I Climbed Inside A Bristol Beaufighter and It Was Incredible

[@randlerobbertson8792]

A wonderful brute my dad worked on in the RAF. He said the merlin engined ones without dihedral on the tailplanes were absolute brutes and in more than some cases, a real deathtrap.

[@MattsScaleModels]

As someone who has been involved with the Moorabbin Air Museum since I was a kid in the 80s, it’s great to see the enjoyment that opening the Beau can bring. Thanks for visiting!

[@damcasterspod]

It is a fantastic place and lovely of Ewan to take me around. Hope to get back one day.

[@MonkPetite]

This is my most favourite British ww2 fighter. Impressive and simple rude. The stories around these are so impressive and versatile. I wish I could fly one

[@damcasterspod]

Totally agree with you. Hopefully, ,maybe, one day the Fighter Collection at Duxford will finish their Beaufighter that has been in restoration for years.

[@johncrispin2118]

Wish there was a flyer of this unsung brute, which did such formidable work, in all its guises right into the 1960’s but not a single flyer now ?

[@damcasterspod]

The Fighter Collection have been working on theirs for years. The engines are always the issue.

[@Ferr1963]

02:04 Look at that leading edge. Two sheets that come together in the same center. Detail to take into account when making a scale model. You don't need to putty that part of the wing.

[@damcasterspod]

Aircraft built in haste for a purpose that didn't include longevity don't always have panels that align perfectly!

[@thegreatdominion949]

I'm a bit surprised you didn't mention the Sperry autopilot bulge on the nose which clearly distinguishes the Australian-built Mk. 21 Beaufighters from all other variants of the aircraft.

[@damcasterspod]

There is so much from that video I would like to do again, but time was against me to make my flight. I guess I'll have to go back!

[@kayserbondor]

I was at RAF St Athan in early 1950’s, there was a Beaufighter that we used for engine running up and training, very interesting to sit in the cockpit on your own and feel the power of the Hercules radials. Don’t suppose there are many left who have had this experience.

[@damcasterspod]

The Moorabbin Beau used to do engine runs, and technically still could, if they could get it outside more easily. Hopefully it will again!

[@neilfoster814]

A real beast of an aircraft for sure. They could also be a real handful to fly, even more so with one engine out.

[@avipatable]

Very nice, thanks for sharing. That tiny cockpit and that huge engine sat so close just outside!

[@damcasterspod]

It sure is! The noise must have been something.

[@crikey6981]

Wow, an actual Beaufighter! Thanks for the inside and out walk around. Maybe check out the Point Cook museum and post your report here

[@damcasterspod]

Definetly want to get to Point Cook, especally after our latest episodes on Don Bennett.

[@paulsheather7657]

I was lucky enough to sit in the cockpit of that aircraft.

[@damcasterspod]

It is something, isn't it?

[@paulsheather7657]

@@damcasterspod It was a long time ago when it was displayed outside but yes it was a big thing being it's the only one in Australia.

[@theharper1]

@@paulsheather7657 the wikipedia entry is confusing; it says that there's one in Camden and another at HARS in Wollongong.

[@theharper1]

Ah! It's the one at Moorabbin. I've been in that many years ago, and it was a very cool experience. I'm so glad that it has been repainted and is inside protected from the elements. I believe that it was one of the last ones built in Australia.

[@damcasterspod]

She is in great condition. Ewan and the team know what they have and take great care of the collection. I believe she was certainly one of the last.

[@theharper1]

@@damcasterspod I just checked the HARS website. Although the Beaufighter isn't listed in the aircraft under restoration, there is this in the history section: "Of significant importance was the recovery in the early-1980s of two Beaufighter airframes from Northwestern Australia. Flowing from this recovery was the ability to restore a fuselage section including cockpit from a Bristol Beaufighter Mk1 for the US Airforce Museum in Dayton, Ohio USA that kindly traded the society its Lockheed Super Constellation. The other airframe is central to the Beaufighter currently under restoration by HARS". So there's a possibility that a Beaufighter might fly again one day. 🙂

[@PATTHECATMCD]

A first for me. Quite impressed, I didn't think it was that roomy. Those cannons take up a lot of space in the front fuselage.

[@damcasterspod]

It is very roomy, but not built for someone over 6 feet tall!

[@MB-nn3jw]

To be able to see inside one of these amazing machines is fantastic. It has sated my curiosity about what it is like inside, which, as you said, isn't very big at all. It certainly looks much bigger on the outside.

[@damcasterspod]

I'm not the smallest of chaps so that may not help some of the imagery...

[@theharper1]

It's actually very roomy for a "fighter", if you compare it to a Spitfire, Mustang or Bf109. 😉 But squeezing through the hatch and climbing over the seat to get in or out isn't easy for an adult.

[@12what34the]

I always think of the accounts of just how challenging an aircraft these were to escape. Beautiful and powerful but between the hatch location and the fact you had to climb over the seat 😬 the odds were really stacked against you if it was going down, for both pilot and nav

[@damcasterspod]

Getting out wasn't always high on the list of design requirements. Handley Page put some thought into getting out of the Halifax as opposed to Avros and the Lanc.

[@louisvanrijn3964]

What a men you must be to control this roaring monster... huge engines around. It seems some one has stolen the left engine throttle, (1:01) I see only the green one and the lever-end of the left.

[@007bigrob]

Been there,amazing museum.

[@simonhellier7281]

My aunts late husband was a navigator on mosquitoes but sometimes these and he commented how uncomfortable it was!

[@wmpmacm]

My father flew these in 1943 in Tunisia.

[@DaveGIS123]

My father-in-law flew these fron RAF East Fortune in Scotland, now the home of the National Museum of Flight.

[@ThomasDoubting5]

We need this airworthy

[@damcasterspod]

Would be amazing to see, wouldn't it?

[@12what34the]

What's the story with the Jays (maple leaf) hat - a curious Canadian

[@damcasterspod]

I'm a Calgary boy who did his time in YYZ, which is why I'm a bit misty eyed at the news about Ricky Henderson tonight.

[@12what34the]

@@damcasterspod atta boyyy

[@mongolike513]

Thanks for the vid. The Beau is a beaut the only plane yet to be restored to flying warbird. Maybe HARS can remedy that?

[@damcasterspod]

Lets hope so! The Fighter Collection may finish theirs one day. You never know.

[@flightographist]

Ist look at one up close. My uncle was shot down and killed in one in 1944 over the Bay of Biscayne.

[@12what34the]

Yeah I always think of the accounts of just how challenging an aircraft these were to escape. Beautiful and powerful but between the hatch location and the fact you had to climb over the seat 😬 the odds were really stacked against you if it was going down, for both pilot and nav.

[@domjediknight]

That was awesome my favourite plane of second world war

[@freeqboi]

*FLAPS* ooh er.

[@damcasterspod]

Easy now

[@narabdela]

Grow up.

[@glynmatthews6697]

What a plane !