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167-485: The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152 ) is a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company , and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim light bomber . At least 1,180 Beauforts were built by Bristol and other British manufacturers. Beauforts first saw service with Royal Air Force Coastal Command and then

334-501: A ski-jump on take-off is subjected to loads of 0.5g which also last for much longer than a landing impact. Helicopters may have a deck-lock harpoon to anchor them to the deck. Some aircraft have a requirement to use the landing-gear as a speed brake. Flexible mounting of the stowed main landing-gear bogies on the Tupolev Tu-22 R raised the aircraft flutter speed to 550 kn (1,020 km/h). The bogies oscillated within

501-428: A tripod effect. Some unusual landing gear have been evaluated experimentally. These include: no landing gear (to save weight), made possible by operating from a catapult cradle and flexible landing deck: air cushion (to enable operation over a wide range of ground obstacles and water/snow/ice); tracked (to reduce runway loading). For launch vehicles and spacecraft landers , the landing gear usually only supports

668-414: A "boat" hull/floats and retractable wheels, which allow it to operate from land or water. Beaching gear is detachable wheeled landing gear that allows a non-amphibious floatplane or flying boat to be maneuvered on land. It is used for aircraft maintenance and storage and is either carried in the aircraft or kept at a slipway. Beaching gear may consist of individual detachable wheels or a cradle that supports

835-442: A 10 in (25 cm) thick flexible asphalt pavement . The 210,000 lb (95 t) Boeing 727 -200 with four tires on two legs main landing gears required a 20 in (51 cm) thick pavement. The thickness rose to 25 in (64 cm) for a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 -10 with 443,000 lb (201 t) supported on eight wheels on two legs. The heavier, 558,000 lb (253 t), DC-10-30/40 were able to operate from

1002-474: A 90° angle during the rearwards-retraction sequence to allow the main wheel to rest "flat" above the lower end of the main gear strut, or flush within the wing or engine nacelles, when fully retracted. Examples are the Curtiss P-40 , Vought F4U Corsair , Grumman F6F Hellcat , Messerschmitt Me 210 and Junkers Ju 88 . The Aero Commander family of twin-engined business aircraft also shares this feature on

1169-581: A Court of Enquiry in June 1940 concluded that the Taurus engines were still unreliable and both operational squadrons were grounded until the engines could be modified. The first RAF torpedo attack of the war came on 11 September 1940, when five aircraft of 22 Squadron attacked a convoy of three merchant ships off Ostend (Oostende in Belgium). One torpedo hit a 6,000 long tons (6,100 t) ship. Four days later,

1336-478: A briefing that the Yamato had torpedo blisters to a depth of 22 ft (6.7 m), so he crawled back in the fuselage to reset the torpedo's running depth from the 10 ft (3.0 m) preset for the cruiser to 23 ft (7.0 m). He later explained that he heard no command to do this and doubted whether the other five planes had done so. In their case, their torpedoes would have exploded harmlessly against

1503-586: A diversionary attack on Lae, one failed to return. Production at DAP continued to increase, reaching almost one a day in 1943. The Beaufort served with 19 RAAF squadrons and played an important role in the South West Pacific Area , as a maritime patrol / strike aircraft and bomber. Aviation historian William Green has written that the Beaufort's "part in the defeat of the Japanese forces in

1670-650: A few ship-lengths range of their targets before dropping their torpedoes. At the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in 1942, the Nakajima B5N Kate , despite being in service since 1935, played a key role in sinking USS Hornet , while the new Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers failed to hit a fleet carrier. When the targets were ships able to maneuver at high speed and hence much harder to hit, torpedoes proved less effective, except in cases when

1837-476: A forward and aft position. The forward position was used for take-off to give a longer lever-arm for pitch control and greater nose-up attitude. The aft position was used to reduce landing bounce and reduce risk of tip-back during ground handling. The tandem or bicycle layout is used on the Hawker Siddeley Harrier, which has two main-wheels behind a single nose-wheel under the fuselage and

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2004-585: A higher sink-rate requirement because the aircraft are flown onto the deck with no landing flare . Other features are related to catapult take-off requirements for specific aircraft. For example, the Blackburn Buccaneer was pulled down onto its tail-skid to set the required nose-up attitude. The naval McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in UK service needed an extending nosewheel leg to set the wing attitude at launch. The landing gear for an aircraft using

2171-474: A higher sink-rate requirement if a carrier-type, no-flare landing technique has to be adopted to reduce touchdown scatter. For example, the Saab 37 Viggen , with landing gear designed for a 5m/sec impact, could use a carrier-type landing and HUD to reduce its scatter from 300 m to 100m. The de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou used long-stroke legs to land from a steep approach with no float. A flying boat has

2338-673: A land-based, twin-engined torpedo-bomber and a general reconnaissance aircraft. With a production order following under Specification 10/36, the Bristol Type 152 was given the name Beaufort after the Duke of Beaufort , whose ancestral home was nearby in Gloucestershire . The competing torpedo bomber entry from Blackburn was also ordered as the Blackburn Botha ; in an unprecedented step, both designs were ordered straight off

2505-489: A light aircraft, an emergency extension system is always available. This may be a manually operated crank or pump, or a mechanical free-fall mechanism which disengages the uplocks and allows the landing gear to fall under gravity. Aircraft landing gear includes wheels equipped with solid shock absorbers on light planes, and air/oil oleo struts on larger aircraft. As aircraft weights have increased more wheels have been added and runway thickness has increased to keep within

2672-403: A lower fuselage with the shape of a boat hull giving it buoyancy. Wing-mounted floats or stubby wing-like sponsons are added for stability. Sponsons are attached to the lower sides of the fuselage. A floatplane has two or three streamlined floats. Amphibious floats have retractable wheels for land operation. An amphibious aircraft or amphibian usually has two distinct landing gears, namely

2839-545: A much higher launch speed from a much greater altitude than other types. Only five Kates were lost in the attack. In later months, torpedo bombers were responsible for the sinking of the American aircraft carriers Lexington and Hornet , and damaging Yorktown . During the war, Japanese torpedo bombers (mainly the Nakajima B5N ) played a key role in the fatal crippling of the carriers USS Lexington (scuttled as

3006-537: A nosewheel) chassis. Landing is done on skids or similar simple devices (fixed or retractable). The SNCASE Baroudeur used this arrangement. Historical examples include the "dolly"-using Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket fighter, the Messerschmitt Me 321 Gigant troop glider, and the first eight "trolley"-using prototypes of the Arado Ar 234 jet reconnaissance bomber. The main disadvantage to using

3173-717: A number of changes were introduced into the line. The original curved perspex bomb aimers' nose panels were replaced by flat, non-distorting panels from the 10th production aircraft. Successive Marks of the Bristol Taurus engine were installed: starting with the Taurus III, the more reliable Taurus IIs were used whenever possible. Initially Beauforts with the Taurus II engines were designated Beaufort Mk.II, while those with other Taurus Marks continued to be Beaufort Mk.Is. Finally all Taurus-engined Beauforts became Mk.Is with

3340-415: A reconnaissance aircraft was attacked, during its first sortie, by Japanese fighters, severely damaged and written-off. The RAF decided that the Beaufort lacked sufficient performance and armament to defend itself against late model fighters, and that 100 Squadron's crews lacked sufficient training and experience on the type. As Japanese forces approached Singapore in early 1942, RAF bases there were abandoned;

3507-486: A result of an internal explosion), USS Yorktown (sunk by a Japanese submarine while being towed), and USS Hornet (abandoned and finished off by US and Japanese surface ships). Three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Sir Tom Phillips was returning to Singapore on board the new battleship HMS  Prince of Wales after an unsuccessful attempt to impede Japanese landings in Malaya . His fleet included

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3674-509: A series of piecemeal attacks. However, two torpedoes hit the Bismarck , one of which jammed the rudder leaving the ship without proper directional control. The next day the Bismarck was sunk by British battleships and cruisers. In the early hours of 13 June 1941, two Beauforts found the German cruiser Lützow off Norway. The first was mistaken for a Junkers Ju 88 and was able to torpedo

