The Bristol Beaufighter is a British heavy, twin-engined night fighter, attack aircraft and torpedo plane, with a full metal, half-shell structure. It flew for the first time on June 17, 1939, and its serial production started in the same year. During the war, many versions of the Beaufighter were created, including Mk.I, Mk.II, TF Mk.X or TF Mk.XI. The Mk.I version was the first to function as a night fighter and was equipped with the AI Mk. IV. It also had strong armament: 4 20mm cannons and 6 7.7mm MGs. Mk..X version. was the last to be produced in large numbers and combined the advantages of a fighter plane with the strike force of a torpedo bomber. This version was powered by Bristol Hercules XVII engines with a capacity of 1770HP. Bristol Beaufighter planes served a total of 53 squadrons of the RAF, 15 squadrons of the Royal Navy and the Polish 307 Squadron of Lwowskie Puchacze. All versions and models of this plane were not easy to pilot and suffered badly from spinning and problems caused by the failure of one engine. In addition, the Bristol Beaufighter had a very weak rudder which resulted in poor directional stability. Mainly for these reasons, from 1943 they were successively replaced on the front lines by the DeHavilland Mosquito. Technical data: Maximum speed: 512 km / h, speed of climb: 8.17 m / s, maximum ceiling 5800 m, maximum range: 2816 km, armament (hunting version): fixed - 4 20mm Hispano cannons and 6 rifles machine gun caliber 7.7 mm, suspended-up to 906 kg of bombs.The Gloster Gladiator is a British semi-metal biplane fighter from the beginning of World War II. A prototype flight took place in 1934, and the planes entered the line in 1937. The drive, depending on the version, was the Bristol Merkury Mk IX (Gladiator Mk.I) or Bristol Mercury Mk VIIIA (Gladiator Mk.II and Sea Gladiator) engines. A total of 747 Gloster Gladiator cars were made. During World War II, this type of aircraft fought over the skies of Norway (Squadron 263), France (Squadrons 607 and 615) and in North Africa and the Middle East (Squadrons 33, 80, 94 and 112). Interestingly, only one squadron equipped with Gladiator fighters (247th) fought in the Battle of Britain in 1940. The plane was most famous for the heroic defense of Malta in June 1940 against the overwhelming Italian forces. Despite the high-quality construction and its durability, after 1940, the Gladiator was sent to training and meteorological units. The Gloster Gladiator plane was used until 1953, the last one to be withdrawn by the Portuguese air force. Technical data (Mk.I version): length: 8.36 m, wingspan: 9.83 m, height: 3.58 m, maximum speed: 407 km / h, rate of climb: 11.7 m / s, maximum range: 708 km, ceiling maximum 1000m, armament: fixed-4 Vickers 7.7mm machine guns.
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