Large Model Association Forum

Anyone knowledgeable about the Beaufighter here? I've seen many pictures of Beau's with a really marked dihedral to the tail-plane, (similar to the Havoc) and almost as many where it's clearly absent, and yet I can't find any reference to a change In tail-plane geometry as the type was developed. Anyone able to cast a little light on this?

Hi Timothy,

You may find the answer to your tail-plane question here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Beaufighter

The Beaufighter exhibited weak longitudinal stability and poor characteristics following loss of an engine on take-off. One example, R2268, was fitted with a larger tailplane with twin endplate fins in an attempt to address these problems. The final solution, adopted on later Marks was a 20% increase in tailplane area accompanied by 12 degrees of tailplane dihedral.


Not my words, just something from my files, but it explains in detail,

Many thanks for the explanations.