3841-518: A signal from a Blenheim of 114 Squadron confirmed the position of the ships but most of the Beauforts failed to find them. One 42 Squadron aircraft piloted by Flight Sergeant Ray Loveitt (who had become separated from the main force) took Lützow by surprise. Loveitt did not attack at once but remained in the vicinity, simulating a German escort plane. Copying the recognition signals that other Junkers Ju 88 and Messerschmitt Bf 110 exchanged with

4008-457: A similar arrangement, except that the fore and aft gears each have two twin-wheel units side by side. Quadricycle gear is similar to bicycle but with two sets of wheels displaced laterally in the fore and aft positions. Raymer classifies the B-52 gear as quadricycle. The experimental Fairchild XC-120 Packplane had quadricycle gear located in the engine nacelles to allow unrestricted access beneath

4175-604: A single bomb hit on Repulse and a single torpedo hit on Prince of Wales . The torpedo struck where the outer port propeller shaft exited the hull and Prince of Wales took on 2,400 t (2,400 long tons; 2,600 short tons) of water through a ruptured stern gland. The battleship listed 12 degrees to port preventing the starboard side 5.25 inch anti-aircraft guns from depressing low enough to deter more torpedo bombers. A second squadron, this time of Mitsubishi G4M Betty torpedo bombers, now attacked both ships. Repulse had dodged 19 torpedoes by skillful steering, but now G4Ms attacked

4342-574: A single design to excel at both. While some torpedo fighters were put into production, such as the Fiat G.55S and Blackburn Firebrand , they seldom launched torpedoes at enemy ships. From 1946, the US Navy officially discarded its separate designations for dive and torpedo bombers, and introduced a single "Attack" designation, similar to that already used by the USAAF. Conversely, the naval air services of

4509-520: A smaller wheel near the tip of each wing. On second generation Harriers, the wing is extended past the outrigger wheels to allow greater wing-mounted munition loads to be carried, or to permit wing-tip extensions to be bolted on for ferry flights. A tandem layout was evaluated by Martin using a specially-modified Martin B-26 Marauder (the XB-26H) to evaluate its use on Martin's first jet bomber,

4676-401: A steep banking turn during the escape to avoid rising ground surrounding the harbour. In spite of these dangers 22 Squadron , based at RAF St Eval , was ordered to make a torpedo attack, timed to take place just after dawn on 6 April 1941. It was planned to attack the torpedo nets thought to be protecting the ship, using three Beauforts armed with bombs; another three Beauforts would then attack

4843-564: A torpedo bomber was that it had to fly a long, straight course at a constant altitude of 30 m (98 ft) toward the target ship before launching its torpedo. Torpedoes were very complicated weapons and were prone to damage when landing on water, especially on a wave; they were ideally aimed at the bottom of a wave, but this was difficult to achieve in practice. During a torpedo run, the attacking aircraft were easy targets for defending combat air patrol fighters. Furthermore, torpedo planes were also highly vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire. In

5010-736: A torpedo-carrier and from 1943 a number of Middle East-based squadrons replaced the Beaufort with the so-called "torbeau" (Beaufighter TF Mk X). The last RAF aircraft was retired in 1946 Data from Beaufort Special, Jane's Fighting aircraft of World War II General characteristics Performance Torpedo bomber Torpedo bombers first appeared immediately prior to the First World War. Generally, they carried torpedoes specifically designed for air launch, which were smaller and lighter than those used by submarines and surface warships. Nonetheless, as an airborne torpedo could weigh as much as 2,000 pounds (910 kg), more than twice

5177-557: A tricycle undercarriage to prevent damage to the underside of the fuselage if over-rotation occurs on take-off leading to a tail strike . Aircraft with tail-strike protection include the B-29 Superfortress , Boeing 727 trijet and Concorde . Some aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear have a fixed tailwheel. Hoerner estimated the drag of the Bf 109 fixed tailwheel and compared it with that of other protrusions such as

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5344-725: A year after that. Even before the outbreak of the Second World War, the Royal Navy had studied the threat in the Mediterranean posed by the Italian fleet , which had its advance base in the new port of Taranto in the "heel" of Italy. Captain Lumley Lyster of the aircraft carrier HMS  Glorious proposed that his Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers could launch a night attack against Taranto. At that time,

5511-412: Is also unique in that all four pairs of main wheels can be steered. This allows the landing gear to line up with the runway and thus makes crosswind landings easier (using a technique called crab landing ). Since tandem aircraft cannot rotate for takeoff, the forward gear must be long enough to give the wings the correct angle of attack during takeoff. During landing, the forward gear must not touch

5678-465: Is required to reduce the impact with the surface of the water. A vee bottom parts the water and chines deflect the spray to prevent it damaging vulnerable parts of the aircraft. Additional spray control may be needed using spray strips or inverted gutters. A step is added to the hull, just behind the center of gravity, to stop water clinging to the afterbody so the aircraft can accelerate to flying speed. The step allows air, known as ventilation air, to break

5845-405: Is the most common, with skis or floats needed to operate from snow/ice/water and skids for vertical operation on land. Retractable undercarriages fold away during flight, which reduces drag , allowing for faster airspeeds . Landing gear must be strong enough to support the aircraft and its design affects the weight, balance and performance. It often comprises three wheels, or wheel-sets, giving

6012-578: Is used for taxiing , takeoff or landing . For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called alighting gear by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin Company . For aircraft, Stinton makes the terminology distinction undercarriage (British) = landing gear (US) . For aircraft, the landing gear supports the craft when it is not flying, allowing it to take off, land, and taxi without damage. Wheeled landing gear

6179-484: The Gneisenau had to move out of dry-dock because of an un-exploded bomb. Photo reconnaissance revealed that the ship was in the inner harbour. An estimated 1,000 flak guns of all calibres protected the base and adding complication to the danger was the realisation that Gneisenau was only about 500 yd (460 m) from a harbour mole , requiring extremely accurate torpedo drops. The aircraft would be forced into

6346-572: The Regia Marina , which had sailed from Taranto . Few of the Beaufort crews had experience in night-flying: four aircraft failed to find the rendezvous and set out independently. One, flown by Flying Officer Arthur Aldridge discovered the Italian Fleet some 200 mi (320 km) to the east of Malta. Like Loviett's attack on Lūtzow , his Beaufort was mistaken for a friendly aircraft by Italian lookouts. Aldridge torpedoed and crippled

6513-542: The Aichi B7A Ryusei , Curtiss SB2C Helldiver and Fairey Barracuda , or; land-based twin-engined light bombers / attack aircraft , such as the Bristol Beaufighter , Douglas A-20C (Boston IIIA), Junkers Ju 88 , and Tupolev Tu-2 . As the war progressed, single-seat designs also emerged – omitting the roles of gunner, bombardier/bomb-aimer and/or observer. This configuration was favoured by

6680-1018: The B-25 Mitchell and many others. Some postwar jet aircraft (such as the Ilyushin Il-28T ) were adapted as torpedo bombers in the late 1940s and 1950s. The last known torpedo bomber attack was made by US Navy Skyraiders against the Hwacheon Dam during the Korean War . The North Korean Air Force finally retired the world's last operational torpedo bombers in the 1980s. In a parallel development, many maritime strike aircraft and helicopters have been capable of launching guided torpedoes; however, they are not generally referred to as torpedo bombers because of their vastly greater detection and tracking capabilities, although they remain just as capable of making attacks on surface ships as against submarines. Many naval staffs began to appreciate

6847-483: The Battle of Jutland in 1916 but when the war ended only 90 Cuckoos had been completed. The Vickers Vimy twin-engine heavy bomber was designed to bomb German cities in retribution for German air attacks on England. It reached squadrons in France too late to play a role in the First World War. Had the war continued, it would have been deployed as a torpedo bomber. Of the major maritime nations, only Britain, Japan and

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7014-705: The Beriev A-40 Hydro flaps were used on the Martin Marlin and Martin SeaMaster . Hydroflaps, submerged at the rear of the afterbody, act as a speed brake or differentially as a rudder. A fixed fin, known as a skeg , has been used for directional stability. A skeg, was added to the second step on the Kawanishi H8K flying boat hull. High speed impacts in rough water between the hull and wave flanks may be reduced using hydro-skis which hold

