Beaufort Mk VIII

Description

The Beaufort Mk VIII is a rank British bomber with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27. Though the plane is in the British tech tree, it is painted with Australian markings.

The Beaufort Mk VIII is a superb low-level bomber. For a bomber, it's fast and agile and it has a great rear armament for its rank (twin rear .50 cals). It is able to do very good low-level bombing runs. With its 4 x 250 lb or 2 x 500 lb bombs, it is easily able to destroy light, medium and heavy tanks. The Beaufort is also able to take a few hits, making it a great bomber to start the British line.

The best thing to do with this bomber is to put it in a shallow dive after you spawn in and head for where you want to bomb (be careful when diving, the plane locks up at high speed). Get low to the ground, as your rear turret does not provide cover below the plane. Once you have dropped your bombs, you have a decision to make. You can re-arm and go for another bombing run (or just wait if you are playing in Arcade Battles), or go fighter hunting with your tail gunner.

Overall, this is a great low-rank bomber and easily able to turn the tide of any battle.

General info

Flight performance

Details

Survivability and armour

• 12.7 mm Steel - Armour plate behind the pilot
• 6.35 mm Steel - Armour plate behind the gunner

Modifications and economy

Researching all the belts and turrets is helpful in this very aggressively played bomber. Further enhancements should be in the plane's performance. Compressor, Engine and Engine Injection for the quickest gain in top speed. As bomber Airframe and Cover are also useful but to a lesser extent. They improve the maximum possible damage received.

Armaments

Suspended armament

The Beaufort Mk VIII can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 4 x 250 lb G.P. Mk.IV bombs (1,000 lb total)
• 1 x 450 mm 18 inch Mark XII torpedo
• 2 x 500 lb G.P. Mk.IV bombs (1,000 lb total)
• 2 x 500 lb S.A.P. Mk.II bombs (1,000 lb total)

Defensive armament

The Beaufort Mk VIII is defended by:

• 2 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, dorsal turret (600 rpg = 1,200 total)
• 2 x 7.7 mm Browning machine guns, nose turret (1,150 rpg = 2,300 total)

Usage in battles

When engaging fighters (Yak-7s, Bf 109 Es, Spitfires, P-36s, A5M4 etc...) try to force them onto your tail. The Beaufort's twin rear .50 calibre machine guns tear everything up at this rank. Try to avoid head-ons, as your pilots are prone to be wounded behind that large glass window. If you get an enemy fighter to stay on your tail at wing level, your gunner will show no mercy!

When engaging bombers, try to come below them and pepper them with your tail gunner. Flying in front of them and aiming for the enemy bombers pilot is also effective.

Be mindful of these things too; watch out for players diving on you, as they can easily knock out your tail gunner from above. Also watch out for rockets, even a B-17 can't take a rocket hit! Plus some of the American planes (F2A, F4F) are armed with four or more .50s, try to avoid these as their ammunition count is very large and they are easily able to critically damage a Beaufort.

Manual Engine Control

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very strong rear 12.7 mm machine guns
• Fast and agile for a bomber
• If one pilot is knocked out, the copilot can still fly
• Universal ammo belt for the 12.7 mm machine guns contains a large amount of API ammo
• 12.7 mm machine guns can engage enemy aircraft effectively over 1,500 m away

Cons:

• Low endurance
• Below average payload
• Does not have a ventral gunner
• Dorsal turret cannot turn 360 degrees, cannot fire forward
• Loses the single offensive machine gun of the Blenheim. Doesn't seem like much, but it comes in useful sometimes
• Arguably has less effective defensive armament than the Blenheim. Experienced players will be able to take advantage of your limited coverage
• Has no offensive control of the front-facing gun

History

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Beaufort Mk VIII from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Wikipedia] Bristol Beaufort