As Fast As Bucc - The Blackburn Buccaneer

[@combatwombat2134]

Talked to an old Buccaneer pilot in a pub once. The bar stool was giving him altitude sickness.

[@davefrench3608]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ThePaulv12]

boom boom

[@gowdsake7103]

Was on Leander when one of these did a wingover between the masts

[@MrHrannsi]

I did talk to one at a hotel bar in Cambridge, and he indeed did apologize that he had to sit on the floor.

[@robertbetz8461]

As a yank I was stationed in balmy England from 81-93. I was an aircraft mechanic who managed to go to several airshow as a mechanic. The buccaneer put on amazing performances. My last encounter with a Buccaneer was on a ferry from Sweden to Felixstowe with my new Volvo. Two of them buzzed by at who knows how fast. Most unexpected and fleeting thrill of my life.

[@marklittle8805]

You looked down on them from the deck I am sure.....they never flew too high

[@thebonesaw..4634]

19:40 - _"At 500 feet, cows have legs. At 200 feet, sheep have legs. At 50 feet, dogs have legs. _*_Any lower than that and you weren't looking at the animals anymore."_*

[@gusframe2259]

When Blackburn was a child, someone threw a rock at him, and in that moment, the inspiration for Blackburn aircraft was born .

[@jonhunter8737]

He also fell out of a tree regularly, also explaining the Blackburn/gravity issue

[@jcameronferguson]

Blackburn Rock 😂

[@egaroadkill8701]

While camping in the mountains one weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing a Bucc flying at a blistering pace a few feet off the ground up the incline straight at me. I just happened to be sitting against an old apple tree at the top of the ridge realizing there was no time to escape. The Bucc then blasted its way over the tree and on up the ravine. The apple rain was a big bonus. We made pie

[@davewilson4493]

An ex-RN friend of mine once told me about a US-UK naval exercise he'd been part of, where the lead US ship crew was somewhat perturbed when the first indication they had of an incoming aircraft was when a Bucc shot across their deck at high speed and bugger-all altitude. Regarding your experience, I had a similar but briefer one when I was almost cresting a hill while walking in Yorkshire, when what I *think* was a Jaguar hurtled a few feet over it from the other side.

[@134StormShadow]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@johnatkinson7126]

​@@davewilson4493very unsettling walking up Ingleborough and a,tornado flashes past ...... beneath you

[@DavidMartin-ym2te]

Everything is better with pie....

[@DanielsPolitics1]

Re the apples: Statutory authority to employ HM Forces on agricultural work remains in force, and deliberately so, I think as the only remaining actual saved Defence Regulation (although some powers were re-enacted in a more limited form). I do not think they had in mind this method of harvesting.

[@MsZeeZed]

16:00 - The idea of Blackburn being allowed to create a nuclear capable anything is terrifying and we all should be relieved they entirely missed WWIII as well.

[@TrixterTheFemboy]

WWIII? Excuse me?

[@CWargh63]

@@TrixterTheFemboy Bit of a brew up, had you not heard?

[@TrixterTheFemboy]

@@CWargh63 I've heard that there is a war going on, I had not heard it was getting big enough to maybe start a world-wide one

[@everTriumph]

The Beverley had plenty of room for the biggest Nuclear Bomb!

[@20chocsaday]

Blackburn and Capable in the same sentence ! Woo

[@rogerwhittle2078]

My favourite Buccaneer story comes from PRUNE - Professional Pilots Rumour Network. On one of the Military Aviation Forums a guy was recounting his own Buccaneer encounter. He was one of the pilots of an Avro Shackleton (four engine maritime anti submarine/shipping bomber of 50's/60's and he was complaining about Buccaneer antics. "Operation Bombex, midnight, north sea, 50ft amsl (above mean sea level) 210knots, bomb doors open and one of you bastards flew underneath us!"

[@timbirch4999]

That's ballsy!

[@hawkeye681]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👌🏻

[@20chocsaday]

Using the Shackleton as cover or something to distract the oppo's radar.