7181-478: The Distinguished Flying Medal . The other two crew members were Sgts R. W. Hillman and W. Mallis; all were lost. On the night of 12/13 June 1941, 13 Beauforts of 42 Squadron, based at RAF Leuchars and a detachment of five Beauforts of 22 Squadron from Wick, were sent out to find the heavy cruiser Lützow and an escort of four destroyers , which had been sighted near Norway. At midnight,

7348-630: The Japanese aircraft carrier Shōhō in the Battle of the Coral Sea , but failed to sink the aircraft carrier Shōkaku the next day. At the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942, 41 Devastators launched from three American carriers failed to score a single torpedo hit, and only six aircraft returned, as the rest fell to the Mitsubishi A6M Zero combat air patrols and ships' anti-aircraft fire. The attacks had been poorly coordinated, but

7515-587: The Lützow without return fire, putting her out of action for six months. The second was shot down by defending Messerschmitt Bf 109s . In the attack on Pearl Harbor , Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto 's fleet of six carriers launched 40 Nakajima B5N 2 Kate torpedo bombers on Sunday, 7 December 1941. The Japanese struck the United States Pacific Fleet when it was moored in harbour. The torpedo bombers coordinated their attacks with dive bombers;

7682-561: The Martin Marlin , the Martin M-270, was tested with a new hull with a greater length/beam ratio of 15 obtained by adding 6 feet to both the nose and tail. Rough-sea capability can be improved with lower take-off and landing speeds because impacts with waves are reduced. The Shin Meiwa US-1A is a STOL amphibian with blown flaps and all control surfaces. The ability to land and take-off at relatively low speeds of about 45 knots and

7849-702: The Martin XB-48 . This configuration proved so manoeuvrable that it was also selected for the B-47 Stratojet . It was also used on the U-2, Myasishchev M-4 , Yakovlev Yak-25 , Yak-28 and Sud Aviation Vautour . A variation of the multi tandem layout is also used on the B-52 Stratofortress which has four main wheel bogies (two forward and two aft) underneath the fuselage and a small outrigger wheel supporting each wing-tip. The B-52's landing gear

8016-840: The Mitsubishi G3M Nell and Mitsubishi G4M Betty being used in the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse . Other twin-engine or three-engined aircraft designed or used as torpedo bombers include the Mitsubishi Ki-67 , the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 "Sparviero", the CANT Z.1007 , the Bristol Beaufort and Bristol Beaufighter ("Torbeau"), the Junkers Ju 88 , the Heinkel He 111 ,

8183-778: The Royal Naval Air Service in April 1912 and took flying lessons to foster aviation development. Churchill ordered the RNAS to design reconnaissance spotters and torpedo bombers for the Fleet. The British Admiralty ordered the Short Admiralty Type 81 biplane floatplane as a reconnaissance aircraft. It first flew in July 1913 and was loaded aboard the cruiser HMS  Hermes , which had been converted to become

8350-721: The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm from 1940. They were used as torpedo bombers, conventional bombers and mine-layers until 1942, when they were removed from active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared obsolete in 1945. Beauforts also saw considerable action in the Mediterranean ; Beaufort squadrons based in Egypt and on Malta helped interdict Axis shipping supplying Rommel 's Deutsches Afrikakorps in North Africa . Although it

8517-652: The Royal Navy 's first seaplane tender . When the rival Sopwith Special , designed from the outset as a torpedo bomber, failed to lift its payload off the water, Shorts converted the Type 81 to carry torpedoes in July 1914, just before the outbreak of the First World War. On 28 July 1914, Arthur Longmore dropped the first aerial torpedo, a 14-inch 810 lb torpedo, from a Type 81 at the Royal Naval Air Station Calshot. The support wires of

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8684-526: The 1930s, the Imperial Japanese Navy developed the best way for torpedo bombers to achieve a hit. They used an "anvil attack", in which two groups of torpedo planes approached the target ship's bow from behind at an angle of about 45 degrees, one on each side of the ship. The torpedoes were to be launched at the same distance from the ship; this would have ensured a hit no matter where the ship tried to maneuver. In practice, this kind of attack

8851-526: The 5 in (130 mm) "Holy Moses" High Velocity Aircraft Rocket, with a 24 lb (11 kg) warhead for the US Navy. It was rushed to Europe for use on D-Day and later used by Navy aircraft in the Pacific. By the beginning of the Second World War, aircraft technology had increased to the extent that specialised torpedo bombers were no longer necessary. Multi-role designs were often adapted from either: single-engined, carrier-based dive-bombers like

9018-644: The Beaufighter. Although it did see some use as a torpedo bomber, including attacks on the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau while in port in Brest , the Beaufort more often used bombs in European service. In early 1940, 22 Squadron equipped with Vildebeests , began to receive Beauforts. The Beaufort was a much faster, heavier aircraft than the biplane and the crews needed a great deal of training in torpedo-dropping, using new techniques required by

9185-682: The Beaufighter. The Australian government's Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) also manufactured variants of the Beaufort. These are often known collectively as the DAP Beaufort . More than 700 Australian-built Beauforts saw service with the Royal Australian Air Force in the South West Pacific theatre , where they were used until the end of the war. The Beaufort came from Bristol's submission to meet Air Ministry Specifications M.I5/35 and G.24/35 for

9352-454: The Beaufighters, a development of the Beaufort fitted with four 20mm cannon, shot up the anti-aircraft gunners. This was intended to give the Beauforts a clear torpedo run. However, none of the 28 Beauforts achieved a hit, and three aircraft were lost. The United States Navy's standard torpedo bomber in 1942 was the Douglas TBD Devastator , first flown in 1935 and embarked on carriers of the Pacific Fleet in 1937. On 7 May 1942, Devastators sank

9519-590: The Beaufort's actions were attacks on warships of the German Kriegsmarine . The first attack was on 21 June 1940, when nine Beauforts of 42 Squadron attacked the Scharnhorst off the Norwegian coast. No torpedoes were available at RAF Wick and a dive bombing attack was carried out using two 500 lb (230 kg) bombs. The Beauforts encountered Messerschmitt Bf 109s protecting the battleship and only four returned; shortly after, Beauforts were grounded for modifications to their Taurus engines. In early April 1941, after an air raid on Brest by Bomber Command ,

9686-412: The Beaufort, 86 Squadron and 217 Squadron , were operational by the middle of 1941. Beauforts also equipped some Commonwealth Article XV squadrons serving within the RAF but because of supply shortages, were replaced by other aircraft types before the units flew operationally. A successful torpedo drop required that the approach run to the target needed to be straight and at a speed and height where

9853-423: The Beaufort. The lighter, slower Vildebeest was able to dive then flatten out before launching the torpedo; Beauforts carried too much speed after diving so it needed a longer, level approach to the torpedo drop. Because of this, and because of a shortage of torpedoes, the squadron's first operations consisted of laying magnetic mines ("Gardening" in RAF parlance) and dropping conventional bombs. As an alternative to

10020-458: The Beauforts started their attack. Three Beauforts were shot down by defensive fire from the ships before they could launch their torpedoes and the nine torpedoes that were launched failed to hit the target. One Beaufort, already damaged by anti-aircraft fire, was then attacked by three Bf 109s: in spite of further heavy damage, the pilot made a successful crash-landing back at base. In the meantime, another strike force of 15 Beauforts from 86 Squadron

10187-428: The Blenheim, introduced refinements such as the use of high-strength light alloy forgings and extrusions in place of high-tensile steel plates and angles; as a result the structure was lighter than that of the Blenheim. The wing centre section was inserted into the centre fuselage and the nacelle structure was an integral part of the ribs, to which the main undercarriage was attached. Transport joints were used on

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10354-411: The Devastator sorties were credited with pulling the defending A6M Zeros out of position, as well as preventing the Japanese carriers from launching their aircraft, so three of the four carriers were caught with their hangar decks full of fueled and armed planes when the American dive bombers struck by surprise. Nonetheless, the Devastator was immediately withdrawn from front-line service. The successor to

10521-401: The Devastator, the Grumman TBF Avenger , arrived too late at Pearl Harbor to be loaded onto carriers for the Battle of Midway. However, six were flown from Midway Island . They fared no better, with five lost without a single hit. Avengers became more successful as tactics improved and crews became more skilled. On 24 August 1942, 24 Avengers sank the light carrier Ryūjō at the Battle of

