1/72 Bristol Beaufighter Mk.X Focke-Wulf Fw190 Airfix A50171

Scale: 1:72Skill: 2Flying Hours: 3Number of Parts: 53/120Dimensions (mm): L125 X W145, L175 X W246On the 9th of February 1945 a force of thirty one Bristol Beaufighter long range fighter bombers took off from their bases in Scotland to attack the German Narvik-class Destroyer Z33 and some escorting ships at anchor in a Norwegian fjord. Unfortunately the attack proved to be a costly one for the Allies. The steep sides of the fjord that the German ships were sheltering in created a very strong defensive position resulting in high amounts of concentrated anti-aircraft fire. The attacking force and its escorts of Mustang fighters was also intercepted by twelve Fw-190s of Jg5. In the resulting dogfight two Beaufighters were downed by the Luftwaffe fighters with a further seven shot down and numerous others damaged by the anti-aircraft fire. Over 50 aircraft were involved making it the largest air battle over Norwegian skies during the Second World War. The raid was a costly failure for the Allies with only a small amount of damage inflicted on the German ships compared to the degree of losses suffered and the raid was nicknamed Black Friday by those who survived it. BEAUFIGHTERTOP SPEED: 320 mph (515 km/h) at 10,000ft (3,050 m)WEAPONS: 4 X 20 mm cannons plus 1 x manually operated .303 in (7.7mm) Browning or Vickers machine gun for the Observer and 1 X 18 in (450 mm) torpedo or 8 x 60 lb rockets. FOCKE-WULFTOP SPEED: 656 km/h (408 mph) at 19,420 ft (5,920 m)RANGE: 800 km (500 mi)WEAPONS: 2 X 13 mm machine guns & up to 4 x 20mm cannons