[@bartybollocks]

Try 70s, 80s

[@mogzybuster]

@@bartybollocks Combine the two, 51-91, first in anti-submarine and maritime patrol then finishing with 8sqn in AEW role, both remaining buccaneer squadrons 12 and 208 shared the same base at the end of their respective careers at RAF Lossiemouth, north Scotland. Buccaneer display practices were always a hoot, I was on 208, in the late 80's, I like to think the pilots always relaxed a bit during display practice because they didn't have to be vigilant for rogue waves. It was a beast to work on, but like most planes of the era, designed to fly but not engineer friendly.

[@darkknight1340]

That the company which built such aviatory incompotent carbuncles such as the Roc,produced,arguably,the finest low level strike aircraft ever,is worthy of a damned good letter of commendation to the Daily Telegraph.

[@chriscarter5720]

In the late 1980s I was an RAF officer based in Scotland and a private pilot flying from RAF Lossiemouth. My aircraft, like all private aircraft was equipped with a VHF radio. The Buccs blasting cross country at low level carried UHF radios. The ATC at Lossie had both frequencies ganged together so that while the controller heard both ends of a conversation, the Bucc crews and I could not hear each other's transmission. All of which leads to a day when I was bimbling around the Lossiemouth area at about 1000ft (and 100 Kts) and I hear the Lossie controller say (RAF Callsign, for the sake of argument 'Trilux'), 'Trilux. You have one light aircraft, 12 o'clock range one fife miles.' then, 'Standby.' I knew who he was talking to so I'm already looking out - and down. Then, 'Golf, Romeo Charley, Lossie, confirm height.' I confirm and get told to maintain altitude. By the time he has relayed my info to the Buccs I have spotted them and, seconds later, they pass under me tooling along at 500 kts. I watch them go, unbelievably envious.

[@PinkBalaclavaGuy]

I’m sending this to my Grandfather!! He flew the S.1s and would love to watch this. You da best L_HR. ❤.

[@storminben]

As Bob Blackburn was actually my great Uncle I should have hated this slating of the family legend. However your delivery, wit and factual content mean i actually loved it. . My favourite story from Red Flag was that when approaching a hill the tailplane of the Buc was visible before the plane itself. As a result the technique was devised that involved rolling inverted and then pulling back as they crossed the crest. At the time the traditional paint scheme was camouflage upper and sky blue underside. When inverting this flash of blue underside was the only way the Americans spotted the Buc as they were at what they considered low level and looking up to try and find them! Subsequently the paint scheme was changed to all over camouflage

[@taotoo2]

Maybe rolling inverted was to prevent the post-crest ballooning caused either by the inability of the plane to push the nose down quickly, or the pilots' dislike of the resulting negative G.

[@iamtehmunkie]

I used to encounter these as a kid along with shackleton AEW's, sometimes the Bucc's appeared to be between the trees rather than over them. I'm trying to recall the old saying about the take off procedure, something like "Rotate, Retract the undercarriage and descend to operating altitude".

[@ThePaulv12]

Wow. This was most edifying. The BB was a serious piece of kit. 9g, cruise @ 550kts @ sea level, reliable, good looking, adaptable, decent load, rotary bomb carrier, good at aerial refueling, fuel efficient, good range, good looking, oh did I mention it was good looking - what a thing. I thoroughly enjoyed this vid.

[@the_unrepentant_anarchist.]

As a yorkshireman, I applaud your excellent travel ad for our fine county. 🍄

[@patttrick]

I always thought it was named after the famous football teem.

[@the_unrepentant_anarchist.]

@@patttrick What was named after the famous football team, Yorkshire?? You might be thinking of cricket mate- but if you're talking about the Buccaneer, then I believe *that* was named after the popular 70s children's toy featuring a gold-mining donkey. (But I could be mistaken about the last one...) 🙂 🍄

[@brucemcc2303]

He forgot to mention Yorkshire's mighty fine shrooms, er I meant puddings. Or did I?

[@the_unrepentant_anarchist.]

@@brucemcc2303 Yorkshire's 'shrooms are indeed mighty, both in potency and size, but Welsh 'shrooms are *much* more abundant, so you end up with a kind of 'swings and roundabouts' compromise. But I'd rather forage in the beauty of God's Own County than half way up a wet Welsh mountain any day of the week! ❤ 🍄

[@viking1236]

I think he means The Peoples Republic of South Yorkshire, not the whole county.