10688-456: The Eastern Solomons . At Guadalcanal , Avengers from the Navy and Marine Corps helped to finish off the battleship Hiei , which had lost steering after being damaged the prior night. Beauforts also had more success when they moved to Malta to attack Italian warships and transport. Flying Officer Arthur Aldridge discovered a convoy guarded by the heavy cruiser Trento early on 14 June 1942 some 200 miles (320 km) east of Malta. As in

10855-435: The First World War battlecruiser HMS  Repulse and should also have had the new aircraft carrier HMS  Indomitable with a squadron of Sea Hurricanes . But the carrier was delayed for repairs after running aground in the harbour at Kingston, Jamaica . Eight Mitsubishi G3M Nell twin-engine level bombers and 17 Nell torpedo bombers found the two capital ships without air cover in broad daylight. They scored just

11022-411: The German ships, Loveitt was able to attack without a defensive shot being fired, Loviett's torpedo hit her on the port side. The ship took on a heavy list and lost all speed. The hit also activated her smokescreen generator and one other Beaufort attacking Lūtzow missed because of the smokescreen. The plane was then shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 ; Lützow was under repair for six months. During

11189-417: The German ships. Of the 33 Beauforts, 28 eventually set out to attack the German ships: 13 failed to find them, three were shot down and on one the torpedo failed to release. Only 11 Beauforts sighted the battleships and launched torpedoes, none of which struck a target. One of the conclusions reached by a later Court of Inquiry was that a faster, longer-ranged torpedo bomber than the Beaufort was needed. Bristol

11356-434: The Mk VI on. Armament varied from British aircraft: British or American torpedoes were able to be carried and the final 140 Mk VIII were fitted with a locally manufactured Mk VE turret with .50 cal machine guns. A distinctive diamond-shaped DF aerial was fitted on the cabin roof, replacing the loop antenna. Other Australian improvements included fully enclosed landing gear and Browning M2 .5 in (13 mm) machine guns in

11523-415: The Perseus, the Beaufort would be slower than the Blenheim and so a switch was made to the larger Bristol Taurus engine, another sleeve valve design. For these engines, chief designer Roy Fedden developed special low-drag NACA cowlings , which exhausted air through vertical slots flanking the nacelles under the wings. Air flow was controlled by adjustable flaps. The basic structure, although similar to

11690-439: The Royal Navy was the only force in the world with this capability. The Swordfish, a three-seat biplane, looked outmoded, but its low stall speed made it an ideal platform for launching torpedoes into the shallow waters of Taranto. The torpedoes were adapted with wire cables attached to their nose and wooden fins at their tail to slow their fall and make a shallow impact with the water, which was only 39 ft (12 m) deep. On

11857-421: The South-West Pacific was probably of greater importance than that of any other single aircraft type." In the Battle of the Bismarck Sea , on 3 March 1943, eight Beauforts from No. 100 Squadron RAAF took off from the Milne Bay to attack the Japanese troop convoy with torpedoes although no hits were scored. Later in the battle, 13 Beaufighters from No. 30 Squadron RAAF approached the convoy at low level to give

12024-518: The Taurus engines continually overheating during ground testing. New, more conventional engine cowlings, with circumferential cooling gills, had to be designed and installed, delaying the first flight, which took place on 15 October 1938. As flight testing progressed, it was found that the large apron-type undercarriage doors, similar to those on the Blenheim, were causing the aircraft to yaw on landing. These doors were taken off for subsequent flights. On

12191-548: The UK and other Commonwealth countries, persisted with specialised torpedo bombers such as the Grumman Avenger until the early 1960s. While the importance of air-launched torpedoes declined, relative to anti-ship missiles , during the Cold War and subsequently, they were retained by many air services and are now generally delivered by anti-submarine warfare and maritime patrol aircraft . One crucial limitation of

12358-512: The US Navy, in particular, and included the Martin AM Mauler and Douglas A-1 Skyraider , both of which could carry up to three torpedoes. Another concept, the torpedo fighter , also known as the strike fighter, was intended to also have air superiority capabilities – when it was not carrying or had dropped its torpedo. However, the radically differing requirements of these two roles created design constraints that made it difficult for

12525-530: The United States developed carrier-borne torpedo bombers after hostilities ceased in Europe. Initially, Japan purchased both ships and aircraft from Britain, as the Imperial Japanese Navy modelled itself on the Royal Navy. Of the three, only Britain and Japan also perceived a need for land-based torpedo bombers, though a number would be developed by other countries. Bordered by oceans against any possible foe,

12692-551: The United States ignored landplane torpedo bomber development. The first landplane specifically designed as a torpedo bomber was the Hawker Horsley . By the mid 1930s, the torpedo bombers that would start the Second World War were being deployed. The Fairey Swordfish flew first in 1934, the Douglas TBD Devastator and Mitsubishi G3M (Nell) in 1935 and the Nakajima B5N (Kate) and Bristol Beaufort

12859-416: The aircraft can be landed in a satisfactory manner in a range of failure scenarios. The Boeing 747 was given four separate and independent hydraulic systems (when previous airliners had two) and four main landing gear posts (when previous airliners had two). Safe landing would be possible if two main gear legs were torn off provided they were on opposite sides of the fuselage. In the case of power failure in

13026-414: The aircraft cost, but 20% of the airframe direct maintenance cost. A suitably-designed wheel can support 30 t (66,000 lb), tolerate a ground speed of 300 km/h and roll a distance of 500,000 km (310,000 mi) ; it has a 20,000 hours time between overhaul and a 60,000 hours or 20 year life time. Wheeled undercarriages normally come in two types: The taildragger arrangement

13193-564: The aircraft's performance proved inadequate. Admiral Bradley A. Fiske of the United States Navy took out a patent in 1912 for a torpedo carrying aircraft entitled "Method of and apparatus for delivering submarine torpedoes from airships ." He suggested that aircraft would attack at night. Winston Churchill , as First Lord of the Admiralty from October 1911 to May 1915, was a strong proponent of naval air power. He established

13360-470: The airstream, it is called a semi-retractable gear. Most retractable gear is hydraulically operated, though some is electrically operated or even manually operated on very light aircraft. The landing gear is stowed in a compartment called a wheel well. Pilots confirming that their landing gear is down and locked refer to "three greens" or "three in the green.", a reference to the electrical indicator lights (or painted panels of mechanical indicator units) from

13527-677: The associated equipment were shipped out to be joined in October 1939, by the eighth production Beaufort L4448 . With the outbreak of war, the possibility that supplies of the Taurus engines could be disrupted or halted was considered, even before the British government placed an embargo on exporting war materials with the Blitzkrieg on France , the Netherlands and Belgium in May 1940. It

13694-621: The attack on Lützow , the Beaufort was mistaken for a Junkers Ju 88, and Aldridge hit Trento with his torpedo; the ship was eventually finished off by the submarine HMS  Umbra  (P35) , which was close by. At the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea , with little or no Japanese air cover opposing them, US carrier aircraft concentrated most of their attacks against Musashi , sinking her with about 19 torpedoes that caused heavy flooding which disabled her engineering (dive bombers also scored around 17 bomb hits), while an aerial torpedo crippled

13861-557: The attacking torpedo aircraft. It also marked the end of Beaufort operations from Britain. The remaining Beaufort squadrons now started moving east: The first Beaufort unit in the Mediterranean was 39 Squadron , which reformed in Egypt in January 1941. Initially equipped with Bristol Blenheims and Martin Marylands , the unit started re-equipping with Beaufort Mk.Is the following August. The first operation in which Beauforts took part

14028-464: The average range of release was 670 yd (610 m). During the run-in, the aircraft was vulnerable to defensive anti-aircraft fire and it took courage to fly through it with no chance of evasive manoeuvres. The Beaufort's optimum torpedo dropping speed was a great deal higher than that of the Vildebeests it replaced, and it took practice to judge the range and speed of the target ship. A ship

