Fancy Your Own Airforce?

[Spin]

Sad to see, final disposal sale of the Thunder City fleet;

 

http://www.go-dove.com/event-15794?lcid=en

 

Wonder whether we'll ever see the Lightnings fly again? RIP Dave Stock[ATTACH=full]999[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

[willedoo]

Yes, Spin, a truly sad story there. And the Lightning, what an aeroplane, one of the real icons, we can only hope.

 

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[willedoo]

Just as a sidenote, Spin, are the Buccaneers all ex SAAF or are some ex RAF.

 

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[Spin]

Willie, I don't think any of the Thunder City Bucs are ex SAAF, I know there was a SAAF one on site, but that was on loan I understand and will probably end up back with the SAAF museum.

 

Edit: You got me thinking so I went and did a little digging, I see the S2B designation (as advertised) is for ex RAF aircraft as opposed to Royal Navy. The SAAF's Bucs were designated S50 and were essentially S2B's with a manual wing folding mechanism and the addition of rocket packs (RATO) for hot n high operations.

 

 

[Guest Michael Coates]

There must be 100 pieces of aluminium on the bottom of the wing, what a patchwork of manufacturing

 

 

[Spin]

There must be 100 pieces of aluminium on the bottom of the wing, what a patchwork of manufacturing

Probably the typical mixture of brilliance and bloodymindedness that characterises Pommie engineering.:)

 

 

[dazza 38]

Being a ex aircraft technician, im hoping there are ALOT of access panels under the wing making it look like patch work. The Tornado was fitter friendly, (compared to the F111).

 

 

[willedoo]

Willie, I don't think any of the Thunder City Bucs are ex SAAF, I know there was a SAAF one on site, but that was on loan I understand and will probably end up back with the SAAF museum.Edit: You got me thinking so I went and did a little digging, I see the S2B designation (as advertised) is for ex RAF aircraft as opposed to Royal Navy. The SAAF's Bucs were designated S50 and were essentially S2B's with a manual wing folding mechanism and the addition of rocket packs (RATO) for hot n high operations.

Thanks for that, Spin, I've never really followed the Buccaneers history apart from their original design brief as a ship killer. I suppose they used them in other roles as well. Had a quick read on them & see they had the same Spey engine as the British Phantom, different designation though, 101 & the Phantom, 202, don't know what the difference is. They certainly seemed to fit in the Buccaneer with a lot less modification than the F4, which involved a lot more of a re-design.

 

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[Spin]

http://www.saairforce.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2507&start=300

 

Gives a whole new meaning to "Can I take her for a test run..."

 

 

[willedoo]

http://www.saairforce.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2507&start=300Gives a whole new meaning to "Can I take her for a test run..."

Try before you buy, I guess the salesman must trust him. Good underneath shot there with the air brake deployed. Certainly an interesting design, I was recently reading about the boundary layer control & blown wing & tailplane setup. I guess they'd have a fair amount of titanium around the after fuselage with those exhausts the way they are.

 

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[Spin]

Certainly is an interesting set up, a bit counter intuitive needing high power when flying slowly - it also explains that enormous air brake. I remember that this complexity was one of the reasons there were serious reservations about Mike Beachy-Head stepping up from the Hunters and Canberra he already owned, to the Buccs and Lightnings. Especially considering the Canberra had already been written off, taking two SAA pilots with it. I guess times have moved on, Thunder City probably suffered a lower attrition rate than the airforces who flew these planes when they were new, but in this day and age, one loss is too many. Here's a link to a few photos taken by the lucky sod who got to ride along during the test flight.

 

http://www.flyafrica.info/forums/showthread.php?46174-Thunder-City-Buccanneer

 

 

[willedoo]

Here's a link to a few photos taken by the lucky sod who got to ride along during the test flight.

Nice shots, there must be a few people wishing they were in his boots. I read somewhere that the blown wing was originally to facilitate lower airspeed landings on the carriers, but maybe it helped the airforce as well.

 

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[Spin]

I think you're right about the BLC wings, seems the whole design was driven by naval requirements, eg folding wings and nosecone. I must dig deeper into the operational history; I have a book Phoenix Squadron by Rowland White (Vulcan 607) waiting for a quiet moment (whenever that might be:)) about a bit of gunboat diplomacy in Belize involving Buccs. I know too the SAAF deployed them in Angola, but not much is said about their exploits. Perhaps there is still a little reticence about where they acquired the laser guided weaponry and whether they were the intended delivery vehicle for the nukes?

 

 

[Spin]

http://www.avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=93734&start=75

 

Link I was sent of photos of a recent airshow in SA, including some good ones of the remaining Thunder City Buccaneer.

 

 

[willedoo]

A lot of good photos there, thanks Spin, much appreciated. Good to see the Buccaneer flying, a couple of nice shots of it with condensation there.

 

Cheers, Willie.