[@EdwardBothamley]

Loved seeing Sheffield in this one. The hole in the road brings back memories

[@coxfuture]

I could listen to the wise and venerable Lord Hardthrasher talk about anything, be it airplanes or ancient history. Excited for the future videos!

[@Jakedarkforce]

Same.

[@Salty1952]

Ditto

[@fenrir_ai1849]

Saw this video come out, rang my boyfriend at 2am at night and got into a call to watch this with him together. We both love your content, keep it up m'lord

[@HavokTheorem]

kawaiiii

[@ArthurTanner-d7s]

If you want a good Buccaneer story look up their antics in the Red Flag exercises (war games). They embarrassed their allies in much more modern and supposedly more capable aircraft more than once.

[@davehallam3894]

The footage of the bucs buzzing those ships always gives me the chills. They are so low it's almost unbelievable.

[@jonofalltradesmasterofnone832]

My late father passed out of RAF Cosford in 1958 and went on to serve until 1972 joined Ferranti and took me and our family to Pretoria SA in 1975 so he could support the Buccaneers at Waterkloof amazing aircraft they flew all the way there none stop with inflight refuelling.

[@rebreaville9332]

Ok, I have some things to politely add. Since it may seem that I’m being petty, I adore this channel. I found it yesterday and am wasting way too many of my remaining hours (I’m 65) gawking at it (very happily). The F-111 was faster than the Buc. On my only F-111 flight, we went down into the low level from 17,000 ft and went supersonic with the wings back in idle power. …idle power (in case you missed it). The 111 loafed around at 500 knots and needed no encouragement at all to go 600+. Also, the TFR hands off ‘hard ride’ at 100 feet was…! I was an exchange officer on EA-6Bs during Desert Storm. The RAF Tornado guys exercised against our ship (USS JF Kennedy) one fine day before the shooting started, and went by at deck level (50 feet’ish). VERY IMPRESSIVE. But we thought they were all going to die, because no one was going to live long on the deck in Iraq. The Tornados were dropping JP223 runway denial weapons and the damn things had to be dropped out of a low level attack. After the ‘bad start’, the Tornados called up Kennedy to get EA-6B jamming/HARM escort. We tanked off VC-10s, followed them in, and they routinely got shot at (a lot). One of my worst missions was on RAF duty, but we all “Stayed Calm and etc” as an SA-2 blasted by. Fond memories?! Air Wing 3 on Kennedy was an old air wing with the last of the A-7s. The A-7s were a murderous lot, were lethal with laser bombs, and generally embraced the war (with great enthusiasm). We were told to check the targets assigned to USS Saratoga’s F/A-18s because they were dropping visual bombs from 20,000 feet with meager results. I heard the A-7s call out, ‘Yeah, the bridge is still up”, and then “Ok, the bridge is down.” a few times. The old jets (Bucs, Intruders, A-7s, etc) were highly refined with systems that reliably worked during DS. Wasn’t surprised to see that the Bucs got called in to lase and that it worked. The video of the Tornado low flying over the desert was on an awesome Saudi training route. We flew it several times while waiting for the war to start. We had an F-14 with us for various reasons. Watching the Tomcat do its thing in formation was eye-watering. Although I was a USAF F-4 WSO at this time, my exchange tour with the USN was amazing. I got over 70 traps, flew in a war, and shot missiles at SAM sites several times on behalf of the RAF. Carrier ops are for the brave (or the stupid, in my case) and things can easily go wrong. Hats off to HardThrasher for a great video.

[@HardThrasher]

A-7s were awesome bits of kit! On the list for a future for sure. The RAF's decision not to go for the F-111 was really because of cost and the usual British MOD approach of 'it's great but can we have it in pink with gold plated seat covers' and then baulking at the price - see the Ajax vehicle when there's perfectly decent AFVs from all over the place we could get for a lot less. There's no question it was a better platform than the Bucc but the Bucc was there and 'good enough' - or so it was supposed.

[@HardThrasher]

PS - today the lads from Lenningrad do their stupid parade through Moscow to mark the end of WW2. I for one just want to tip my hat to the US for our 80+ year partnership. Thank you guys for everything you've done and everything we will do together in the future.

[@rebreaville9332]

@@HardThrasher Cheers!

