The 'Banana' Bomber |
 |
|
This page was last updated:- 3rd September 2004 |
||
| This article has been written by: Tony Exelby of 'Tiger Squadron', (The support group for the 'Old Flying Machines Company' based at Duxford) |
||
The 'Banana' Bomber |
|
|
This page was last updated:- 3rd September 2004 |
||
| This article has been written by: Tony Exelby of 'Tiger Squadron', (The support group for the 'Old Flying Machines Company' based at Duxford) |
||
| Introduction The British Aviation Industry has many times produced military aircraft that have not lived up to expectations caused by restriction of various governments or lack of interest in the board room but there is one British post-war military jet which was so right it was magnificent, I refer to the mighty Blackburn NA.39, Buccaneer S.Mk.1 and S.Mk.2. In the early 1950's when the cold war was reaching it's zenith the Soviet Union started putting into service a planned fleet of 24 Sverdlov class heavy cruisers displacing 17,000 tons, armed with twelve 5.9 inch guns, twelve 3.9 inch guns, missile launchers and thirty two anti aircraft guns they could achieve a speed of 34 knots and had a fire control system superior to anything we or the Americans had to offer at that time. Although only half of the planned fleet entered service they were still a big thorn in the Royal Navy's side and a method had to be devised to deal with this problem. A Naval Requirement NA.39 was drawn up in 1953 to outline the Navy's need for a strike aircraft capable of carrying nuclear and conventional stores, of flying at 200 feet under enemy radar, at 550 knots with a radius of more than 400 miles, carrying a weapon load of 4000 lbs and being able to detect and destroy enemy shipping. The primary weapon would be a guided nuclear bomb called Big Cheese designed to be used against Naval targets delivered by toss delivery and also a free fall device named Red Beard being developed for the Royal Air Force I understand these names were taken from winners in horse flat racing, but this never has been confirmed. The Navy's requirement was ambitious when considering low-level attack was still a fairly new concept, one in which the R.A.F did not hold much faith. This requirement was circulated to a number of British Manufactures and after the usual government delay Blackburn Aviation were awarded the contract, unusual in the respect that they were only were producing the Beverley transport which was not exactly rocket science technology. The Blackburn Design The dimensions and weight of the aircraft would be dictated by the size of the Royal Navy's flight decks and in particular the deck lifts which resulted in the folded dimensions of 51 feet long for the fuselage and a wingspan of 20 feet with a maximum take off weight of 45,000lbs. The requested range and weapon load dictated a large aircraft with plenty of internal fuel and an internal weapons bay which resulted in a twin-engined aircraft with two crew - an observer being required due to the high workload involved in the dedicated missions. Due to the weight of the aircraft and the small flight decks of Navy carriers the predicted landing speed caused some problems but Blackburn had heard of a system called 'Boundary Layer Control' (BLC), where hot air is bled from the engines and blown over the wing flaps, wing leading edges and tail plane to increase air flow and produce more lift. The technology was very new but was to Blackburn's credit that they went ahead with the idea. The problem with BLC is that the engine rev's have to be kept high which means a fast approach speed, but by turning the rear fuselage area into a split air brake and drooping the ailerons, a reduction in landing speed of 17 kts was predicted. The other requirement was for an internal weapons bay to hold four 1000lb bombs in the non-nuclear role but a conventional bay door was not suitable for high-speed delivery so the idea of a 180-degree rotating door was conceived with the weapons carried inside the door. It also made for easier maintenance and could accommodate an extra fuel tank for ferrying purposes. The airframe had to be very strong to withstand low altitude flight in the transonic range, so being constructed around three large frame spiders, which literally clamped the two engines together, and the use of integrally machined skins and wing ribs the aircraft gained its immense strength. The aircraft was also unique in using area rule on the fuselage, the object of this is to smooth the airflow so reducing drag - illustrated by the large bulge in the rear airframe. Several types of flight refuelling probes were tried including two very neat retractable designs but these caused the tanker basket to be pushed away from the probe by a bow wave effect while refuelling, so a very cheap, crude fixed but removable probe was cobbled up and it worked perfectly. Another interesting design feature was the use of a miniature detonating cord or M.D.C. in the canopy. Being a Naval aircraft the Buccaneer had not only to cater for ground and airborne ejection's but also the under water ejection following a ditching. It was thought that with the heavy canopy off the cockpit would quickly fill with water and the crew would drown. So a plastic explosive strip was fitted into the canopy in a wavy pattern over both the pilot and observers heads, when the ejection sequence was initiated the M.D.C. would shatter the canopy allowing the crew to eject through