Bristol Beaufighter TF Mk X (RD253) [@ RAF Hendon]
In October 1938, the Bristol Aeroplane Company submitted a proposal for a twin engined night fighter, heavily armed and equipped with AI radar, to the RAF Air Staff. Specification F.17139 was written around the proposal and an order placed for 300 Beaufighters, as the aircraft would be named. The first of four Beaufighter prototypes (R2052) flew for the first time on 17th July 1939, powered by two Bristol Hercules I-SM engines (forerunners of the Hercules III). By mid-1940 Bristol had received a second contract, for 918 Beaufighters.
Bristol Beaufighter TF Mk X (RD253) [@ RAF Hendon]
Two variants were now to be produced, the Mk I with Hercules III engines and the Mk II with Rolls-Royce Merlins, the Hercules being in short supply. Delays in the production of AI Mk IV radar equipment prevented the full complement of five Beaufighter squadrons from becoming operational until the spring of 1941, but despite early teething troubles those that were operational enjoyed some success. The first AI-assisted Beaufighter kill was claimed on the night of 19/20th November 1940, when Flt Lt John Cunningham [“Cats Eyes” Cunningham] and Sgt Phillipson of 604 Squadron were credited with the destruction of a Junkers 88. Thirteen more Beaufighter squadrons were assigned to the night defence of Great Britain in 1941/42 and many of the RAF's night fighter aces scored their early kills while flying the heavy twin engined fighter. Total Mk I production was 914 aircraft, while 450 Mk IIs were built.
Bristol Beaufighter TF Mk X (RD253) [@ RAF Hendon]
The Beaufighter Mk IC, 300 of which were produced, was a long-range strike fighter variant for RAF Coastal Command and was also used equally as effectively as a ground attack aircraft in the Western Desert. It was supplanted by the Mk VI (the Mks III, IV and V being experimental aircraft); Mk VIs for Fighter Command was designated Mk VIF (879 aircraft), and those for Coastal Command Mk VIC (693 aircraft). Sixty Mk VIs on the production line were completed as Interim Torpedo Fighters, but two new variants for Coastal Command soon appeared. These were the TF Mk X torpedo bomber and the Mk XIC, which was not equipped to carry torpedoes. Both were fitted with 1770hp Hercules XVII engines and had a dorsal cupola containing a rearward-firing 7.7mm (0.303in) machine gun. Production of the TF Mk X totalled 2205 aircraft, while 163 aircraft were completed to Mk XIC standard. The Beaufighter TF Mk X was also built in Australia as the TF Mk 21 (364 examples), the RAAF using it to good effect in the South-West Pacific.
The TF Mk X was the most important British anti-shipping aircraft from 1944 to the end of the war. The featured aircraft was built in 1944 at the Old Mixon Shadow Factory, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. After fitting out at St. Athan RD253 was delivered to the Fôrças Aéreas du Armada (Portuguese Navy Air Force) by sea, around March 1945. Allocated serial BF-13, it served with Escuadrilha 8 at Portela de Sacavem until 1950. On withdrawal from service, it became an instructional airframe at the Lisbon Technical Institute until 1965. In 1965 the aircraft was bought by the Skyfame collection, then at Staverton. In the end it went to the RAF Museum and restored to static condition, going on display in 1972.
