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Blackburn Buccaneer

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The Blackburn Buccaneer was a British attack aircraft serving with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. It was widely regarded as one of the finest low-level strike aircraft of its day.

Design and development

In the early 1950s the Russian Navy introduced the Sverdlov class cruiser into service. Light cruisers by World War II measure, they were nevertheless fast, effectively armed, and numerous. They presented a serious threat to the merchant fleets in the Atlantic, similar to the German pocket battleships of the war, but in far greater numbers and over 25% faster. To counter this threat the Royal Navy decided to act "asymmetrically", countering the Sverdlov's not with a new ship class of their own, but a new specialised strike aircraft employing conventional or nuclear weapons. Operating from their Fleet Carriers , attacking at high-speed and low-level, they would offer a low-cost solution to the Sverdlov problem that could be built in any needed quantity at a relatively low cost.

A detailed specification was issued in June 1952 as Naval Staff Requirement NA39, calling for a two-seat aircraft with folding wings, capable of flying at Mach 0.85 at 200 ft, having a combat range of over 400 nm, and carrying a nuclear weapon internally. Based on the requirement, in August 1952 the Ministry of Supply issued specification M.148T, and the first responses were returned in February 1953.[1]

Blackburn's design by B. P. Laight, Project B-103, won the tender. Due to secrecy, the aircraft was called BNA (Blackburn Naval Aircraft) or BANA (Blackburn Advanced Naval Aircraft) in documents leading to the obvious nickname of "Banana Jet". The Buccaneer was a mid-winged, twin-engined monoplane with a crew of two seated in tandem under a sliding canopy. In order to meet the demands of the specification the Buccaneer featured a number of novel and advanced design features. The fuselage was area ruled; meaning it was designed to reduce drag at transonic speeds. This gives rise to the characteristic curvy "Coke bottle" shape. It featured a variable incidence tailplane that could be trimmed to suit the particular requirements of low-speed handling or high-speed flight. At the low-levels and high speeds traditional bomb bay doors could not be opened safely into the air stream, therefore doors were developed that rotated into the fuselage to expose the payload. This was also useful in assisting ground-level access.

Buccaneer airbrake detail
Buccaneer S.2 with wings folded
File:15 Phantom landing on Eagle Mediterranean Jan1970.jpg
Buccaneer S.2 landing on HMS Eagle

The small wing of the Buccaneer is suited to high-speed flight at low level. Such a wing, however, does not generate the lift that is essential for low-speed carrier operations. Therefore, the wing and horizontal stabiliser are "blown" by bleeding compressor gas from the engine through surface vents. A consequence of the blown wing is that the engines are required to be run at high power for low-speed flight (in order to generate sufficient compressor gas for blowing). Blackburn's solution to this seemingly counter-productive situation was to provide a large air brake. The tail cone was formed from two leaves that could be hydraulically opened into the airstream to decelerate the aircraft. The nose cone and radar antennae could also be swung around by 180 degrees to reduce the length of the aircraft in the carrier hangar. This feature was particularly important as contemporary British aircraft carriers were particularly small.

The first Buccaneer model, the S.1, was powered by a pair of de Havilland Gyron Junior turbojets producing 7,100 pounds of thrust. [2] This mark was somewhat underpowered, and as a consequence could not take off fully laden with both fuel and armament. A temporary solution to this problem was the "buddy" system; aircraft took off with a full load of weaponry and minimal fuel and would sortie with a Supermarine Scimitar that would deliver the full load of fuel by aerial refuelling. This was not an ideal solution however, as the loss of an engine during take-off could have been catastrophic, and the Gyron Junior gave a poor range due to high fuel consumption. The long term solution was the S.2, fitted with the Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan, providing 40% more thrust with a greatly reduced fuel consumption. The engine nacelles had to be enlarged to accommodate the Spey, and the wing required minor aerodynamic modifications as a result. The S.2 Buccaneer had completely replaced the S.1 by November 1966.

With the introduction of the Martel air-to-surface missile, Some Mark 2 aircraft were converted to carry it, and became S.2D. The remaining aircraft became S.2C. Sixteen aircraft were built (and fifteen delivered) for the South African Air Force as the S.50, S.2 aircraft with the addition of Bristol Siddeley BS.605 rocket motors to provide additional thrust for the "hot and high" African airfields.

