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She certianly was! 44-29887 was painted up as Luscious Lulu for the film and is now in storage at the Smithsonian's Udvar Hazy Center.

There is a argument to be made there.

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.

@@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. 🙂

It sure is! The noise must have been something.

Would be amazing to see, wouldn't it?

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

You are missing out, it is a superb book.

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

We were discussing the Allied intelligence of the capability of Japanese aircraft and less the wider strategic application. The Japanese could be very flexible in their approach, as seen in South East Asia. But, at Midway, as you raised it, USN Wildcat pilots had been briefed to fight the Zero in a way that was not accurate, which the Marines on Guadalcanal were finding out and adapting to with the Wildcat which, when flown correctly, was a match for the Zero. Yes, the Japanese fumbled it at Midway, as Mark E. Stille went to great lengths to show on @WW2TV last night.

@damcasterspod I did go on a tangent yes I am in the middle of your show and will finish it. My understanding is the US in had almost no intel on the Japanese war machine pre war, however on the subject of Midway was when a US Navy pilot with general intel on the Zeros excellent manverablity created and used the" Thach weave" with the outdated yet more armored F4F wildcat

As Justin points out, they were getting good intel from China. They were not interpreting it correctly. The Wildcat was no slouch, either. Again, the Marine experience with it on Guadalcanal shows that when deployed with the correct tactics, it was a formidable match to the Zero, which was then outmatched by the arrival of the Corsair and Hellcat.

Since you took the time to write a comment, I'll let you know my two cents. I have to disagree that it is the main reason they lost the Battle of Midway, or even a reason at all. The planning wasn't overly choreographed or particularly complex other than what was required for an amphibious landing and naval operation of that scale. There's a bad double-standard in much of the historiography where complex American amphibious planning is praised and complex Japanese amphibious planning is derided, for the exact same reasons. The planning of Operation MI was rushed and lacking more than anything else. Not that it matters since the Americans broke Japanese naval codes and managed to convince decision makers to act on the information. Without that basic reality there was no Battle of Midway at all in any form remotely resembling what happened historically - no carriers waiting in ambush, no reinforcement of the island, no greatly enhanced searches, none of it. Much of the historiography has been far too harsh on the Japanese not planning for an eventuality that was so transparently absurd that no one would plan for it. You'd simply call the operation off if you knew or go in expecting a slugging match if you were to persist. This has been underlined in the context of scouting in particular by Anthony Tully (yes, one of the coauthors of Shattered Sword) and Lu Yu in an article for the Naval War College Review. It's entitled "A Question of Estimates: How Faulty Intelligence Drove Scouting at the Battle of Midway".

@justinpyke1756 off the top of my head a Japanese sub or plane had spotted unusual Americanl navel presence near the Midway invasion fleet as they approached the island pre battle however they had strict radio silence orders to keep the element of surprise so they didn't warn the IJN carrier group over the radio. 100% this is an example of Japanese strict adherence to orders over common sence as if the US Navy is nearby, obviously they lost the element of surprise and needed to re assess the situation.

"if the third used their ejection seat on the ground it was su*icide." Explain why.

Funny you should mention that, we recently released a two-part look at Combat Bullseye on the channel which was the series of tests to see if the B-58 could have been deployed to Vietnam in 1967/8. Lots of moving parts in that decision.

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

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

Very good question, which by extention can be applied to Russia and Iran, all countries with a very different cultural outlook to our own.

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

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.

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

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

Pedants are always welcome on an aviation channel!

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

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

🤦‍♂️ I'm an idiot, fixed. Thanks!

The H layout wasn't so much of the issue as the sleeve-valves. One point of note was that by 1944, the engine was very reliable and on par with Merlins, but the Rolls Royce mafia don't like us talking about that 😉

@damcasterspod Wrong.

I'm afraid I'm not. The government-enforced buyout of Napier by English Electric completely overhauled the manufacturing standards. Collaboration with Bristol also improved the sleeve valve tolerances in the Sabre and Bristol's Hercules and Centaurus engines, the latter running years behind schedule. Interestingly, one of the major factors in improving the reliability of the Sabre what the change to a four-blade prop, which had a narrower chord and was less susceptible to mach-tuck and in turn gave less vibration. The Sabre IIb in the Tempest V was as reliable as most WW2 engines and the Sabre V in the Tempest VI flew around forever happily and will be used in Kermit Week's Tempest V restoration. Perhaps the less said about the exploding Packard-Merlins in the Spitfire XVIs the better, eh? More about the Typhoon and the Sabre can be found in the December 2021 issues of Aeroplane Monthly which I wrote the cover article on this about.

@damcasterspod There weren't problems with the Packard Merlins. Trust me I know and have known and written books about pilots that flew these aircraft.

Johnny Johnson would disagree.

Thanks for joining us! I hope you like what you find on the channel.

@damcasterspod you're welcome but thank you it's high quality stuff

I would have loved to see them fly. I need to get out to see the Italian Starfighter that is flying again. Hopefully they will recreate the race they did been an Italian Air Force Starfighter and Gilles Villenuve in his Ferrari.

We go into this in detail in the full episode, it wasn't just the fighters allied intel struggled with.

Thanks!

Did he help to paint the stripes, do you know?