Bristol Beaufighter at Air Force Museum

This British Beaufighter is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Dayton, Ohio. According to the display's description, "The British Beaufighter filled the need for an effective night fighter in the US Army Air Forces until an American aircraft could be produced. The Beaufighter had first entered operational service with the Royal Air Force in July 1940 as a day fighter. Equipped with a very early Mk IV airborne intercept radar, the powerful and heavily armed night fighter version entered service just as the Luftwaffe began its Blitz night attacks against London in September 1940. Beaufighter crews accounted for over half of the Luftwaffe bombers shot down during the Blitz. When the USAAF formed its first radar-equipped night fighter squadron in January 1943, the only American night fighter available was the makeshift Douglas P-70, a modified A-20 bomber using the US version of the Mk IV radar... The Museum's aircraft was built under license by the Fairey Aviation Company in Stockport, England and delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1942. It is marked as the USAAF Beaufighter flown by Capt Harold Augspurger, the commander of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron who shot down a He 111 carrying German staff officers in September 1944..."

Видео Bristol Beaufighter at Air Force Museum канала Military History and Aviation