14195-571: The blisters. A crewman photographed the explosion, in which debris rose to their altitude of 300 feet (91 m). Possibly a torpedo had hit the fuel storage. The Yamato rolled over and sank, with the loss of 90 percent of the crew. The Yorktown lost ten planes and twelve aircrew. All pilots involved in the attack were awarded the Navy Medal and every crewman the Distinguished Flying Cross . The torpedoes in use during

14362-552: The bomb load of contemporary single-engined bombers, the aircraft carrying it usually needed to be specially designed for the purpose. Many early torpedo bombers were floatplanes , such as the Short 184 (the first aircraft to sink a ship with a torpedo), and the undercarriage had to be redesigned so that the torpedo could be dropped from the aircraft's centerline. While many torpedo bombers were single-engine aircraft, some multi-engined aircraft have also been used as torpedo bombers, with

14529-496: The bow from both sides and scored another hit. At about this point, Repulse radioed for defensive fighters. A squadron of 10 Royal Australian Air Force Brewster Buffalos arrived an hour later to watch Prince of Wales sink. Repulse had already sunk. Each ship had been hit by four torpedoes out of 49 fired. The Japanese lost four aircraft. Neither G3Ms nor G4Ms carried defensive armament, which had been stripped to extend their range. The presence of modern Allied fighters to defend

14696-469: The combined effort sank or damaged all eight of the battleships which they found moored in Pearl Harbor. The Japanese had studied the attack on Taranto and had practiced dropping specially modified Type 91 torpedoes in the shallow waters of Japan's Inland Sea . The Type 91 torpedo was considerably more capable than any others in the world at that time, being very fast and reliable, as well as allowing

14863-407: The crews launching them were especially well trained. Still, even a single torpedo hit on an enemy warship could cripple it decisively, especially in the case of vessels without an armored belt (cruisers and aircraft carriers often had torpedo blisters, but these were not as extensive as those of battleships). Even on heavily armored battleships, there was nothing to protect the rudder and propellers at

15030-559: The defence needs of Australia and Singapore. It was also a step towards expanding the Australian aircraft industry. The Beaufort was chosen as the best General Reconnaissance (G.R.) aircraft available and on 1 July 1939, orders were placed for 180 airframes and spares, with the specially formed Beaufort Division of the Commonwealth Department of Aircraft Production (DAP). The Australian Beauforts were to be built at

15197-477: The defenders were caught by surprise. Torpedo bombers were best used as part of a coordinated attack with other types of aircraft. For instance, during the attack on the battleship Yamato , fighter planes strafed the ship with machine guns to suppress its anti-aircraft gun fire, while dive bombers tried to cause havoc and inflict topside damage, thus leaving the torpedo bombers unmolested in their attack runs, In total she took 12 torpedoes and 8 bombs to destroy

15364-486: The defending troops in the expected Allied seaborne invasion. Her 18.1 inch guns could have created havoc among frail landing craft. Yamato and her sister the Musashi were the largest, most powerful battleships in the world. The squadron led by Lieutenant Tom Stetson found the cruiser, which was the prime target, already sinking, so six planes were detached to attack the Yamato instead. One in which Frederick E. Wicklund

15531-503: The drawing board, an indication of how urgently the RAF needed a new torpedo bomber. 320 Beauforts were ordered. Initially, because of their commitment to the Blenheim, Bristol were to build 78 at their Filton factory, with the other 242 being built by Blackburn. These allocations would be changed later. Although the design looked similar to the Blenheim, it was somewhat larger, with an 18 in (46 cm) increase in wingspan. The fuselage

15698-478: The early 20th century travelled under water at about 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph) – a speed easily matched by destroyers and even fast battleships which could make 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph). Consequently, a skillful captain could often evade torpedoes. For instance, when HMS  Repulse came under attack on 10 December 1941 , she avoided 19 torpedoes, before Japanese aircraft attacked simultaneously from both forward quarters. Caltech developed

15865-410: The entire aircraft. In the former case, the beaching gear is manually attached or detached with the aircraft in the water; in the latter case, the aircraft is maneuvered onto the cradle. Helicopters are able to land on water using floats or a hull and floats. For take-off a step and planing bottom are required to lift from the floating position to planing on the surface. For landing a cleaving action

16032-558: The established DAP plant in Fishermans Bend , Melbourne and a new factory at Mascot, New South Wales ; to speed up the process drawings, jigs and tools and complete parts for six airframes were supplied by Bristol. The bulk of Australian-built Beauforts used locally available materials. One of the decisive factors in choosing the Beaufort was the ability to produce it in sections. Because of this, railway workshops were key subcontractors : Taurus engines, aircraft components and

16199-653: The extremely outdated (1928) Vickers Vildebeests operated by No. 100 Squadron RAF at Singapore. Q Flight, a detachment from 100 Squadron was based in Australia for operational conversion purposes. When Japan entered the war and invaded Malaya on 8 December 1941, about 20 DAP Beauforts had been completed and delivered to Q Flight in Australia. Only six Australian-built Beauforts reached Singapore, just after hostilities began. Over Malaya and Singapore, 100 Squadron continued to operate Vildebeests, suffering severe losses. One Beaufort, attached to Air Headquarters, Singapore as

16366-502: The famous Operation Cerberus , the "Channel Dash" by Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen , which took place from 12 February 1942, three Beaufort units, with 33 serviceable aircraft were available: 22 Squadron was under orders to move to Singapore . 42 Squadron, based at Leuchars in Scotland, was supposed to move to Manston but had been delayed by snow. Only 86 and 217 squadrons were in position to attack

16533-420: The first "Rover" was mounted; a Rover was an armed reconnaissance mission carried out against enemy shipping by a small number of aircraft operating independently. "Rovers" became a major part of Beaufort operations over the next 18 months. Other more hazardous operations were to follow, with one Beaufort pilot being awarded a posthumous VC . The only other UK based units to be equipped and fly operationally with

16700-448: The first Beauforts based at Singapore, the unit was carefully trained and slowly brought up to operational status. Its first operational sorties were carried out on 25 June when a Japanese ship heading towards Lae , New Guinea was attacked by five Beauforts operating from Port Moresby , which resulted in three Beauforts hitting the ship with bombs, with one Beaufort being damaged by anti-aircraft fire. Out of two Beauforts that carried out

16867-771: The first years of World War II , the Australian government found itself unable to procure twin-engine bomber aircraft for home duties in Australia. It was decided that the Australian Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) would build Beauforts under licence, for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). By late 1941, British authorities had also ordered 180 Australian-built Beauforts for the RAF Far East Command , for use in East Asia. In particular, DAP Beauforts were to replace

17034-449: The floats were moved to allow the torpedo to be carried above the water and a specially designed quick-release mechanism was used. The first plane designed from the outset as a torpedo bomber was the five-seat floatplane biplane AD Seaplane Type 1000 or AD1. However, it proved to be a failure. When the prototype built by J. Samuel White from the Isle of Wight first flew in June 1916, it

17201-444: The fuselage and wings: this allowed sub-contractors to manufacture the Beaufort in easily transportable sections and was to be important when Australian production got under way. The Vickers main undercarriage units were similar to but larger than those of the Blenheim and used hydraulic retraction, with a cartridge operated emergency lowering system. The first prototype rolled out of Filton in mid-1938. Problems immediately arose with

17368-418: The fuselage for attaching a large freight container. Helicopters use skids, pontoons or wheels depending on their size and role. To decrease drag in flight, undercarriages retract into the wings and/or fuselage with wheels flush with the surrounding surface, or concealed behind flush-mounted doors; this is called retractable gear. If the wheels do not retract completely but protrude partially exposed to

17535-424: The fuselage lower sides as retractable main gear units on modern designs—were first seen during World War II, on the experimental German Arado Ar 232 cargo aircraft, which used a row of eleven "twinned" fixed wheel sets directly under the fuselage centerline to handle heavier loads while on the ground. Many of today's large cargo aircraft use this arrangement for their retractable main gear setups, usually mounted on

17702-438: The fuselage. The 640 t (1,410,000 lb) Antonov An-225 , the largest cargo aircraft, had 4 wheels on the twin-strut nose gear units like the smaller Antonov An-124 , and 28 main gear wheels. The 97 t (214,000 lb) A321neo has a twin-wheel main gear inflated to 15.7 bar (228 psi), while the 280 t (620,000 lb) A350 -900 has a four-wheel main gear inflated to 17.1 bar (248 psi). STOL aircraft have

