Beaufighter Mk VIc

Beaufighter Mk VIc

Hurricane Mk IV

Beaufighter Mk X

Beaufighter Mk VIc

Hurricane Mk IV

Beaufighter Mk X

Britain

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.3	3.0	3.3

Class:

Strike aircraft

Torpedo bomber

Research:9 200

Purchase:16 000

Show in game

This page is about the British twin-engine fighter Beaufighter Mk VIc. For other versions, see Beaufighter Mk X and Beaufighter Mk 21.

Description

The Beaufighter Mk VIc is a rank II British twin-engine fighter with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB), 3.0 (RB), and 3.3 (SB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27.

The Beaufighter Mk VI is one of the best early-tier heavy fighters. When its engines and survivability are fully upgraded, it is truly a bomber killer to behold, capable of bringing down any rank 1, 2 or 3 planes with ease. Unfortunately, there are several drawbacks to the amazing power of the 4 x 20 mm Hispano cannons. You will normally spawn quite high, so use that to your advantage when attacking enemy planes. The recommended speed of this plane is only around 500 km/h (310 mph). Any higher results in severe and poor handling, making the heavy armament useless if your quarry turns. Therefore, the Beaufighter is not suited for BnZ, but better for head-on and tail-end combat. If you are caught by any single-engine fighter, try to dive and climb. If that does not work, resort to the turret or turning. The high fire rate of the turret makes it especially effective for pilot sniping if you are accurate enough.

General info

Flight performance

The Beaufighter Mk VIc is very stable because of its large size and 2 engines. It has a considerable amount of speed considering its size, and is rather manoeuvrable if you use the flaps correctly and do not stall. Stalling is a rather large issue in this plane because of its ok climb rate, an enemy fighter will often out turn you and once it's behind you, you can only rely on your gunner.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 5,000 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	516	498	8100	24.8	25.7	7.3	7.3	371
Upgraded	558	536		22.7	23.7	14.4	10.5

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
0	242	440	242	216	~8	~4

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 330	< 390	< 410	> 310

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
1,447 m	1,400 hp	1,568 hp
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
4,310 m	1,300 hp	1,456 hp

Survivability and armour

• 38 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front.
• 25 mm Steel plate in the nose.
• 25 mm Steel plate in the fuselage.
• 1 mm Steel plate behind the engines.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Beaufighter Mk VIc is armed with:

• 4 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.I cannons, chin-mounted (240 rpg = 960 total)

Suspended armament

The Beaufighter Mk VIc can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 1 x 450 mm 18 inch Mark XII torpedo

Defensive armament

The Beaufighter Mk VIc is defended by:

• 1 x 7.7 mm Vickers K machine gun, dorsal turret (1,000 rpg)

Usage in battles

Beaufighter Mk VIc is a heavy fighter with inadequate speed at level flight and poor acceleration. It's big and an easy prey for nimble and fast energy fighters that will likely make passes on it, having only a Vickers K (7.7 mm) as its defensive weaponry with limited field of view from side to side but an excellent view if an enemy engage from high altitude. The Beaufighter has an adequate climb rate for a heavy fighter and can engage bombers with some ease.

It's a heavy fighter that does not lack in firepower, equipped with four 20 mm Hispano Mk.I (20 mm), its only problem is that the cannons are prone to jamming quickly. Without upgraded cannons, the accuracy of the weaponry is inadequate, but they can be used to devastating effect when the shells do connect.

Enemies to be aware of are nimble fighters like Bf 109s and Yak-9s which are nimble and fast fighters to engage the Beaufighter Mk VIc.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Combined	Controllable 2 gears	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Turret 7 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7 mm MGs (turret)	TSC mk.II
III	Wings repair	Engine		Offensive 20 mm
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 20 mm cannons

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 4 x 20 mm cannons can take down any plane in no time (when aimed properly)
• Good turn time for a heavy fighter
• Can take a few hits
• Has a defensive turret

Cons:

• Poor acceleration and top speed in level flight
• Not the best turning and climbing abilities
• Can't carry bombs, only torpedoes
• Only has cannons, so the reload time for all the main guns is 40 seconds
• Cannons also jam quickly unless upgraded
• Cannons are highly inaccurate unless upgraded

History

In-game description

As Britain geared up for war in the late 1930s, it became apparent that the RAF lacked modern fighters, particularly any long range aircraft or night fighters. Bristol had already began work on the Beaufort, itself developed from their earlier Blenheim design, and decided that to develop a long range fighter in as short a time period as possible, it would be quicker to develop an existing design than start a new one. The wings and tail were taken from the Beaufort and, with a new fuselage and two Bristol Hercules engines, the Beaufighter was born.

For use in the maritime theatre, some modifications were designed to patrol coastal areas and escort vessels. The designations of these variants ended with the letter C to indicate that they were used by the Coastal Command. The first modification for Coastal Command appeared in 1940 and had the designation Beaufighter Mk IC; this design included the addition of a maritime radio and navigation equipment. The next model designed for Coastal Command operations was the Mk VIC. After the various interim models had been powered mainly by the Rolls Royce Merlin, the Mk VI returned to the original Bristol Hercules engines. This powerful engine allowed the options of replacing the wing mounted guns with extra fuel tanks for longer range and the addition of bombs or rockets. By the end of 1942, most of the Beaufighter Mk.VICs had been modified to carry torpedoes, and in April 1943 they made their first torpedo attack, sinking two merchant ships off of the Norwegian coast.

A total of 5,928 Beaufighters were built.

Media

The Shooting Range #9 - Metal Beasts section at 06:20 discusses the Bristol Beaufighter.

The Shooting Range #210 - Pages of History section at 04:11 discusses the Beaufighter.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.