. Post-war, a number of Beaufighter Mk.X aircraft were also converted for target-towing duties (as the TT Mk.10A). It was a Beaufighter TT Mk.10 that flew the type's final RAF sortie on 12th May 1960.
During the Second World War the Beaufighter also played a significant role in the Battle of Britain, protecting the skies over the south of England. Flying at night, all-black painted Beaufighters acted as night interceptors in the hands of skilled pilots such as Group Captain John ‘Cats-Eyes’ Cunningham. Cunningham's nickname 'Cats Eyes' originated from his success as a Beaufighter pilot, with the highest number of ‘night kills’ in the aircraft. Rather than reveal that this success was in part due to the aircraft’s secret Airborne Interception Radar, the Air Ministry created a legend around Cunningham to explain his successes – stating that his eyesight was so exceptional, aided by his high consumption of carrots in his diet which improved his night vision, that he could see in the dark with the same visual ability as a domestic cat.
UK production was of the Beaufighter was split between the Bristol Aeroplane Company (4,804 manufactured, including those made at the Weston-Super-Mare Shadow Factory), the Fairey Aviation Company at Stockport (500 manufactured) and Rootes at Speke (260 produced). Outside the UK, the Beaufighter Mk.21 was built in Australia at the Government Aircraft Factory, where some 364 aircraft were constructed. The most significant marks were the Beaufighter Mk.I (915 built); Mk. II (448); Mk. VI (1,831) and Mk. X (2,205).
Including Australian production, the grand total was 5,928 aircraft built.