it safely. This coupled with the Martin Baker 'Zero Zero' (Zero Speed, Zero Altitude) ejection seat gave the Buccaneer an unrivalled survival system, the M.D.C innovation was later adopted by the Harrier, Jaguar, Hawk and Tornado. The engine chosen to power this beast was the Bristol Siddeley Gyron Junior Mk 101 producing 8,000lbs of thrust but as will be seen later this engine had a serious problem. First Fight The project was important enough to call for the construction of 20 development aircraft and the first aircraft XK486 did ground runs at the Blackburn's Brough factory in March 1958 but the short runway precluded the Buccaneer to take off, so it was decided that the first flight should be from R.A.E. Bedford in April 1958 - the aircraft being dismantled and transported by road hidden from prying eyes by a large shroud. While carrying out the first taxi runs, test pilot Derek Whitehead had a problem with over heating brakes which caused the tyres to burst and damaged the wing area but due to the efforts of the repair team, on April 30th she took to the air and all went well especially the air brake as when deployed, it slowed the Buccaneer down so much the chase Meteor overshot its quarry. Blackburn's were very pleased with aircraft's performance, especially since the first flight had been only 36 months after the production contract was placed. All flights for further aircraft were to be taken at Blackburn's test airfield at Holme-on-Spalding Moor and to emphasise the Naval aspect of the project, arrestor gear was installed on the runway along with a mirror landing sight: all aircraft being taken by road from the factory at Brough to Holme-on-Spalding Moor. Evaluation Trials Carrier trials started in January 1960 having been put back some months due to the loss of XK490 caused by getting into a stall at very low altitude while flying very slowly, the aircraft crashed in the New Forest with both crew killed. The first carrier landing being carried out on January 19th by Derek Whitehead in XK523 on H.M.S. Victorious, no problems were found with the aircraft and a total of 31 flights were carried out. The aircraft, which was known as the N.A.39 was officially, named the Buccaneer S.Mk.1. in August 1960 a particularly apt name for a Naval aircraft. A second crash was suffered in October1960 with loss of the aircraft but not the crew the cause being failure of the artificial horizon. Controller Aircraft release was obtained in July 1961 at which point the Royal Navy's 'Intensive Flying Trials Unit' 700Z based at Lossiemouth H.M.S. Fulmar got its first Buccaneers and started to formulate operating procedures for the aircraft, the job of the unit being to fly as many hours on the Buccaneer S.Mk.1 as possible. RNAS Lossiemouth being blessed with good weather and lots of low-level routes it was now the Navy pilots who found out how good the Buccaneer was at high speed and low-level. Initial deliveries were in the F.A.A. (Fleet Air Arm) scheme of extra dark sea grey upper surfaces and white undersides with standard roundels but a later scheme was introduced of anti flash white overall with pink and pale blue roundels in line with its nuclear role, although the original scheme had reappeared by 1964. Buccaneer S.Mk.1 Enters Service The first FAA Squadron to form was No. 801 followed by No.809, which was the training Squadron being followed by No.'s 736, 800 and 803. The Navy while having a superb aircraft at low-level; high speed; with excellent range; and a good radar in 'Blue Parrot', did have a problem with the S.Mk.1, namely a lack of power from the Gyron Junior engine. The aircraft could not take off from a carrier in certain conditions, carrying a full bomb load with maximum fuel; it had to be topped up from a Scimitar F.MK1 tanker. In fact some Sea Vixen and Scimitar pilots converting on to the S.Mk.1 found it almost pedestrian and there were several instances of aircraft dropping over the bow of a carrier on launch due to engine problems. Due to some handling problems during catapult launching, primarily pilot induced, a hands off launching technique was introduced where the pilot would not have control until in the air, his right palm being placed on the canopy before the deck launching officer would clear the launch. The Uprated Version While the S.Mk.1 was entering service Blackburn's were already looking at a Series 2 aircraft with a more powerful engine and improved systems. They decided on the Rolls Royce Spey already being used in the Trident and BAC 1-11 airliner, which gave 11,380 lbs. of thrust with improved fuel consumption and only a small increase in weight. The increase in airflow caused by the larger engine created an enlargement in the intake and exhaust size, the lack of power was solved over night. Buccaneer S.Mk.2 Enters Service The S.Mk.2 program was made public in 1961 the first S.Mk.2 XK526 being a S.Mk.1 conversion its first flight being on 17th May 1963 flown by yet again Derek Whitehead. Despite the extensive Changes to the S.Mk.2 flight testing went very smoothly and full production S.Mk.2's started to roll off the production line from the summer of 1964 and its entry into service was marked by a fly past over Trafalgar Square on October 18th 1964. The Navy had now got an aircraft in the low-level strike role that was second to none and the Navy crews loved it. With the S.Mk.2 Buccaneer entering service in 1964, the S.Mk.1 was relegated to training duties