17869-461: The heavy cruiser Trento , whose anti-aircraft fire started only after the Beaufort had escaped. The main formation of Beauforts then came in to attack, having been guided in by the gunfire. In the confusion and the smokescreen that had been laid by the Italian warships, 217 Squadron claimed several torpedo hits for the loss of one Beaufort, which belly-landed at Luqa. In spite of the claims, none of

18036-427: The heavy cruiser Myōkō, which was never repaired for the remainder of the war. Action continued in the Pacific, where the last notable torpedo bomber attack took place on 7 April 1945. Avengers from Yorktown were searching between Okinawa and Honshu for the Japanese battleship Yamato , which was escorted by cruisers and destroyers. Her mission was to run aground on Okinawa to provide floating heavy artillery for

18203-603: The hull out of the water at higher speeds. Hydro skis replace the need for a boat hull and only require a plain fuselage which planes at the rear. Alternatively skis with wheels can be used for land-based aircraft which start and end their flight from a beach or floating barge. Hydro-skis with wheels were demonstrated as an all-purpose landing gear conversion of the Fairchild C-123 , known as the Panto-base Stroukoff YC-134 . A seaplane designed from

18370-471: The hydrodynamic features of the hull, long length/beam ratio and inverted spray gutter for example, allow operation in wave heights of 15 feet. The inverted gutters channel spray to the rear of the propeller discs. Low speed maneuvring is necessary between slipways and buoys and take-off and landing areas. Water rudders are used on seaplanes ranging in size from the Republic RC-3 Seabee to

18537-465: The impression they were Beauforts making a torpedo attack. The ships turned to face them, the standard procedure to present a smaller target to torpedo bombers, allowing the Beaufighters to maximise the damage they inflicted on the ships' anti-aircraft guns, bridges and crews in strafing runs with their autocannons and machine guns. In March 1942 a Bristol Beaufighter was successfully tested as

18704-557: The introduction of the Pratt & Whitney Twin-Wasp-powered Beaufort Mk.II. The Taurus Mk.IIs were modified to Mk.IIa, which later became the Taurus Mk.VI. All of these versions produced 860–900 hp (640–670 kW). The final marks of Taurus engines used were the more powerful 1,130 hp (840 kW) XII and XVIs. The Taurus engines drove de Havilland Type DH5/19 constant speed propellers . As Beaufort units entered service, it

18871-402: The landing gear usually consists of skis or a combination of wheels and skis. Some aircraft use wheels for takeoff and jettison them when airborne for improved streamlining without the complexity, weight and space requirements of a retraction mechanism. The wheels are sometimes mounted onto axles that are part of a separate "dolly" (for main wheels only) or "trolley" (for a three-wheel set with

19038-417: The lower corners of the central fuselage structure. The prototype Convair XB-36 had most of its weight on two main wheels, which needed runways at least 22 in (56 cm) thick. Production aircraft used two four-wheel bogies, allowing the aircraft to use any airfield suitable for a B-29. A relatively light Lockheed JetStar business jet, with four wheels supporting 44,000 lb (20 t), needed

19205-504: The main gear struts lengthened as they were extended to give sufficient ground clearance for their large four-bladed propellers. One exception to the need for this complexity in many WW II fighter aircraft was Japan's famous Zero fighter, whose main gear stayed at a perpendicular angle to the centerline of the aircraft when extended, as seen from the side. The main wheels on the Vought F7U Cutlass could move 20 inches between

19372-431: The main gears, which retract aft into the ends of the engine nacelles . The rearward-retracting nosewheel strut on the Heinkel He 219 and the forward-retracting nose gear strut on the later Cessna Skymaster similarly rotated 90 degrees as they retracted. On most World War II single-engined fighter aircraft (and even one German heavy bomber design ) with sideways retracting main gear, the main gear that retracted into

19539-448: The mission failed to rendezvous due to bad weather. Campbell received a posthumous Victoria Cross for launching his solo torpedo attack, which put Gneisenau out of action for six months. At 1900 hours on 26 May 1941, fifteen Fairey Swordfish were launched from the Royal Navy's carrier HMS  Ark Royal to attack the German battleship Bismarck . Their formation was badly disrupted by heavy clouds and driving rain which resulted in

19706-611: The nacelle under the control of dampers and springs as an anti-flutter device. Some experimental aircraft have used gear from existing aircraft to reduce program costs. The Martin-Marietta X-24 lifting body used the nose/main gear from the North American T-39 / Northrop T-38 and the Grumman X-29 from the Northrop F-5 / General Dynamics F-16 . When an airplane needs to land on surfaces covered by snow,

19873-455: The next 11 months, the Beaufort force, now usually accompanied by Beaufighters, was instrumental in crippling the convoy supply lines that were vital to Rommel's Afrika Korps . At night, torpedo-carrying Vickers Wellingtons of 38 Squadron also played an important part in attacking convoys. Some important ships destroyed or badly damaged were: In June 1943, 39 Squadron, the last operational Beaufort unit, converted to Beaufighters. During

20040-582: The night of 11 November 1940, 21 Swordfish left the new aircraft carrier HMS  Illustrious . Some carried bombs and flares, but the main force carried torpedoes. British decoy maneuvers and the Italians' lack of radar allowed the British to surprise the ill-prepared Italian fleet at anchor in Taranto. Three battleships were put out of action, half of the Italian fleet, for the loss of two Swordfish. Two airmen were killed and two others captured. The next day,

20207-444: The nosewheel/tailwheel and the two main gears. Blinking green lights or red lights indicate the gear is in transit and neither up and locked or down and locked. When the gear is fully stowed up with the up-locks secure, the lights often extinguish to follow the dark cockpit philosophy; some airplanes have gear up indicator lights. Redundant systems are used to operate the landing gear and redundant main gear legs may also be provided so

20374-472: The only survivor. VT-8 was followed by Torpedo Squadron 6 (VT-6, from Enterprise ). VT-6 met nearly the same fate, with no hits to show for its effort. Torpedo Squadron 3 (from Yorktown ) then followed the same routine, despite VT-3 having six Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter escorts. The Japanese combat air patrol, flying the much faster Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zeros", made short work of the unescorted, slow, under-armed TBD torpedo bombers. A few TBDs managed to get within

20541-446: The other ships had been hit. Trento was sunk later by two torpedoes fired by the submarine HMS  Umbra , which had witnessed the aerial attack. By July 1942, 86 Squadron Beauforts and crews had arrived on Malta and were soon absorbed into a reconstituted 39 Squadron, which came under the command of the inspirational Squadron Leader Patrick Gibbs , who was soon promoted to Wing Commander ; 217 squadron moved on to Ceylon. Over

20708-722: The outset with hydro-skis was the Convair F2Y Sea Dart prototype fighter. The skis incorporated small wheels, with a third wheel on the fuselage, for ground handling. In the 1950s hydro-skis were envisaged as a ditching aid for large piston-engined aircraft. Water-tank tests done using models of the Lockheed Constellation , Douglas DC-4 and Lockheed Neptune concluded that chances of survival and rescue would be greatly enhanced by preventing critical damage associated with ditching. The landing gear on fixed-wing aircraft that land on aircraft carriers have

20875-556: The pilot's canopy. A third arrangement (known as tandem or bicycle) has the main and nose gear located fore and aft of the center of gravity (CG) under the fuselage with outriggers on the wings. This is used when there is no convenient location on either side of the fuselage to attach the main undercarriage or to store it when retracted. Examples include the Lockheed U-2 spy plane and the Harrier jump jet . The Boeing B-52 uses

21042-569: The possibility of using aircraft to launch torpedoes against moored ships in the period before the First World War. Captain Alessandro Guidoni , an Italian naval captain, experimented with dropping weights from a Farman MF.7 in 1912. which led to Raúl Pateras Pescara and Guidoni developing a purpose-built torpedo bomber from which a 375 lb dummy torpedo was dropped in February 1914 but they abandoned their work shortly afterwards when

