Beaufighter Mk VIc
| This page is about the British strike aircraft Beaufighter Mk VIc. For other versions, see Beaufighter (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Beaufighter Mk VIc is a rank II British strike aircraft 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 | + | - | ||
| 676 | 242 | 354 | 242 | 216 | ~8 | ~4 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 330 | < 390 | < 410 | > 310 |
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.
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
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
- 2 x 250 lb M.C. Mk.I bombs (500 lb total)
- 2 x 500 lb M.C. Mk.I bombs (1,000 lb total)
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
The 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.
The aircraft can also be used to support ground units in combined battles, as it gains access to two 250 or 500 pound bombs. The 500 pound bombs are recommended in all cases, as the 250 pounders only have 51 kg explosive mass, compared to the 128.9 kg in the 500 pound bombs. While this can dispatch armoured targets, it requires the pilot to land the bomb within 4 meters of enemy tanks to even have a chance of destruction. Additionally the Beaufighter Mk VIc has access to fire extinguishers for the engines, which can be extremely helpful in the contested environment found in ground battles. This can help extinguish engine fires which would have normally destroyed the aircraft, allowing pilots to limp back to base on only one engine.
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 |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- 4 x 20 mm cannons are powerful and will usually obliterate most planes with a single burst
- Good turn time for a heavy fighter
- Sturdy airframe; can take a few hits
Cons:
- Poor acceleration and top speed in level flight
- Mediocre turn and climb rates
- Cannons jam quickly and are inaccurate when stock
- The one defensive machine gun turret is very weak and will not reliably defend the aircraft
History
| Archive of the 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
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Related development
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
-
Bf 110 (Family) -
Ki-45 (Family) -
Potez 630 (Family) - Bréguet 693 AB.2
-
Blenheim Mk IV -
Fokker G.IA -
Yak-2 KABB
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| Bristol Aeroplane Company | |
|---|---|
| Strike Aircraft | Beaufighter Mk I (40-mm) · Beaufighter Mk VIc · Beaufighter Mk X · Beaufighter Mk 21* |
| Bombers | Blenheim Mk IV · Beaufort Mk VIII* · Brigand B 1 |
| * License-produced in Australia by Department of Aircraft Production. | |
| Britain strike aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Blackburn | Firebrand TF Mk IV · Firecrest |
| Bristol | Beaufighter Mk I (40-mm) · Beaufighter Mk VIc · Beaufighter Mk X · Beaufighter Mk 21 |
| CAC | ▄Wirraway |
| Fairey | Firefly F Mk I · Firefly FR Mk V |
| de Havilland | Mosquito FB Mk VI · Mosquito FB Mk XVIII |
| Hawker | Hurricane Mk IV · Tempest Mk V (Vickers P) |
| Westland | Wyvern S4 |