but that was not without problems as the earlier version still suffered from a lack of power and caused some scary moments for trainee pilots on their first carrier launch. It is interesting to note that there never was a dual-control training version of the Buccaneer; several Hunter T-8's were used for conversion training having a similar instrument panel to the Buccaneer installed in the left cockpit. So after five simulator flights, a pilot notes examination and five sorties in a Hunter, the student climbed into the front of his Buccaneer while the instructor sat in the back with his checklist, and no control over the aircraft whatsoever, and off they went. These were called FAM 1 trips and in 35 years of operations only one aircraft was lost on a FAM 1 and that due to a mechanical fault; the observers were trained along the same lines but at least they had an experienced pilot in the front office. No. 700B Flight was formed at Lossiemouth in April 1965 to be the Buccaneer S.Mk.2 'Intensive Flying Trials Unit' and when its tasks were completed it became No. 801 Squadron and had the task of bringing the S.Mk.2 into Squadron service embarking on H.M.S. Victorious in May 1966. Altogether there were six F.A.A. Buccaneer S.Mk.2 Squadrons these being No.'s 700B, 736, 800, 801, 809 and the little known 803 which was mainly concerned with trials of new weapons and systems for the Navy. The colour scheme of the S.Mk.2 started off as extra dark sea grey with white undersides full colour roundels and white serials, later in service the scheme was changed to all over grey with full colour roundels and serial codes in pale blue. However after 1972 the roundel was changed to red and blue low vizability. No. 736 was the training Squadron based at R.N.A.S. Lossiemouth and at its peak used 8 S.Mk.1's and 12 S.Mk.2's, it's first S.Mk.2 arriving in May 1966. Although entry into service had been relatively fault free the Navy lost its first S.Mk.2 when XN979 of 801 Squadron crashed into the sea off the Lizard, in June 1966. Boscombe Down blamed pilot error and an A & AEE (Aircraft & Armament Experimental Establishment) test pilot was dispatched to prove the point but had the ignominy of crashing in the sea some 20 seconds after a carrier launch. It was found that a critical pitch up and stall had occurred caused by airflow disruption around the wing tanks and stores stations. After fitting a revised fairing between the wing and 'Slipper' tank plus changing the launch procedure so the undercarriage was left down until the pilot had control, instead of being retracted immediately after launch - although under certain conditions the launch could still be interesting. Introduction of the 'Martel' Missile System The weapons fit of the S.Mk.2 was S.N.E.B. rocket pods, free fall bombs of up to 1000lb, BL755 cluster bombs and the Red Beard nuclear device. Wishing to update their anti shipping role the Navy decided to have the Buccaneer S.Mk.2's fitted with the French Martel stand off missile in T.V. guided and anti radar mode. The aircraft had to be strengthened to accommodate four of the 1100lb missiles and the inner weapons pylons had to be moved away from the fuselage to allow the undercarriage doors to open without hitting the missile. The only real problem was where to mount the TV display in the rear cockpit, a solution was found when the redundant unit from the cancelled GD F-111K was fitted to the floor between the observer's legs, it was not the ideal position but the best available. The missile was fitted with a 330lb semi-armoured warhead with a range of 12 miles and its flight path was controlled by the observer via a control stick. A typical launch profile would be for the Buccaneer to fly towards the target at 200ft and launch at 10 miles the missile then climbed to 2000ft, at about 2 miles to run the observer would take over control to guide the missile to target and miss distances were within 10 feet of the target area. While the Navy were rushing around showing off the S.Mk.2 to everyone and scaring a few ships by doing attack runs on them, sweeping past below their superstructure, the aircrew looking up, the ships crew looking down, a dark cloud was forming over the Fleet Air Arm. The Labour government had decided in 1966 that the Navy did not require carriers, the maritime defence role being given to the R.A.F., immediately cancelling the proposed CVA-01 carrier and announcing the fixed wing element of the FAA would be phased out in 1974/75. Royal Air Force Service Begins Having lost the superlative TSR-2 due to a malicious attempt by the Labour Government to bring the British aircraft industry to heel with accusations of serious cost over runs, then ordering the GD F-111K and subsequently cancelling it, blaming cost overruns, the R.A.F were left in a serious predicament, no modern attack aircraft for future service. In July 1968 they were given an offer they could not refuse, 26 brand new-build Buccaneer S.Mk.2B's were ordered to replace the F-111, similar to the Navy version but with increased range in accordance with its land based role, this was followed by another order for 17 aircraft. With no new-build aircraft yet available the Navy and 736 squadron were given the task of training the R.A.F. crews. An R.A.F. unit was formed at Lossiemouth with 3 pilots, 2 attack instructors and 3 navigators these guys being the back seaters while the Navy called them observers. All were R.A.F. officers who had flown the Buccaneer with F.A.A. Squadrons and because of this increase in training, several S.Mk.1's were taken out of storage to supplement the S.Mk.2's. The graduating crews were headed for the first 2 R.A.F. Squadrons based at R.A.F. Honnington these being No. 12 formed in October 1969 and later No. 15 formed one year later in 1970. With the rundown of Navy fixed wing aviation ex-Navy Buccaneers were transferred to the RAF, being designated S.Mk.2A's in recognition of their previous Naval pedigree and swopped their extra dark sea grey for semi gloss grey and green with light grey undersides and full colour roundels. 