USAAF Beaufighter MkVIf

[MikeMaben]

Looks very nice Pete 

[Woody V]

If there was a contest for the most beautiful ugly thing to fight in WWII, the Beaufighter would get my vote.
or...

... things I post because "following" is so twentieth century.

 

[Gerhard]

Brilliant, just brilliant work. 

[Troy Molitor]

We're all enjoying this classic kit getting the royal treatment.  Thanks for sharing this build with us.  

[dennismcc]

This is definately "modelling but not how we know it" for me, superb.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Out2gtcha]

All KINDS of nice me boiyo! 

 

I dont think I would have ever dreamed of starting the old Lodela Beau without the MM stuff.

Looking forward to more of this. Ill be looking back on this as a guide when I start mine.

[JayW]

16 hours ago, Pete Fleischmann said:

I can’t imagine how friggin’ loud it must have been for the observer when all four of these cannons we’re cycling

 

Oh but I'll bet it was a sweet sound albeit loud!   Keep those updates coming Pete - not only is this build done very well, but it is uber-interesting.  I don't know much about the Beaufighter; would like to know more.  

[Pete Fleischmann]

Just now, JayW said:

 

Oh but I'll bet it was a sweet sound albeit loud!  

Hey Jay-

no doubt-

my most favorite F-16 sound was the magnificent M-61A1 cannon firing over my left shoulder..partly hydro-mechanical and partly explosive, a little electronic and all sort of gun. There was also a distinct “thunk” that reverberated in the airframe the instant the gun turned on and spun up to speed.

It was a magical time in my life.

 

cheers

Pete

[Pete Fleischmann]

22 minutes ago, Out2gtcha said:

All KINDS of nice me boiyo! 

 

I dont think I would have ever dreamed of starting the old Lodela Beau without the MM stuff.

Looking forward to more of this. Ill be looking back on this as a guide when I start mine.

Thanks Brian!

funnily, I have 3 Beaufighter kits- the Lodella, one molded in grey, and one molded in tan. The best fitting one is the grey molding version.

looking forward to yours as well!

 

hopefully Ali will get us some clear parts and engines with nacelles-

 

cheers

P

Edited January 20, 2023 by Pete Fleischmann

[Pete Fleischmann]

9 hours ago, Woody V said:

If there was a contest for the most beautiful ugly thing to fight in WWII, the Beaufighter would get my vote.
or...

... things I post because "following" is so twentieth century.

 

Gotta agree my friend. I’d love to fly one someday. I bet it was a handful on one engine-

P

[JayW]

2 hours ago, Pete Fleischmann said:

my most favorite F-16 sound was the magnificent M-61A1 cannon firing over my left shoulder..

 

You mean one of these?  

 

 

Good god man - say hello to my little friend!  Woooooot!

[Pete Fleischmann]

3 minutes ago, JayW said:

 

You mean one of these?  

 

 

Good god man - say hello to my little friend!  Woooooot!

Mmmmm….that’s the one.

with the aerodynamic PGU-28 round, the gun had a tactical effective range of about a mile. I could literally gun someone at 6000ft range.

magnificent.

 

P

[JayW]

1 hour ago, Pete Fleischmann said:

I could literally gun someone at 6000ft range.

magnificent.

 

This is also the stated effective range of the ma deuce.  That sound right?  And yes that is magnificent.  

 

Doing some math, the stated rate of fire for a M61A1 Vulcan autocannon is 6000 rounds per minute.  Or, 100 rounds per second.  Or, if you will, 100/6 = 16.7 rounds per second per barrel.  Six m2 machine guns (the aircraft type) had a rate of fire of 6 x 800 rounds per minute = 4800.  You would see that on most American pursuit aircraft in WW2.  The P-47 had eight guns, so its rate of fire would be 8 x 88 = 6400 rounds per minute.  So your F-16 had about the same rate of fire as the P-47, only with 20 mm rounds (.78 inch diameter) compared with .50 inch diameter for the M2.  And much heavier slugs perhaps .78/.50 to the third power = 3.8 times heavier.  Really???  

