The Blackburn Buccaneer was designed as a pure ship hunter.
But, this aircraft proved its combat value in ground attack and designation roles during
its service time.
The Buccaneer had many fascinating features, which have made it popular in the eyes of
aviation enthusiasts.
It fought in the Middle East and South Africa.
Now, we are investigating the Buccaneer, one of the last purely British-design aviation
marvels.
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One of the largest aircraft deployed on the British aircraft carriers, the Buccaneer was
the backbone of the Fleet Air Arm ground strike force, including the nuclear strike during
its service time.
Also, the Royal Air Force trusted it for maritime-strike and low-level strike missions for a long time.
After Hawker Siddeley absorbed Blackburn, its name changed to Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer.
Still, everybody knows this aircraft as the Blackburn Buccaneer.
The Buccaneer was an answer to the growing Soviet Navy, which was now commissioning the
Sverdlov-class cruisers.
These well-armed and fast ships were threatening the Atlantic sea lines.
In the early 1950s, the UK decided to acquire a new strike aircraft to attack the surface
targets instead of building up a new fleet.
In 1952, The Royal Navy issued a detailed specification for a two-seat aircraft, which
would be capable of flying at 1,020 kilometres per hour at sea level, with a combat radius
of 740 kilometres at low altitude, and 1,500 kilometres at higher cruising altitudes.
It would have the capability of carrying a weapons load of 3.6 tons, including nuclear
and conventional bombs or the Green Cheese anti-ship missile.
In 1955, Blackburn, which had a deep-rooted tradition of designing naval combat aircraft,
won this tender.
While the company's work continued, the Green Cheese project was cancelled in 1956.
Due to the high secrecy of the First Cold War years, the aircraft was called BNA, which
was the abbreviation of Blackburn Naval Aircraft during the development phase.
Also, BANA, which came from the initials of Blackburn Advanced Naval Aircraft, was used.
The later codename paved the way for leading to the nickname "Banana Jet".
During the development process, the staff of the Fleet Air Arm closely worked with the
Blackburn engineers.
The first prototype made its maiden flight on April 30, 1958.
The carrier trials began in 1960 on the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious.
The Buccaneer entered Royal Navy service in 1962 and replaced all Supermarine Scimitars
by 1969.
The early model of the aircraft, the S.1 variant, had a pair of 32 kiloNewton de Havilland Gyron
Junior turbojets, which were underpowered.
So, the Buccaneer could not takeoff if fully laden with both fuel and armament.
The aircraft took off with a fully armed but minimal fuel, and then it refuelled during
the flight to overcome this problem.
The low trust-weight ratio also caused safety issues.
So, the Buccaneer was equipped with two Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines, which provided 40 per
cent more thrust and significantly lower fuel consumption.
Thus, the new variant called S.2 also had an extended range.
The Buccaneer S.2 became the first Fleet Air Arm aircraft to make a non-stop, unrefuelled
crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.
The engine nacelles were enlarged to locate the new engines.
It also caused some minor aerodynamic modifications on the wings.
All operational Fleet Air Arm Buccaneers converted to S.2 variant by 1966.
Some of them were modernized and redesignated as S.2D.
They could carry the Martel anti-radar and Sea Eagle anti-shipping missiles.
The Buccaneer S.50 used by the South African Air Force was an S.2 variant equipped with
Bristol Siddeley BS.605 rocket engines, which provided additional thrust for the "hot and
high" African airfields.
But soon, it was realized that these rocket engines were unnecessary, and they were removed.
It also had a strengthened undercarriage and higher capacity wheel brakes.
Different from the Fleet Air Arm's Buccaneers with an automatic wing folding system, the
S.50 variant had manually folded wings.
They could carry the AS-30 air-to-surface missiles.
The Buccaneer S.2B was the Royal Air Force variant that entered the service in 1969.
Actually, Blackburn had offered the aircraft to replace the Canberra in the late 1950s.
But, the Royal Air Force, which had sought a supersonic bomber, had not accepted the
subsonic Buccaneer and decided to invest in the TSR-2 Programme.
