Buccaneer (Combat Machines №5)(1).pdf

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BUCCANEER
TYPE HISTORY
|
PHOTO REFERENCE
|
PROFILES
|
CUTAWAY
no.
05
PROFILE ARTWORK
NA.39, XK486, Brough and Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, 1958. Royal Blue over white.
NA.39, XK489, Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, 1959. Extra Dark Sea Grey and white.
Buccaneer S.1, XK531/680/LM, 700Z Flight/Intensive Flying Trials Unit, RNAS Lossiemouth
(HMS Fulmar), 1961. Extra Dark Sea Grey and white, pale blue nose numbers and tail codes.
NA.39/S.1 development batch, C Squadron Royal Navy Test Unit, Boscombe Down, 1961.
Overall anti-flash white, pale blue fuselage serials.
Buccaneer S.1, XN965/636/LM, 736/809 NAS, RNAS Lossiemouth (HMS Fulmar), 1965.
Overall anti-flash white, pale blue fuselage numbers, tail codes and serials.
(Andy Hay/www.flyingart.co.uk)
2
BLACKBURN
BUCCANEER
www.keypublishing.com
Sightseeing
Buccaneer style:
A Lossiemouth
S.2B blasts
by Dunrobin
Castle, Wick,
south of
Caithness.
(Key Collection)
Anti-radar
Martel missiles
hang from
the inboard
pylons of this
Lossiemouth
Wing Buccaneer,
along with an
ALQ-101-10
electronic
counter-
measures pod
on the port
outer station.
(Graham
Pitchfork)
FOREWORD
T
his latest title in Key Publishing’s
Combat Machines series
covers the Buccaneer, a
highly successful strike aircraft which,
perhaps, has not been covered in
published works quite as much as it
should have been. Echoing most of
the previous volumes in the series,
this work on Blackburn’s splendid
Buccaneer is timed to accompany the
release of a new plastic model kit from
Airfix, but the book stands as a fine
reference for aviation enthusiasts. The
author’s sections have been boosted
by major contributions from two
Buccaneer specialists, Gp Capt Tom
Eeles and Air Cdre Graham Pitchfork.
Authors:
Tony Buttler, Graham Pitchfork,
Tom Eeles
Series Editor:
Chris Clifford
Acknowledgements:
The primary
references used for this work included Avia
and Air files in the National Archives at
Kew and various reports and documents
held by the BAE Systems Archive at
Brough. Unit data was accessed mainly
from Air-Britain’s
The Squadrons of the Royal
Air Force & Commonwealth 1918-1988
by
James Halley and
The Squadrons of the Fleet
Combat Machines 5 comprises
a general history of the type,
sectionalised to explain design and
development (and trials) flying,
versions for the Royal Navy, RAF and
South Africa – the only successful
export customer – and then reviews
of a long and successful service and
combat career with all three air arms.
Additional chapters examine the
extensive selection of weaponry used
by the aircraft, airframes employed
in trials and research programmes,
production and squadron listings,
and a personal account of life in the
aircraft’s cockpit. The Buccaneer was
a tough, reliable and dependable
Air Arm
by Ray Sturtivant and Theo Ballance.
One particularly good published source is
Dennis Calvert’s extensive article in
Wings of
Fame Volume 14
published in 1999. My thanks
go to Adrian Balch, Terry Panopalis, Graham
Pitchfork and Mark Thomson for their help
with photographs.
Colour artwork:
Andy Hay – Flying Art
Designer:
Tom Bagley
Chief Designer:
Steve Donovan
Chief Content and Commercial Officer:
Mark Elliott
machine, which forged a long
career, culminating with combat
operations in 1991’s First Gulf War.
It was also used to help destroy
three damaged oil tankers, two in
South Africa and the infamous
Torrey
Canyon
in the English Channel. The
text contains new information and
the opportunity has been taken to
present many previously unpublished
or rarely seen photographs. These
will be of inestimable value to both
modellers and diehard Buccaneer
fans alike.
Tony Buttler AMRAeS
Author
Production Manager:
Janet Watkins
Head of Circulation:
Ann Saundry
Group CEO and Publisher:
Adrian Cox
Key Publishing Ltd:
PO Box 100, Stamford,
Lincolnshire, PE9 1XQ, United Kingdom.
Distributed by:
Seymour Distribution Ltd,
2 Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PP.
Tel: 020 7429 4000. Fax: 020 7429 4001.
Printed by:
Precision Colour Print, Telford
Printed in England
ISBN: 9781-912205-332
Former
First Gulf
War veteran
XX885/L
Hello
Sailor/Caroline/
Famous Grouse
goes vertical
over the
rugged Scottish
landscape in
1993. Its nose
art has faded
almost to non-
existence, but
the mission
tally is still clear.
Note the CBLS
100 practice
bomb carrier
under the
starboard wing.
(Key Collection)
www.keypublishing.com
BLACKBURN
BUCCANEER
3
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Rare colour photo
of two NA.39s flying
together, serials
XK487 and XK489.