When the Fleet Air Arm's fixed-wing operations ended in 1978, 62 of the 84 Buccaneer Mark 2 aircraft were transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF) as S.2A. These joined 26 aircraft that had been built by Blackburn's successor, Hawker Siddeley for the RAF as the S.2B. These aircraft were not navalised and, like the S.2A, had RAF-type communications and avionics equipment.

Modifications

British aircraft were given upgrades during their lifespan. Self-defence was improved by the addition of the AN/ALQ-101 ECM pod, chaff and flare dispensers and the Sidewinder missile. RAF low-level strike Buccaneers carried what was known as "retard defence"; four 1,000 pound retarded bombs internally that could be dropped to provide an effective deterrent against any following aircraft. They were able to operate the AN/AVQ 23E Pave Spike laser designator pod for Paveway II guided bombs and act as target designators for other aircraft. From 1986 No. 208 Squadron RAF used them with the Sea Eagle anti-ship missile.

Operational history

The Buccaneer entered service in 1962. In addition to conventional ordnance, in 1965 the Buccaneer was type-approved for nuclear weapons delivery ie the Red Beard and WE177 bombs. All nuclear weapons were carried internally.

The Buccaneer saw war service during the 1991 Gulf War when examples were rushed to the area to provide a laser designation capability for British aircraft, and dropping small numbers of laser-guided bombs themselves. It left Fleet Air Arm service with the decommissioning of HMS Ark Royal in 1978, with the remaining examples being transferred to the RAF. The last squadrons were disbanded in 1993.

South Africa was the only country other than the UK to operate the Buccaneer, where it was in service with the South African Air Force from 1965 to 1991.

Variants

RAF Buccaneer S.2B XX901 in 1981. The wrap-around camouflage was applied as observers would often be looking at the undersides of the aircraft as it manoeuvered at extremely low level.
Buccaneer
Preproduction build of 20 aircraft.
Buccaneer S.1
First production model, powered by the Gyron Junior turbojet engines. 40 built.
Buccaneer S.2
Conversion of the S.1 with various improvements and powered by the more powerful Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines. From 1962 10 were converted by Blackburn Aircraft Ltd. and 74 by Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd.
Buccaneer S.2A
Ex-Royal Navy aircraft reworked for RAF.
Buccaneer S.2B
Variant for RAF squadrons. Fully equipped and could carry the Martel anti-radar or anti-shipping missile. 45 built between 1973 and 1977.
Buccaneer S.2C
Royal Navy aircraft upgraded to S.2A standard.
Buccaneer S.2D
Royal Navy aircraft upgraded to S.2B standard, operational with Martels from 1975.
Buccaneer S.50
Variant for South Africa. Wings could be folded but folding was no longer powered. Aircraft could be equipped with two single-stage rockets (see RATO) to assist take-off from hot-and-high airfields like that of AFB Waterkloof in Pretoria, where the type was mostly based.

Operators

Retired Buccaneer S.50 at South African National Museum of Military History
File:14 Phantom landing on Eagle Mediterranean Jan1970.jpg
Fleet Air Arm Buccaneer landing on HMS Eagle with airbrake deployed, January 1970
 South Africa
 United Kingdom

Survivors

  • Three Buccaneers are still airworthy in 2008, all three are privately owned and located at ThunderCity in Cape Town. These aircraft can be rented for private flights.[3]
  • In the UK a Buccaneer (S.2, XX885) is being rebuilt to flying condition by Hawker Hunter Aviation, it was granted UK CAA permission to fly in April 2006. [4]
  • A number of Buccaneers in the UK are in fast taxiing condition and several more are being rebuilt to taxing condition.[5] [6]

Specifications (Buccaneer S.2)

Data from: The Observer's Book of Aircraft [7]

Orthographic projection of the Blackburn Buccaneer
Orthographic projection of the Blackburn Buccaneer

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2

Performance

Armament

  • Up to 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) of ordnance carried in the internal bomb bay and on four underwing hardpoints

References

Notes

  1. ^ Blackburn Buccaneer, spyflight
  2. ^ Green, 1964. p. 430.
  3. ^ ThunderCity Buccaneer page
  4. ^ Blackburn Buccaneer.co.uk, XX885 page
  5. ^ XX894
  6. ^ XW544
  7. ^ Green, 1968. p. 136.

Bibliography

  • Green, William. Aircraft Handbook. London. Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1964.
  • Green, William. The Observer's Book of Aircraft. London. Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., 1968.

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blackburn Buccaneer.


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