[@purecountrypork]

Your narration and humor is a wonderful pairing, making the content entertaining and accessible to those of us who love to learn new things. Good job sir.

[@AviRox1154]

The improvements in sound quality are amazing! So glad to see you finding the success you deserve.

[@HardThrasher]

Very kind of you

[@theoccupier1652]

I spent around 6.5 years out of 10 years in the mob on the flight deck of HMS Ark Royal R09 .... the Bucc was awesome, I have seen them launched and be recovered and BUZZ the Ship thousands of times ... You Never Forget just how Awesome and incredible it was to work on the flight deck of a True Aircraft Carrier with incredible aircraft (Gannet included)

[@HardThrasher]

That's so cool, thank you for sharing!

[@tonynorris9139]

There was an apocryphal story from Desert Storm about Buccaneer pilots arguing whether to fly through the camel's legs or over the humps - whatever, the US airforce never managed to best the Buccaneer in any Red Flag exercises.

[@wbertie2604]

In some of the footage from those exercise you can hear those trying to track them gasp as at very low altitude they pull steep banking turns with their wingtips probably (and I saw the video a very long time ago, so allow me some hyperbole) 6 feet off the desert.

[@20chocsaday]

​@@wbertie2604 Skill.

[@gowdsake7103]

Vulcans were much the same

[@AnagramAutoclassics]

@wbertie2604 The trick was to lift, then turn the wing under and drop again. Over water we'd occasionally lose something off an outer pylon if we weren't careful rolling back.

[@Mr-Trox]

To be fair to the USAF, much like the rest of the US military, they don't play war games to *win.* They play them to learn what to do when things go to shit or when under conditions that, while not entirely likely, are useful to know what to do in them. It's why you hear about Swedish diesel subs "sinking" US carriers, or Rafales "shooting down" F22s in war games. They restrict the crews in, sometimes, ridiculous ways. That's not to disrespect the skills of the ones who performed those maneuvers, not at all, it's just an explanation for why it happens. I don't know if that applied *every* time the USAF flew against the Buccaneer in exercises, but I know it 100% did by the 80s and 90s.

[@robincole1140]

You're a brave man to mention TSR2 my lord. Hope the comment section survives.

[@richardvernon317]

He will be an even braver man if he makes a video that tells a truthful story of what happened and not the story pushed out by the Daily Mail and the Daily Express!!! Somebody really needs to make a video called "The Operational Requirement" and then take one say for the Cancelled Aircraft T, explain exactly what that document means in the light of the world at that time and the show how Aircraft T couldn't do it but Aircraft A could. Three years move on and most of the reasons for Aircraft T and Aircraft A having been selected have gone due to changes in both National and International alliance policy's that resulted in Aircraft B which was rejected right at the start being able to meet a new operational requirement as laid down in PLAN R!!!

[@dave_h_8742]

​@@richardvernon317Did TSR2 get cancelled around the same time as a certain Canadian Avro aircraft ?

[@dave_h_8742]

​@@richardvernon317Smelling a conspiracy for American aircraft.

[@richardvernon317]

@@dave_h_8742 Smelling the fact you know cock all about aircraft!!!!

[@imperialinquisition6006]

@@dave_h_8742TSR-2 had potential but it was kind of screwed by a massive initial, and then ever changing list of requirements. It would’ve been great if it was revised into some sort of more conservative, fast, upgradable recon aircraft or something like that, but it seems that technology may have been a bit behind, for the requirements, even if it was forward for the time. So while very unfortunate and likely handled badly, the cancellation doesn’t make zero sense. Of course the follow up was silly. Decided on F-111s, decided also too expensive, and it might’ve had something to do with problems the US and also Australia would encounter, though of course it did eventually become a great aeroplane. Instead the RAF got the Buccaneer(a pretty good aircraft) regardless, as well as Phantoms from the US(so there’s the American conspiracy I suppose, but it was a good aircraft). Of course the RAF eventually got the Tornado which fulfilled many of the TSR-2s requirements.

[@jaclroberts]

The Gulf War Buccs were not just 208 Sqn - 12 Squadron crews, aircraft and engineers went also, the detachment was officially a Buccaneer Wing detachment. (I was a 12 sqn rigger SAC at the time!)

