Blackburn Buccaneer

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B-103 Buccaneer
Buccaneer S Mk.2B with Sea Eagle missiles
Type Strike aircraft
Manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft Limited
Hawker Siddeley Aviation
Designed by B. P. Laight
Maiden flight 1958-04-30
Retired 1993 (United Kingdom)
Primary users Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm)
Royal Air Force
South African Air Force

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.

It 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. A few Buccaneers remain in private hands in South Africa, and can be hired out for pleasure flights around the coast.

Contents

[edit] Design

RAF Buccaneer S Mk.2B XX901 in 1981. The wrap-around camouflage was applied as observers would often be looking at the undersides of the aircraft as it manoeuvred at extremely low level.
RAF Buccaneer S Mk.2B XX901 in 1981. The wrap-around camouflage was applied as observers would often be looking at the undersides of the aircraft as it manoeuvred at extremely low level.
Buccaneer airbrake detail
Buccaneer airbrake detail
Buccaneer S.2 landing on HMS Eagle
Buccaneer S.2 landing on HMS Eagle
Fleet Air Arm Buccaner landing on HMS Eagle with airbrake deployed
Fleet Air Arm Buccaner landing on HMS Eagle with airbrake deployed

The Buccaneer was designed to fulfil Naval Staff Requirement NA39 (Ministry of Supply Specification M.148T) issued in 1953 for a carrier-borne strike aircraft with a long range (430 nautical mile radius of action), capable of 610 knots at sea level, carrying an internal load of up to 4,000 pounds (including nuclear weapons) - below enemy radar - and attacking ships or ports. Blackburn's design by B. P. Laight, 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.

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 Buccaneer 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 that the Buccaneer had to operate bomb bay doors could not be opened safely into the air stream, therefore ingenious doors were developed that rotated into the fuselage to expose the payload. This was also useful in assisting ground-level access.

The first Buccaneer model, the S Mk.1, was powered by a pair of de Havilland Gyron Junior turbojets producing 7,100 pounds of thrust. 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 Mk.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 Mark 2 Buccaneer had completely replaced the Mark 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 Mk.2D. The remaining aircraft became S Mk.2C. Sixteen aircraft were built (and fifteen delivered) for the South African Air Force as the S Mk.50, Mark 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 Mk.2A. These joined 26 aircraft that had been built by Blackburn's successor, Hawker Siddeley for the RAF as the S Mk.2B. These aircraft were not navalised and, like the Mk.2A, had RAF-type communications and avionics equipment.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Variants

Preproduction build of 20 aircraft.

[edit] S.1

  • Original production model, 40 built
  • Powered by two Gyron Junior turbojet engines

[edit] S.2

  • From 1962
  • Conversion of the S.1, 10 by Blackburn Aircraft Ltd and 74 by Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd
  • Powered by the more powerful Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines
  • various improvements

[edit] S.2A

  • Ex Royal Navy aircraft, reworked for RAF use

[edit] S.2B

  • New build for RAF service, 45 (1973 - 1977)
  • Full fit, so it can carry the Martel anti-radar or anti-shipping missile

[edit] S.2C

  • Rebuild of Royal Navy aircraft, to S.2A standard

[edit] S.2D

  • Rebuild of Royal Navy aircraft to S.2B standard (operational with Martels from 1975)

[edit] S.50

A special South Africa-only version of the naval S.2, complete with folding wings, albeit no longer powered. An important change from the British version was the addition of 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.

[edit] Operators

[edit] Trivia

  • Two Buccaneers were featured in the Frederick Forsyth novel The Fist Of God, where they were assigned as target markers for the raid on the Al Qubai "scrapyard."

[edit] Specifications (Buccaneer S.2)

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

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 63 ft 5 in (19.33 m)
  • Wingspan: 44 ft (13.41 m)
  • Height: 16 ft 3 in (4.97 m)
  • Wing area: 514.7 ft² (47.82 m²)
  • Empty weight: 30,000 lb (14,000 kg)
  • Loaded weight: 62,000 lb (28,000 kg)
  • Powerplant: 2× Rolls-Royce Spey Mk 101 turbofans, 11,100 lbf (49 kN) each

Performance

Armament

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

[edit] External links

[edit] Related content

Comparable aircraft

Designation sequence

Related lists

See also

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