However, this project and its successor, the F-111K Programme, were cancelled.
Thus, the Royal Air Force eventually had to take the Buccaneers in its service.
These aircraft could carry the Martel anti-radar and Sea Eagle anti-shipping missiles.
By decommissioning the HMS Ark Royal, some Buccaneer S.2s of the Fleet Air Arm were also
transferred to the air force for the maritime strike role and renamed as S.2A.
They were modernized to S.2B standards and redesignated as S.2C.
The fuselage, wings and tail units were all-metal.
As mentioned before, the Buccaneer was also a nuclear bomber.
It could carry the 10 to 20 kiloton Red Beard bomb.
So, the bottom of the early aircraft's fuselage was white to reflect the nuclear explosion
flash.
The Buccaneer had a revolving bomb bay, which turned about the long axis of the aircraft,
exposing the weapon load mounted on what was effectively the inside of the single bomb
bay door.
This design allowed the bomb to be released quickly without creating a massive increase
in drag at low altitudes and high speeds.
The aircraft could also carry extra fuel, reconnaissance cameras, or a cargo container
in its bomb bay.
Thanks to the integrated flight control computer that performed auto-stabilisation and autopilot
functions, the Buccaneer was an easily controllable aircraft.
The aircraft had a new aerodynamic control technology, called boundary layer control,
which improved low-speed performance.
It bled high-pressure air directly from the engines, which was "blown" against various
parts of the aircraft's wing surfaces and gave almost 50 per cent more lift than other
contemporary designs.
The boundary layer control increased the carrier taking off and landing performances.
The Buccaneer was a big aircraft, but there were limited space and small elevators on
the British carriers.
So, the Blackburn engineers preferred a foldable nose cone design to solve this problem.
Also, the large tail cone could open and turn into two big air brakes, which reduced length.
During the development phase, it was observed that the moving T-tail caused extreme vibration.
A bullet was added to the tail's top to solve the problem.
While it took off on the catapult, the Buccaneer was pulled tail-down, which raised the nosewheel
in the air.
The early prototypes had a retractable in-flight refuelling probe.
But, the Buccaneer could not catch the refuelling hose because of the airflow created by the
aircraft's aerodynamics.
So, the production variants were equipped with a larger fixed probe.
The aircraft could perform 9-hours patrols by two in-flight refuellings.
South Africa and the United Kingdom were the users of the Buccaneer.
The Buccaneer S.2 had a length of 19.33 m metres, a wingspan of 13.41 metres, and a
height of 4.95 metres.
Its wing area was 47.82 square metres.
The aircraft's empty weight was about 13,600 kilograms, while its maximum takeoff weight
was about 28,120 kilograms.
Two 49 kiloNewton Rolls-Royce Spey Mk.101 turbofan engines provided a top speed of 1,070
kilometres per hour.
The aircraft had a range of 3,700 kilometres, in other words, 2,000 nautical miles.
It could climb to an altitude of about 12,190 metres, in other words, 40,000 feet.
The aircraft had four under-wing pylon stations, which could carry 5,443 kilograms of the ordinance.
The capacity of the internal rotating bomb bay was 1,814 kilograms.
The Buccaneer could carry the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air, AS-37 Martel anti-radar, Sea Eagle
anti-ship missiles, as well as different types of bombs and rocket pods.
During their Fleet Air Arm service, the Buccaneers did not fight in combat.
But, on March 28, 1967, they bombed the shipwrecked supertanker Torrey Canyon off the western
coast of Cornwall to make the oil burn.
It was an attempt to avoid an environmental disaster.
Also, in 1972, four Buccaneers, which took off from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal
positioned over 900 kilometres away from Belize, deterred a possible Guatemalan invasion.
Two aircraft performed tanker duties while the others were equipped with air-to-ground
munitions during this mission.
The Fleet Air Arm's Buccaneers constantly participated in regular patrols in the North
Sea against a possible Soviet Union aggression.