[@Salty1952]

Absolutely top notch video! I congratulate as much on your humor as on your wide grasp of flying. I loved flying low and slow aircraft, but being low and screaming along would be a blast! Kudos to the guys lucky enough to do it. And kudos to Blackburn for finally building a remarkably good aircraft in the Buccaneer.

[@stuartwald2395]

My two most vivid thoughts about the Buccaneer (as an American who never saw them fly): first, when I was in junior high school, I read General Hackett's first fictional history about the Third World War (in 1985), and later his supplement/sequel. It included discussions about the Buccaneer (then being replaced by the Tornado), that pilots said it was not constructed, but "carved out of the solid" (as a compliment, if that was not clear!). Second, in a video over the past year, Dr. Clarke was discoursing about the Swerdlov cruisers, how they were designed to be independent commerce raiders and outgun convoy escorts (like more numerous versions of panzerschiffen), but also that no new ships were designed by the RN (or USN) to counter them because the Buccaneers would have fulfilled that role.

[@jimtaylor294]

Re' the Sverdlov class bit; partially yes, though the other reason that Cruisers fell out of favour post-1950's was due to budget cuts & disagreement within the RN as to what they wanted most with the smaller budget. Whether to retain Vanguard and the KGV's was part of that discourse, as even a single Battleship could - as WWII had proved repeatedly - comfortably slaughter a multiplicity of Cruisers at about ten miles further out than the Cruisers could even hope to make a reply 😂 . (plus most postwar Cruisers had very little that could actually hurt a Capital Ship at any useful range) That; and the then most recent Tiger class's development had been a protracted technical & political mess, which hadn't helped.

[@mpersad]

I must have been an odd child as I did have a picture of a RN Bucc, landing on a carrier, on my bedroom wall! Terrific video of one of my favourites.

[@stephenchappell7512]

You weren't alone 🥴

[@richardvernon317]

Had one of a Phantom taking off from the Same Carrier as well.

[@stephenchappell7512]

@@richardvernon317 That's gotta be the Ark as she was the only one to deploy the F-4's operationally although they flew off the Eagle too on trials

[@richardvernon317]

​@@stephenchappell7512 Indeed, the Ark is the only Carrier I've ever seen until this year. Did a boat trip around her in 1980 at Plymouth, just before she was scrapped. Both paintings by Michael Turner if memory serves and found both of them in my Mothers loft a couple of days ago (very much worse for wear. Saw PoW in the Dockyard going over the Forth Bridge a couple of times a couple of months ago.

[@stephenchappell7512]

@@richardvernon317 The QE's are fine ship's too which unfortunately have been hampered by inter-service rivalry with the RAF being gifted with the F-35 despite these being ordered for the sole reason to equip the carrier air-group

[@Michael-oy3pz]

Greetings from Australia 🇦🇺 Just found this bloody brilliant gem of a channel and can’t wait for your next instalment. Well done mate

[@grahamariss2111]

Thank you for this, a refreshing change from the rose tinted tales of perfection and the mythology that surrounds this period and the TSR2 in particular. As someone who has had the difficult job to cancel a number of failing big budget IT projects, it is amazing how prior to cancellation you can get no commitment on either delivery date or functionality. However once it is cancelled people are queueing up to tell you how they were just at the moment they were about to deliver something that was measurably superior in every way to what you have bought instead, if only you had stuck with them. Any way you missed a couple of key points on the Bucc. First is the fact that with little work on other than the Beverly in the 50s, they used their skills manufacturing Bread Bins for domestic use. The other is that the Bucc was not the Navy's first choice, of the designs submitted the one they wanted taking forward to prototype was Armstrong Whitworth's AW168 (something that looks like product of a Meteor getting a good rogering from an A6 Intruder). However at the time AWA's factories in Coventry were busy building Sea Hawks, Hunters, Javelins and soon the Argosy as well as a busy car industry in the city, so the Ministry of Supply steered the deal to Blackburn who had little in work. No doubt the Buccaneer was successful in its role and showed what was possible if you did not try to do it all and at Mach 2 i.e TSR2 and F111. I think the same would have also been true of the AW 168 which had the added advantage as its engines were mounted under the main spar structure not through it as on the Buccaneer which would have made the installation of the bigger diameter Spey (both designs used the Gyron Junior) both easier and so resulted in a much less compromised installation. I wonder just how good the Buccaneer could have been had the RAF committed to an S3 version with a spar structure enlarged to accommodate a Spey properly optimised for Mach 1 at sea level in a more efficient installation. Along with a non folding wing that is both lighter and offering more fuel space. Finally a fuselage stretch to minimise transonic drag now they no longer had to squeeze it onto the Royal Navy's deck lifts. Fitted with an off the shelf all weather nav attack system, I.e, licence built version of the A6 Intruders system it would have had 9/10th of the Tornado capability with longer legs over a decade earlier.