'Shiney Twelve' was tasked with the maritime strike role, taking over from the Navy - although how they would accomplish this from an immobile carrier moored off Europe, has always eluded me. The RAF story now gets into gear with No.15 moving out to RAFG Laarbruch, West Germany in early 1971 being joined by No.16 in 1972. The cold war was very frosty at this time and the Buccaneers were loaded with the new WE 177 nuclear store of which it could carry two and in a clean configuration the radius of action was 400 to 500 miles but could be extended with wing tanks which would have been jettisoned in a war situation. With the F.A.A. Buccaneer conversion unit running down at Lossiemouth, the R.A.F. had to take over their own training and so in March 1971 237 OCU (Operational Converstion Unit) was formed at RAF Honington. At this time the RAF planned on having six frontline Squadrons but this was never realised, the UK's Buccaneer force peaked in 1978 with five Squadrons which included No. 809 aboard Ark Royal, the R.A.F. forming their final Squadron No. 208 in July 1974; and then came Red Flag. Red Flag Red Flag is a large scale training exercise using the large ranges roughly about the size of Switzerland near Nellis Air Force base in Nevada. The first deployment being in August 1977 with 10 aircraft from 208 Squadron. The Squadron totally astounded the Americans with their low flying agility and on succeeding exercises still beat the best the Americans had to offer. The Buccaneers flew so low between 50 and 100 feet, the only way the Americans could see them was by the dust blown up from the desert floor by the jet efflux - scrapping the desert surface with a wing tip was not unheard of. A lot of lessons were learnt by the R.A.F. over Nevada, an all over camouflage scheme was needed for serious low level work, along with chaff dispensers and a self-defence missile. While all this was going on, the final F.A.A. Squadron No. 809 was disbanded in December 1978 all of its aircraft being transferred to the R.A.F. A fifth Buccaneer Squadron No. 216 was planned with the release of the last Navy aircraft. Specialising in laser guided bomb delivery their aircraft carrying a Pave Spike designator pod under the port inner pylon, only the Matra configured aircraft could be used as the system required a TV screen. The Squadron was working up to operational strength when in February 1980 a Buccaneer crashed taking part in a Red Flag exercise, XV345 was involved in a fatal accident caused by a failure of the starboard wing. On examination it was found the front spar had failed and all Buccaneers were immediately grounded. On inspection of the fleet back in the U.K. it was found that two thirds of the fleet suffered from the same problem. It was decided to repair 60 of the remaining 90 aircraft and the grounding order was lifted in July 1980 - continuation training being carried out using Hunter T-7's. 'Maritime Strike' moves to RAF Lossiemouth With Honington becoming the Tornado weapons conversion unit, the UK-based Buccaneer force moved back to Lossiemouth, representing N.A.T.O.'s only dedicated maritime strike attack force, the aircraft being armed with Pave Spike and 1000lb laser guided bombs and later the Sea Eagle a true fire and forget anti-shipping missile which had four times the range of a Martel. The Buccaneer has carried out too many roles to cover in this article, its work over Beruit in 1983 backing up UK Forces in that city giving our troops a much needed morale boost. Its participation in Desert Storm designating for Tornado GR-1's to improve the standard of precision bombing, the 12 aircraft taking part were camouflaged in a Desert Pink scheme being sent out to Muharraq, Bahrain carrying some of the best nose art seen for many years. The End of an Era Sadly it all came to an end with the Tornado coming into full service. The Buccaneer fleet was finally retired on 31st of March 1994 with No. 208 Squadron becoming a Hawk unit. The Tornado has not proved as popular with its crews as the Buccaneer, its low level ride is bumpy, compared to the old Banana machine, its range is not as good and it needs afterburner to get moving. There was never a dull moment flying a Buccaneer it was demanding, sweaty and sometimes scary but very satisfying. The affection for the aircraft felt by its crews can be summed up by an R.A.F. Officer who stated the only replacement for a Buccaneer was another Buccaneer! So why you may ask was it nicknamed the 'Banana' bomber well with all the secrecy surrounding the project in its early days it was referred to as merely 'BNA' for Blackburn Naval Aircraft or 'BANA' for Blackburn Advanced Naval aircraft which lead to 'Banana Jet'. The Navy loved it, the R.A.F. never wanted it, but when they got it they could not get enough. Well done Blackburn. |
