These photographs of the United States Air Force Museum's Bristol Beaufighter Mk. VIF were taken in July 1997. At the time, only the nose section's restoration had been completed. Fortunately, the museum curators decided to put that section on display, and this allowed visitors a unique view of the Beaufighter's cockpit. I apologize for the quality of some of the pictures; the cockpit was behind plexiglas, and photography was, to say the least, difficult. I hope these photographs will be of use to anybody building a member of Hasegawa's 1/72 or Tamiya's 1/48 Beaufighter families, or some brave soul willing to do up a cockpit in Revell's big 1/32 Beau.
The heading picture gives a good impression of how the Beaufighter cockpit is laid out. The seat, with its elevation mechanism, is prominent, as is the open-sided nature of the side consoles. Note the attachment point for the Sutton Harness on the rear of the seat, as well as what I believe is part of the mechanism for the control lines that would run under the seat. The cockpit panel lights are also visible attached to the windscreen framing, just above and outside of the instrument panel coaming.
The Beaufighter's bomber-like control yoke dominates this photograph. The red weapons firing button is on the top right of the yoke, while the large switch feeding from the center of the yoke is, I believe, for wireless R/T. I would welcome feedback on that, however. Notice also in this photograph how colourful the instrument panel is.
The swing-arm mounting for the Mark II Gunsight is visible in this photograph. The wire leading from a junction box to the left is to feed power for the reflector sight's light bulb. Also notice the prominent vents in the windscreen. Barely visible at the top center is the red release handle for the canopy.
In the foreground, unfortunately out of focus, are the fuel cocks for the main fuel tanks ((red wheel is for port, dark green for starboard). Portions of the throttle quadrant are barely visible just below and to the right of that, while most of the left side of the instrument panel is can be seen.
In this view, once can see the red hydraulic pump handle in the foreground, with the black elevator trim tab control wheel on a column immediately behind that. Somewhat blurred in the extreme foreground is the elevator trim tab control, mounted at the back of the starboard console. Again, the colourful nature of the aircraft's instrument panel is very noticeable. Finally, some details of the rudder pedals can be seen.