 

Muzzle velocity of the Vulcan is 3380 ft/sec.  Muzzle velocity of the AN/M2 is 2840 ft/sec.  Hopefully comparing apples to apples here.  So the energy of a Vulcan 20 mm round is about 3.8 times 3380/2840 = 4.5 times that of a .50 caliber round from the M2.  Or so.  Yikes.  That is some kind of fire power.  

 

I have read that when a P-47 lets loose with all eight of its M2 guns, it noticeably slows the aircraft down.  I wonder Pete, when you fired the Vulcan, did you notice a decline in speed?   The numbers suggest the rearward force is about 4.5 times what the P-47 felt....  BTW, I'd love to see the support bracketry for that F-16-mounted Vulcan.  Had to be very beefy.

 

Anyway, to get back on topic - what cannons were carried by the Beaufighter (the type you are building), and how many? 

 

And speaking of Beaufighters, the "Operation Squabble" raid on occupied Paris by a single Beaufighter on June 12 1942.  Pretty daring, and distinctly British.  Some cannon fire here too. 

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2023 by JayW

[Pete Fleischmann]

Hi Jay-

no noticeable decrease in speed. Because the F-16 gun is mounted off of the jets longitudinal axis, the rudder would deflect to counter the yawning motion when the gun was turned on.

when comparing destructive force between the 20mm cannon and a .50 cal shell, remember that what makes a cannon a “cannon” is the fact that it shoots explosive shells. It only takes a couple impacts to destroy a target.

 

Most versions of the Beau had 4 Hispano Mk II cannons in the fuselage and six .303 machine guns in the wings.

four on the right and two on the left (think that is correct…L vs R)

 

P

 

[chuck540z3]

1 hour ago, JayW said:

 

This is also the stated effective range of the ma deuce.  That sound right?  And yes that is magnificent.  

 

Doing some math, the stated rate of fire for a M61A1 Vulcan autocannon is 6000 rounds per minute.  Or, 100 rounds per second.  Or, if you will, 100/6 = 16.7 rounds per second per barrel.  Six m2 machine guns (the aircraft type) had a rate of fire of 6 x 800 rounds per minute = 4800.  You would see that on most American pursuit aircraft in WW2.  The P-47 had eight guns, so its rate of fire would be 8 x 88 = 6400 rounds per minute.  So your F-16 had about the same rate of fire as the P-47, only with 20 mm rounds (.78 inch diameter) compared with .50 inch diameter for the M2.  And much heavier slugs perhaps .78/.50 to the third power = 3.8 times heavier.  Really???  

 

Muzzle velocity of the Vulcan is 3380 ft/sec.  Muzzle velocity of the AN/M2 is 2840 ft/sec.  Hopefully comparing apples to apples here.  So the energy of a Vulcan 20 mm round is about 3.8 times 3380/2840 = 4.5 times that of a .50 caliber round from the M2.  Or so.  Yikes.  That is some kind of fire power.  

 

I have read that when a P-47 lets loose with all eight of its M2 guns, it noticeably slows the aircraft down.  I wonder Pete, when you fired the Vulcan, did you notice a decline in speed?   The numbers suggest the rearward force is about 4.5 times what the P-47 felt....  BTW, I'd love to see the support bracketry for that F-16-mounted Vulcan.  Had to be very beefy.

 

Anyway, to get back on topic - what cannons were carried by the Beaufighter (the type you are building), and how many? 

 

And speaking of Beaufighters, the "Operation Squabble" raid on occupied Paris by a single Beaufighter on June 12 1942.  Pretty daring, and distinctly British.  Some cannon fire here too. 

 

 

 

 

So cool Jay- and I've never heard of that mission before which is surprising, since I have watched just about every documentary on WWII ever made.

 

Splendid work continues on that cockpit Pete.  You are very talented.

 

Cheers,

Chuck