Spin Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 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] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willedoo Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Yes, Spin, a truly sad story there. And the Lightning, what an aeroplane, one of the real icons, we can only hope. Cheers, Willie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willedoo Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Just as a sidenote, Spin, are the Buccaneers all ex SAAF or are some ex RAF. Cheers, Willie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Michael Coates Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 There must be 100 pieces of aluminium on the bottom of the wing, what a patchwork of manufacturing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 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.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazza 38 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 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). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willedoo Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 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..." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willedoo Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willedoo Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willedoo Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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