After 1978, the Royal Air Force took over the retired Buccaneers of the Navy and housed
them at the Lossiemouth Air Base for maritime strike missions.
These aircraft also deployed to some other oversea bases from time to time.
For example, the Buccaneers could control the whole North Sea from Bodø/Norway.
The airfields in Lista/Norway, Aalborg/Denmark, and Laarbruch/Germany were perfect to encounter
with the Soviet Baltic Fleet.
The Buccaneers, which took off from the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri, could attack Warsaw
Pact ships near the South Black Sea and Bosphorus.
The maritime strike was not the only duty of the Buccaneers of the Royal Air Force.
They were deployed in Germany for low-level ground attack and nuclear strike missions
in case of a possible Third World War.
In 1983, while France and the USA sent their aircraft carriers to protect their troops
in Lebanon, the UK deployed six Buccaneers to the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri for
the same mission.
On September 11, 1983, two of them flew low over Beirut as a part of Operation Pulsator.
It was a showoff, which bolstered the 100-strong British contingent's morale while deterring
possible attacks.
But, the Royal Air Force's Buccaneers were baptized with fire in the 1991 Gulf War.
Initially, these aircraft were assigned to the target designation role.
During the early stage of the war, the Royal Air Force used attack formations consisting
of four Tornados and two Buccaneers.
Each Buccaneer carried a single laser designator pod and acted as a backup to the other in
case of an equipment malfunction.
Approximately 20 road bridges were destroyed by Buccaneer-supported missions.
Later, they began to bomb airfields, bunkers and runways.
The Buccaneers also conducted many dive-bombing runs upon remaining targets of opportunity
in the vicinity.
On February 21, 1991, two of them destroyed two Iraqi transport aircraft on the ground
at Shaykh Mazhar airfield.
They performed 218 combat sorties and dropped 48 laser-guided bombs.
The South African had used the Buccaneers in combat long before their Brits.
But, their early maritime strike missions were not successful.
In 1971, the South African Buccaneers launched 12 AS-30 missiles at a stricken tanker, the
Wafra, but failed to sink it.
But, their ground attack career was legendary.
In 1981, the Buccaneers destroyed several radar stations in southern Angola.
Thanks to their long-range and heavy-load capacity, they were perfect for the ground
attack and close-air support roles over the overly-stretched front of the bush war.
The South African Buccaneers played an essential role in the Battle of Cassinga in 1978.
They repeatedly attacked enemy armoured vehicles and tanks and covered the withdrawal of friendly
ground forces.
The Buccaneers proved their precision attack capability countless times, but also they
were famous for being one of the nuclear-strike elements of the South African Air Force.
However, because of the UN embargo and their busy combat careers, these aircraft rapidly
wore out.
It reduced its operational safety.
For example, a Buccaneer, whose brakes failed, collided with a row of Impalas in 1982.
When South Africa retired the Buccaneers in 1991, only five aircraft had remained operational.
During the 1980 Red Flag exercises, a Buccaneer of the Royal Air Force lost a wing mid-flight
due to a fatigue-induced crack and crashed.
After this fatal accident, the Royal Air Force grounded the whole Buccaneers.
Then it selected 60 aircraft to be fitted with new spar rings while scrapping the others.
Even though the Buccaneers were not flying, the pilot continued their training with the
Hawker Hunter.
After modernization, the Royal Air Force had planned to use them until the late 1990s.
But, despite its success in the Gulf War, this tired bird could not resist the budget
cut caused by the end of the First Cold War.
The Royal Air Force retired the last of them in 1994.
After the retirement, Hawker Hunter Aviation rebuilt a Buccaneer to flying condition and
took flight permission in 2006.
But, it was brief happiness for aviation enthusiasts.
This aircraft is no longer airworthy.
The Buccaneer was one of the last examples of the purely British-designed and produced
jet combat aircraft.
It had a distinctive appearance, unique features, and a brilliant career.
The Buccaneer will always have a special place in the heart of aviation enthusiasts as a
true legend.
Thanks for watching our video.
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of our new videos.
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