21209-498: The pride of the imperial Japanese Navy. Another instance, during the attack on battleship Musashi , fighter planes strafed the ship with machine guns to suppress its anti-aircraft gun fire, while dive bombers caused major topside damage, She holds the distinction of taking 19 torpedoes and 17 bombs before she sank to the bottom of the Sibuyan Sea. However, if the attackers failed to achieve air superiority or surprise, torpedo bombers suffered heavy losses, regardless of whether

21376-441: The release point before they were armed. It also took some distance for the torpedo to settle to its running depth. Once the torpedo had been dropped, if there was room, a sharp turn away from the enemy was possible: more often than not the aircraft had to fly around or over the ship, usually at full-throttle and below mast height. A sharp pull-up could be fatal as it exposed a large area of the aircraft to anti-aircraft guns. Some of

21543-460: The remaining Beauforts and 100 Squadron personnel were evacuated to Australia. All Australian-built Beauforts previously scheduled for British squadrons were subsequently delivered to the RAAF. The first Beaufort unit formed in Australia, on 25 February 1942 was No. 100 Squadron RAAF , so named because it was formed partly from members of its RAF counterpart. In the light of the problems encountered by

21710-470: The remaining Italian battleships withdrew to Naples, ceding control of the Mediterranean to the British. On 6 April 1941, a single Bristol Beaufort piloted by Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell attacked the German battleship Gneisenau in Brest harbour in Brittany, where she and her sister ship, Scharnhorst , were sheltering beneath a massive array of anti-aircraft guns. The other five Beauforts on

21877-513: The runway loading limit . The Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI , a large German World War I long-range bomber of 1916, used eighteen wheels for its undercarriage, split between two wheels on its nose gear struts, and sixteen wheels on its main gear units—split into four side-by-side quartets each, two quartets of wheels per side—under each tandem engine nacelle, to support its loaded weight of almost 12 t (26,000 lb). Multiple "tandem wheels" on an aircraft—particularly for cargo aircraft , mounted to

22044-538: The same thickness pavements with a third main leg for ten wheels, like the first Boeing 747 -100, weighing 700,000 lb (320 t) on four legs and 16 wheels. The similar-weight Lockheed C-5 , with 24 wheels, needs an 18 in (46 cm) pavement. The twin-wheel unit on the fuselage centerline of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 -30/40 was retained on the MD-11 airliner and the same configuration

22211-603: The second prototype and all production aircraft, more conventional split doors, which left a small part of the tyres exposed when retracted, were used. The results of high level bombing tests carried out at Boscombe Down at an altitude of 10,000 ft (3,000 m) and an airspeed of 238 mph (383 km/h) showed that the Beaufort was, in the words of the test pilot, "an exceptionally poor bombing platform, being subject to an excessive and continuous roll, which made determination of drift particularly difficult". After 1941, British Beauforts were fitted with semi-circular plates on

22378-473: The ship with torpedoes. Following heavy rain that had drenched the airfield, the bomb-carrying aircraft became bogged down. Because of a sea mist, the other three Beauforts arrived at Brest independently; one, flown by F/O Kenneth Campbell , managed to penetrate the harbour and torpedo Gneisenau but was shot down immediately afterwards. Campbell was awarded the VC and his Observer, Sergeant J. P. Scott of Canada,

22545-410: The size and speed of Scharnhorst would look huge, filling the windscreen at well over 1 mi (1.6 km) and it was easy to underestimate the range. In action, torpedoes were often released too far away from the target, although there was one recorded instance of a torpedo being released too close. For safety reasons, torpedo warheads had a set distance (usually about 300 yd (270 m) from

22712-452: The stern, as was demonstrated in the cases of the Bismarck and HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse , and few had their protective belt extend to the extremities, and a hole made in the bow could be forced wider from the pressure of the water which could buckle and crush unarmored internal bulkheads, which worked against Musashi and Yamato . Landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that

22879-508: The takeoff dolly/trolley and landing skid(s) system on German World War II aircraft—intended for a sizable number of late-war German jet and rocket-powered military aircraft designs—was that aircraft would likely be scattered all over a military airfield after they had landed from a mission, and would be unable to taxi on their own to an appropriately hidden "dispersal" location, which could easily leave them vulnerable to being shot up by attacking Allied fighters. A related contemporary example are

23046-412: The torpedo would enter the water smoothly: too high or too low and the torpedo could "porpoise" (skip through the water), dive or even break up. Height over the water had to be judged without the benefit of a radio altimeter and misjudgement was easy, especially in calm conditions. For the Beauforts using the 18-inch (450-mm) Mk XII aerial torpedo , the average drop-height was 68 ft (21 m) and

23213-708: The torpedo, the Beaufort could carry a 2,000 lb (910 kg) bomb using a purpose built carrier. On one of its first bombing sorties, on 7 May 1940, a Beaufort dropped the first British 2,000 lb (910 kg) bomb, at a German cruiser anchored off Norderney . The first Beaufort operation took place on the night of 15/16 April, when nine Beauforts laid mines in the Schillig Roads (north of Wilhelmshaven ). One Beaufort failed to return. A second unit, 42 Squadron began to re-equip with Beauforts, starting in April. The Beaufort still had teething problems and after some Beauforts were lost in mysterious circumstances,

23380-610: The trailing edges of the upper wing behind the engine nacelles to smooth airflow and improve directional stability. As Blenheim production took priority and engine overheating problems continued, production was delayed; the bomber was first flown in October 1938 and should have been available almost immediately, it was not until November 1939 that production started in earnest. Several of the first production Beauforts were engaged in working-up trials and final service entry began in January 1940 with 22 Squadron of RAF Coastal Command . A total of 1,013 Taurus powered Mark Is were produced and

23547-577: The two capital ships might have led to a different outcome. On 12 February 1942, Bristol Beauforts were dispatched to intercept the German cruiser Prinz Eugen off Trondheim, Norway . Prinz Eugen had accompanied Bismarck into the Atlantic, but returned to Brest. For the first time, the Beauforts were accompanied by Bristol Beaufighters and Bristol Blenheims . In a new RAF tactic, the Blenheims acted as decoys, making pretense torpedo runs, while

23714-527: The type was obsolete or not. This is best exemplified at the Battle of Midway, where Air Group Eight's dive bombers missed the Japanese carriers. Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8, from Hornet ), led by Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron , sighted the enemy carriers and attacked without any coordination with dive bombers or fighter cover. Without fighter escort, every TBD Devastator of VT-8 was shot down without inflicting any damage, with Ensign George H. Gay, Jr. being

23881-422: The vehicle on landing and during subsequent surface movement, and is not used for takeoff. Given their varied designs and applications, there exist dozens of specialized landing gear manufacturers. The three largest are Safran Landing Systems , Collins Aerospace (part of Raytheon Technologies ) and Héroux-Devtek . The landing gear represents 2.5 to 5% of the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) and 1.5 to 1.75% of

24048-685: The water suction on the afterbody. Two steps were used on the Kawanishi H8K . A step increases the drag in flight. The drag contribution from the step can be reduced with a fairing. A faired step was introduced on the Short Sunderland III. One goal of seaplane designers was the development of an open ocean seaplane capable of routine operation from very rough water. This led to changes in seaplane hull configuration. High length/beam ratio hulls and extended afterbodies improved rough water capabilities. A hull much longer than its width also reduced drag in flight. An experimental development of

24215-595: The wing trailing edges of several Beaufort IIs. After adverse reports from pilots these were locked shut. It was found that the curved alloy extensions on the trailing edges improved the flight characteristics and similar panels were fitted on all later production Beauforts. When it became apparent that the Taurus engines had problems, planning commenced to re-engine the aircraft with 1,200 hp (890 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin-Wasp radials, which were of similar diameter and slightly lighter, driving Hamilton Standard bracket-type variable-pitch propellers . There

24382-499: The wings was raked forward in the "down" position for better ground handling, with a retracted position that placed the main wheels at some distance aft of their position when downairframe—this led to a complex angular geometry for setting up the "pintle" angles at the top ends of the struts for the retraction mechanism's axis of rotation. with some aircraft, like the P-47 Thunderbolt and Grumman Bearcat , even mandating that