(BAe Brough)
IN THE BEGINNING...
T
he Blackburn Buccaneer story
starts with the issuing in March
1954 of Specification M.148T
and Naval Requirement NR/A.39 (or
NA.39). These documents described
a two-seat, twin-engined naval strike
aircraft whose primary targets were
to be both shore installations and
major warships, such as the Soviet
Union’s Sverdlov-class cruisers. The
all-up-weight and dimensions of the
aircraft were dictated by the size of
the deck lifts in Royal Navy carriers.
The jet was to be 51ft (15.54m) long
and 20ft (6.10m) wide when folded;
an extensive array of weaponry/stores
comprised one 2,500lb (1,134kg)
target marker tactical nuclear bomb
(TMB), one Green Cheese anti-
ship homing bomb (subsequently
cancelled), four Red Angel (Special M)
bombs, 24 air-to-surface rockets, four
mines, two 2,000lb (907kg) armour-
piercing or four 1,000lb (454kg)
standard medium capacity bombs, or
a four-gun 30mm Aden pack (though
in the end the Buccaneer would never
carry guns). The avionics included a
search radar and a lightweight Doppler.
A high proportion of strike
operations was to be conducted at
low level and so the maximum possible
sea level speed was specified to be
at least 550kts (633mph/1,019km/h).
An in-flight refuelling capability was
required, along with a pack installation
that would also turn the NA.39 into
a tanker. Service entry was slated for
1960 and six designs were submitted
by industry.
B.103 nuances
Blackburn's design team led by Barry
Laight and Roy Boot proposed the
B.103, which introduced several
new or unorthodox features. One
was area rule, which resulted in the
Buccaneer’s characteristic waisted
bulges in the rear fuselage, and
which also provided more space for
stowing equipment.
Another new trait was integral
construction, where many of the
loads experienced in flight would be
absorbed by the skinning. Also, the
structure would use possibly the most
massive steel forgings yet seen in an
aircraft design. These spars inside the
inner wing would provide structural
strength, but their production to the
necessary close tolerances created
new problems in aircraft manufacture,
and questions of supply and machining
capacity within the entire UK industry
www.keypublishing.com
The first
Blackburn B.103
layout of 1953
had no area
rule, but that
changed as the
design matured
in readiness for
official proposal.
Though clearly
a Buccaneer
ancestor, this
was some
way from the
finished article.
(BAe Brough
Heritage Centre)
4
BLACKBURN
BUCCANEER
The first DB
aircraft, XK486
painted in
yellow primer,
undergoes initial
engine runs at a
snowy Brough
in February
1958, prior to
being moved to
Bedford for its
maiden flight.
A Beverley
transport
development
aircraft stands
behind.
(BAe
Brough via G
Pitchfork)
had to be addressed. Blackburn itself
acquired new heavy milling machinery
to help with the integral construction.
With all the specified weapon
loads to be carried internally, a
further new item was a hydraulically
operated 180° rotating bomb bay
door. Conventional hinged bomb bay
covers, and other arrangements, had
been rejected as unsuitable to release
weapons at the required high speeds,
though extra stores could sit under
the wings on pylons inboard of the
wingfold. The weapons bay could
also house an additional fuel tank or
reconnaissance cameras.
Perhaps the biggest innovation of all,
however, was the use of boundary
layer control (BLC). Technical reports
had shown the effectiveness of
‘increased air flow’ over the wing
control surfaces, thereby counteracting
break-away of the airstream, and
providing more lift. The advantages
of BLC for a naval aeroplane were
clear, since it offered lower approach
and take-off speeds, a reduced wing
area and span, and possibly the use
of smaller, lower thrust engines.
Exhaustive wind tunnel tests began
in April 1954 and it was ultimately
decided that the blow supply should
come from ‘bleeding’ jet air from the
engine compressors.
During the design process there was
the problem of providing sufficient
tailplane power for flight at low
speeds, but the solution was to use a
plain flap on the all-moving tailplane
in the opposite sense to normal – in
other words, the tailplane flap moved
upwards through the same mount as
the drooped ailerons moved down,
to counteract the very marked nose-
down trim change that occurred when
the ailerons were drooped. More
than 10˚ of difference between aileron
droop and tailplane flap led to loss of
longitudinal control. Eventually, BLC
was used over the flaps and ailerons,
the upper surfaces of the outer
The B.103 as
proposed to
Specification
M.148T. Several
modifications
were still
required to turn
this into the
Buccaneer S.1.
(BAe Brough
Heritage Centre)
A line-up of
Buccaneer
Development
Batch (DB)
aircraft at
Holme-on-
Spalding-Moor,
August 7, 1960.
Note the fin/
tail junction
on XK525
nearest and the
nose probe on
certain aircraft.
(BAe Brough via
G Pitchfork)
www.keypublishing.com
BLACKBURN
BUCCANEER
5

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