The prototype for the eventual production version flew in January 1956 and production aircraft were delivered in 1957. It saw service with the Royal Navy from 1958 until 1969, replaced in service by the Blackburn Buccaneer. The Scimitar stemmed from a number of designs from Supermarine for a naval jet aircraft, initially to a requirement for an undercarriage-less fighter aircraft to land on flexible "sprung" rubber decks, which would allow for a lighter and simpler structure. Supermarine's design to meet this requirement was the Type 505, featuring a thin, straight wing and a V-tail (or "butterfly tail") to keep the tail surfaces away from the jet exhausts, and to be powered by two Rolls-Royce Avon turbojets, mounted side-by-side in the fuselage. In 1948, the Admiralty had second thoughts about the undercarriage-less fighter and Supermarine reworked their design by including a nosewheel undercarriage, becoming the Type 508. The Vickers-Supermarine Type 508 was the first Scimitar ancestor and shared the layout of the Type 505, i.e. a twin-engined straight-winged type with a V-tail. Pitch control was by moving the whole tail, with elevators for additional pitch control when working in tandem and to replace the rudder on a conventional tail when working differentially. Ailerons were fitted to the wings for lateral control and leading and trailing edge flaps were also fitted to the wings. An order for three Type 508s was placed in November 1947. Although the Scimitar could operate as a fighter, the interceptor role was covered by the De Havilland Sea Venom and then the de Havilland Sea Vixen. The Scimitar itself was replaced by the Blackburn Buccaneer. The Scimitar was kept initially as a tanker to allow the underpowered Buccaneer S.1 to be launched from aircraft carriers with a useful weapons load. To save weight, the Buccaneer would take off with minimum fuel then top up from a Scimitar. Late in the Scimitar's operational career, examples were flown between 1965 and 1970 by the Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU) based at Bournemouth Airport (Hurn). The FRU was managed by Airwork Services and provided realistic flight operations for land and sea-based naval training units. Overall the Scimitar suffered from a high loss rate; 39 were lost in a number of accidents, amounting to 51% of the Scimitar's production run. For more details of the design, developpment, operational history and variants, click here.
