Bristol 161 and 162 « Beaumont »

Hi
Anyone seen anything on the B7/40,light high speed day bomber, bristol 161 beaufighter development, beaumont project.
Competitors were the henley and AW 48 re design.
Info from Putnams.
Cheers
Jerry

From The British Specification File.

"B.7/40....Derivatives of Bristol Type 156, Types 161 and 162, Beaumont Mk.I and Mk.II bomber, with Hercules or Merlin engines respectively, were schemed to Specification B.7/40, as was the Hawker P.1001 close-support bomber, being based on the Henley. An Armstrong Whitworth A.W.48 redesign from B.1/39, and a Westland light bomber with a Delanne wing, powered by a Centaurus engine, and a Fairey project, were also proposed."

Regards Bailey.

Side view from Bristol Aircraft Since 1910.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Buckingham

This can help you !

Hi
Thanks for the fast reply and the excellent side view.
cheers
Jerry

brewerjerry said:

Hi
Anyone seen anything on the B7/40,light high speed day bomber, bristol 161 beaufighter development, beaumont project.
Competitors were the henley and AW 48 re design.
Info from Putnams.
Cheers
Jerry

Click to expand...

Hi Jerry:
I'll have to look for the AW 48 design, as there are still a number of additional AW dwgs images in the Ashworth files.
But I DID find this chopped off print image of the AW B7/40. I'll have to check the negative boxes. I know there is a negative for this dwg, and it may be full-size and uncropped for a better image.
*Note the two smaller outer vertical fins & rudders, as opposed to one larger, central dorsal fins & rudders.
As you mentioned, above, there is a similarity to the B.1/39 (that I have posted on its Own thread)

Jerry; Just toook a quick look at my own Ashworth index. (anyone knowing of Ashworth's OWN Index, or having received a copy of it from HIM, PLEASE conact me -REWARD! offered in image scans).Will try to do some research, this afternoon, as I need to get some urgent work done this A.M. that pays the bills.
But quick looks shows 2,387 Bristol negs and over 1000 prints.
Likely sub-sections to start with, will be 300 Miscellaneous section; 400 Beaufighter; 50 Buckingham negs, and 215 Miscellaneous section, Bristol prints.

You know what ? the Beaumont is alive, at least in a parallel universe (where Reynaud and de Gaulle ousted Petain a certain day of June 1940, and France resumed fight from Algier)

http://francefightson.yuku.com/
http://www.1940lafrancecontinue.org/FTL/annexes/1942/42-5-2_Bristol_Beauties.htm

The Beaumont is briefly mentionned in Le Fana de l'aviation september / October 2012 articles about the Buckingham / Brigand series.

The outline drawing of the Type 161 may be solving a bit of a mystery for me. It seems to have been the first design with the Bristol B.14 nose turret, this was a four gun pack that was to have been remote controlled but when eventually installed on the Buckingham prototype there was just the fixed forward firing 4 brownings. One source states that this pack was to have been remotely controlled by the bomb-aimer in the bath-tub whilst another says the pilot was to control it. Neither proposition seems especially practical- the pilot was meant to be flying the plane and the bomb-aimer also had to operate the twin brownings in the rear of his bath-tub. However, I wonder whether confusion comes because in the Type 161/162 the bath-tub is located at the front of the fuselage under the nose where it may have allowed the bomb-aimer a reasonable forward view thus allowing him to operate B.14 whereas on the Buckingham the bath-tub has been moved aft of the bomb-bay which leaves on the pilot with any sort of forward view. Either way the installation seems completely impractical. On the mockup of the Type 161/162 that is visible in the foreground of the famous Type 158 mockup picture I can find no trace of the bath-tub though there is what appears to be a sliding canopy for the pilot and there appears to be no access from the crew cabin into the extreme nose suggesting it was never intended to be used by the bomb-aimer as was done in the Blenheim and Beaufort.