Description
On April 2nd 1962, the first Blackburn Buccaneer took to the air, the first below the radar aircraft in the world. Powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey engines, the Buccaneer was capable of Mach 0.95 at sea level. Rolls-Royce Speys replaced the original de Havilland Gyron Junior engines. The Buccaneer was designed to carry a nuclear weapon and deliver it at sea level, three miles off target. The weapon would be released and the aircraft would then perform a 6.5g pull-up to 40,000 feet. The Buccaneer was the only automatic kit, at all other times the aircraft was flown manually. Buccaneers were equipped with a variety of weapons from cannons, rockets, bombs and flares. The Buccaneer was highly thought of by all who worked on and flew them and were undoubtedly the best low level strike aircraft ever built. The name Buccaneer lives on in Elgin - as does XW530. A truly amazing sight to be forgotten, printed from an original oil painting by Guy Davidson.