An American pilot stands near a US Air Force Bristol Beaufighter bomber at a military airfield during World War II in the Pacific ocean.
The Bristol Beaufighter is a heavy twin-engine, two-seat fighter aircraft, an all-metal mid-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear.
The Bristol Beaufighter fuselage is an all-metal semi-monocoque. Technologically, the fuselage consisted of two sections: front and tail. The sections were connected to each other by bolts through reinforced frames. The fuselage frame consisted of transverse frames of a closed section and longitudinal stringers. The working skin was connected to the fuselage frame using secret riveting. Power elements were installed along the bottom of the fuselage, to which the guns were attached.
The crew was located in two cabins, front and rear; the pilot was in the front cabin, and the navigator and radar operator was in the rear. Access to the cabins was provided through hatches in the floor. In the unlocked position, the hatches, suspended on hinges, were fixed and used during an emergency escape from the aircraft.
The Bristol Beaufighter wing is a cantilever, two-spar wing with a smooth working skin and consists of a center section and two detachable consoles. The center section was the basis of the entire power structure of the aircraft; it was joined by wing consoles, engine nacelles, front and tail sections of the fuselage and main landing gear. The center section had a rectangular shape in plan. The wing consoles in plan had a trapezoidal shape and a transverse V of 6 degrees.