24549-563: The wings. Some were also fitted with ASV radar aerial arrays on either side of the rear fuselage. The Mk.XI was a transport conversion, stripped of armament, operational equipment and armour and rebuilt with a redesigned centre fuselage. Maximum speed was 300 mph (480 km/h) and a payload of 4,600 lb (2,100 kg) could be carried. Production of the Australian Beaufort ended in August 1944 when production switched to

24716-424: The wingtip support wheels ("pogos") on the Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, which fall away after take-off and drop to earth; the aircraft then relies on titanium skids on the wingtips for landing. Some main landing gear struts on World War II aircraft, in order to allow a single-leg main gear to more efficiently store the wheel within either the wing or an engine nacelle, rotated the single gear strut through

24883-570: Was already working on a torpedo-carrying conversion of the Beaufighter (a development of the Beaufort airframe) and were later to develop the Brigand . The final major operation to feature Beauforts before they were moved to other theatres was an attack on the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen . A report reached Coastal Command on 16 May 1942 that this ship, escorted by two destroyers, was off Trondheim steaming south-west at high speed. A strike force

25050-577: Was an attack on the Italian T18 on 28 January 1942. The three Beauforts of 39 Squadron included in a large strike force succeeded in crippling the 13,098  GRT transport Victoria , which was carrying 1,400 troops. The ship was then sunk by four Albacores of 820 Naval Air Squadron . Escort ships rescued 1,046 troops. In another operation, during the early hours of 15 June 1942, nine Beauforts of 217 Squadron, which had just flown in from England, took off from RAF Luqa , Malta to intercept ships of

25217-445: Was common during the early propeller era, as it allows more room for propeller clearance. Most modern aircraft have tricycle undercarriages. Taildraggers are considered harder to land and take off (because the arrangement is usually unstable , that is, a small deviation from straight-line travel will tend to increase rather than correct itself), and usually require special pilot training. A small tail wheel or skid/bumper may be added to

25384-407: Was converted as a trials aircraft and the combination was considered a success. The first Australian-assembled Beaufort A9-1 flew on 5 May 1941 with the first Australian-built aircraft A9-7 coming off the production line in August. In total 700 Australian Beauforts were manufactured in six series (see variants). A distinguishing feature of Australian Beauforts was a larger fin, which was used from

25551-428: Was designed as a torpedo-bomber, the Beaufort was more often used as a medium day bomber. The Beaufort also flew more hours in training than on operational missions and more were lost through accidents and mechanical failures than were lost to enemy fire. The Beaufort was adapted as a long-range heavy fighter variant called the Beaufighter , which proved to be very successful and many Beaufort units eventually converted to

25718-405: Was difficult to coordinate and therefore extremely rare. Usually, combat air patrols and anti-aircraft fire quickly broke up approaching plane formations, forcing each aircraft to attack on its own. At Pearl Harbor, the ships were lined up and basically stationary, so the first attack wave of 40 torpedo bombers armed with Type 91 torpedoes , out of 183 planes, were able to hit the ships broadside, as

25885-552: Was fitted. The final British-built version of the Beaufort was the Pratt & Whitney-powered T.Mk.II, with 250 produced from August 1943. In this version, the turret was removed and faired over. The last ever Beaufort was a T.Mk.II, which left the Bristol Banwell factory on 25 November 1944. As the design for the Beaufort began to mature, the Australian Government invited a British Air Mission to discuss

26052-429: Was formed with 12 Beauforts of 42 Squadron, six Blenheims of 404 (RCAF) Squadron and four flak-suppression Beaufighters, two each from 235 Squadron and 248 Squadron . Prinz Eugen was sighted with four destroyers. The Beaufighters went first, raking the ships with cannon fire as the Blenheims made dummy torpedo runs. Some Bf 109s (more than likely from I./JG 5 ) appeared and the Blenheims attempted to fend them off as

26219-512: Was found that the defensive armament was inadequate and extra .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers GO machine guns were fitted; two on a gimbal mounting in the forward nose and single guns on pivots on either beam. A remotely controlled .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine gun was fitted, firing to the rear under the nose. Housed in a clear blown transparency, it was found to be of little use and most operational units soon discarded them. Fairey -Youngman pneumatic dive brakes were fitted to

26386-532: Was found to be too heavy and its float struts too weak for operations. Remaining orders were cancelled. On 12 August 1915, a Royal Naval Air Service Short 184 floatplane torpedo bomber sank a Turkish merchantman in the Sea of Marmara . It was operating from HMS  Ben-my-Chree , a seaplane carrier converted from a ferry. Fitted with an aircraft hangar, Ben-my-Chree was used to carry up to six biplanes with their wings folded back to reduce carrying space. This

26553-465: Was longer in the nose and taller to accommodate a fourth crew member and the aircraft was considerably heavier. The larger bomb-bay was designed to house a semi-recessed torpedo or an increased bomb load. Due to the increased weight the Bristol Mercury engines on the Blenheim were to be replaced by more powerful, sleeve valve , Bristol Perseus motors. It was soon determined that even with

26720-677: Was no guaranteed supply of the Twin Wasp and production reverted to the Taurus-engined Mark Is after 165 Beaufort Mark IIs had been built, starting with AW244 , which first flew in September 1941. Performance with the Twin-Wasps was marginally improved: maximum speed went up from 271 to 277 mph (436 to 446 km/h) and the service ceiling increased from 16,500 to 18,000 ft (5,000 to 5,500 m). Normal range

26887-664: Was proposed that a change of powerplant could be made to the Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp , which was already in use on Royal Australian Air Force Lockheed Hudsons . Orders for the engine were placed and a factory was set up at Lidcombe and run by General Motors Holden . The locally built engines were coded S3C4-G , while those imported from America were coded S1C3-4 . Three-bladed Curtiss-Electric propellers were fitted to Beaufort Mks V, VI, VIII and IX while Beaufort Mks VA and VIII used Hamilton Standard propellers. In early 1941, L4448

27054-482: Was reduced from 1,600 to 1,450 mi (2,570 to 2,330 km). Other modifications introduced on the Mk II used on late Mk Is included replacing the elongated direction finding antenna with a loop aerial enclosed in a clear, tear-drop fairing on the top of the cabin. ASV Mk III was added with yagi antennae under the nose and wings and a Bristol B1.Mk.V turret with two .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns

27221-494: Was sent too far north by a reporting error. They too were attacked by Bf 109s: four Beauforts were shot down (in return the crews claimed to have shot down five fighters) and of the 11 Beauforts remaining, seven were forced to jettison their torpedoes. In spite of its failure, this operation set the pattern for Coastal Command operations: Beaufighters were used for the first time for flak -suppression and escort and there had been diversionary tactics used to try to reduce attention on

27388-589: Was the Sopwith Cuckoo . First flown in June 1917, it was designed to take off from the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers, but had to land on an airfield as arrester wires , needed to stop an aircraft during landing on a ship, had not yet been perfected. The Admiralty planned to use five carriers and 100-120 Cuckoos to attack the German High Seas Fleet , which had been sheltering in Kiel since

27555-749: Was the first ship sunk by air-launched torpedo. Five days later, another ship supplying Turkish forces in the Gallipoli campaign against British, Australian and New Zealand troops was also sunk. Production of the Short 184 continued until after the Armistice of 11 November 1918 , with a total of 936 built by several manufacturers. It served in eight navies, including the Imperial Japanese Navy , which built them under licence. The first torpedo bomber designed for operation from aircraft carriers

27722-451: Was the tail gunner and radar/radio operator became detached from the formation whilst climbing in heavy cloud cover. The pilot, Lieutenant Grady Jean, asked each crewman in turn if they wished to make a solo attack, which was likely to prove suicidal. The crew referred the decision to the skipper, who deftly dodged anti-aircraft fire and 18-inch shell splashes from the Yamato ' s big guns to release their torpedo. Wicklund had recalled from

27889-467: Was used on the initial 275 t (606,000 lb) Airbus A340 -200/300, which evolved in a complete four-wheel undercarriage bogie for the heavier 380 t (840,000 lb) Airbus A340-500/-600. The up to 775,000 lb (352 t) Boeing 777 has twelve main wheels on two three-axles bogies, like the later Airbus A350 . The 575 t (1,268,000 lb) Airbus A380 has a four-wheel bogie under each wing with two sets of six-wheel bogies under

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