And gunner/navigator position... I like almost everything in Beau except my inability to watch my six.

That would be very interesting, especially if there was a map of the parts of Honshu that were heavily bombed.

But, I have to wonder if decent references on Japanese radar and night fighter ops exist. Lots of material was lost during the war and immediately afterwards. That might make it impossible to accurately recreate Japanese night fighters.

But, no reason why the Japanese equivalent of "Wilde Sau" (night fighters without radar, directed by ground stations) ops couldn't be recreated.

Although it would be sort of fun for multiplayer, If AI gunners actually did their job, then you wouldn't even need the Beaufighte's navigator station.

Proper work by gunners would be calls like:

"[One/two/three/multiple] [bogies (AKA unknown planes)/bandits (AKA hostile planes/fighters/bombers] [inbound/outbound/holding station] at [1-12 o'clock] [low/level/high] [top/belly/tail/nose/right waist/left waist gunner catch him/them as he/they pass.]

Consistently calling out advice like: Break [left/right]/Dive/Climb.

Giving position reports for hostile/unknown/friendlies when asked.

Ignoring bandits/bogies beyond a certain range, as well as bandits/bogies in the pilot's field of view, so you don't get repeated calls of "fighters, 12 o'clock" for a formation of fighters miles away and miles above which aren't likely to be part of any combat.

I know certain gunners used to call away to break right or left. I think it was SBD, but don't believe they still do.

Absolutely agree. With some rough distance, as " far away" or panick call "very close!".
But hey, I still need this navigator cockpit for Beau. At least in order not to feel lonely during long flights over Pacific or Med waters. :cool:

I heard it on Il-2 but rarely. Probably on Bf-110 as well.

It would be nice to see two or three new versions of the Bf-110.
After all, it was one of the most famous airplanes of Germany during WW2 and just to the outbreak of war a feared weapon.
Maybe some more earlier versions?
Also, a Ju-88 C would be very nice.
Well, there are so many planes are still missing, but I'm hoping for the Bf-110.

Great Work TD!

List/popularity
 

Just quickly draw a list: model - times mentioned in this thread.
I could miss some planes, of course.

A-20C lend lease 3
A-20G-20-DO 1
A-20G1 4
A-20H 4
B-25C 5
B-25D 1
B-25G 2
B-25H 2
B-25J field mode 4
Beaufighter Mk X 1
Beaufighter MK.VIC 1
Beaufighter MkIc 1
Bf 110B-1 1
Bf 110B-2 1
Bf 110B-3 1
Bf-110C-1 3
Bf-110C-3 2
Bf-110C-7 2
Bf-110C-4 4
Bf-110D-2 1
Bf-110E-1 1
Bf-110F-2 2
Bf-110G-4 2
Blenheim Mk I 1
Blenheim Mk IV 1
Boston IIIa 1
Defiant 1
Defiant Mk.II 1
Do-217K/M 1
He-111 4
Ju-188 2
Ju-88A-14 1
Ju-88C-6 3
Me-210 6
Me-410 4
Mosquito F Mk.II 1
P-38D 1
P-38E 1
P-38H 2
P-61 1

By the way... What about Japanese twin engine crafts.
My favorites:
Ki-46-II
Ki-46-III
Ki-46-III-Kai
Ki-46-IIIb

"Bogies" would imply unidentified planes, which would cover any far distant planes. "Inbound" implies a path that takes the identified plane on a path which crosses that of the player's plane, and, for an enemy plane some sort of pursuit curve is implied. "Outbound" implies a path that takes the plane on a more or less straight line course away from the player's plane.

But, beyond that, you're absolutely right.

Add:

Direction options: [climbing/diving [and] turning left/turning right]

Modifiers for course: [distant/medium/close/very close]

Modifiers for holding station: [distant, holding formation, 10-50 meters/feet, 100-500 meters/feet]

Modifiers for closing: [closing slowly/closing fast]

Gunner command options: [split S left/right, climb/dive left/right/straight/hold steady]

If TD really wants to get into spiffing up the Beaufighter, that navigator station could also be turned into a RSO position, allowing players to operate various forms of radar. I guess the navigator station could also be set up to allow you to do things like celestial and dead-reckoning navigation, but that would probably be far too esoteric for most people.

And, of course, there are all those lovely marks of Beaufighter that aren't in the game, some of them with turrets instead of navigator station.