[@geoffreyentwistle8176]

I am ABSOLUTELY here for this! Entertaining historians are an absolute joy to listen to, and you definitely fall in that category. XD

[@waitingforanalibi2224]

How to make history interesting.👍

[@20chocsaday]

Yes, it was a good one.

[@davidkelley5382]

Indeed

[@robertcooke9299]

Your lordship - seeing this has certainly made the evening far more interesting! Cheers

[@JonathanJBoyle]

As a young boy of 9 or 10, I was on the beach at Durban, when 6 SAAF buccs made a training low level incursion to Durban. What a magnificent sight it was ( This was in about 1969). Bloody lovely plane. A mate of mine (from Newcastle) was a navigator on one during Desert Shield, flying at 10-15 ft above the dunes in Kuwait / Iraq. He loved it.

[@bigblue6917]

The pilot climbing out of the aircraft at 19:44 was Blackburn's test pilot. He did the first carrier landing when the other three pilots decided the weather was to bad to try it.

[@jamestullett6215]

There *is* a dual control Blackburn - the Blackburn B2, which is currently with the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire.. It was intended as a trainer aircraft for the RAF.

[@HardThrasher]

This I did not know!

[@desmo750f1]

⁠@@HardThrasher Shuttleworth also has the Blackburn Monoplane from 1912, it is the oldest flying British aircraft and it flies very well.

[@jimtaylor294]

^ ...and so much more! (damn good collection) The NA-39 was also partially tested at the RAE in Bedfordshire, and pictures of this can be found online. Indeed; Concorde (the British test prototypes thereof) had some of her testing done there too.

[@pedropenduco3180]

On exercise with the RAF in Scotland in the late '70's, I was told by the crew of a Rapier battery that the Bucc was the only aircraft they couldn't score a kill on. The thing was just too low & too fast - they couldn't track it!

[@andyf4292]

ive seen video of a rapier tracking a B2, you know, the completely invisible B2.... they could have picked out which engine they wanted to hit

[@ganndeber1621]

Rapier did so well in the Falklands, not@@andyf4292

[@simong9067]

The first NA 39 prototype is said to have been chiselled from the solid by hand at Brough and the hammers could apparently be heard as far away as Brantigham on a quiet night. Production machines were however forged from specially cast billets in the Don Valley and transported to Brough for milling out, final assembly and putting on the transfers.

[@Aeronaut1975]

First time on this channel, lured by the Bucc, was not disappointed. As a fellow Brit, I love the way you talk and embelish your lines with humour, which is remminiscent of Douglas Adams'. Subscribed.

[@Posty-vw9jc]

Just discovered your channel and can’t get enough. Absolutely fantastic content.

[@Rickkennett143]

Any channel that mentions whippets -- if ever so briefly -- has my subscription.

[@billywindsock9597]

A cracking video about a great aircraft. Always make a point of staring lovingly at the Duxford Buccaneer whenever I go.

[@frankgonzalez607]

During the introduction to your video, I was somewhat taken back by your "outlandish style" and format (not the four letter words though). My initial thought was "Ah Monty Python Does Military Aviation History" and seriously thought about quitting at around the 4 minute or so time stamp. But in the end I decided to give your presentation a change and stuck with it. Mostly because I knew of the Buccaneer's reputation and that it had a good history. I was very well satisfied in the end. I learn new things about the Buccaneer and was highly impressed both with the Buccaneer and you style as well. Excellent work. I will definitely look at your other video, especially the English Electric Lightning (saw one at Duxford) and possible others. By the way, I must say that I am perhaps better at wood working than your admission with same, as my wife has made gardening demands that I cannot evade. The deer guard for her tomatoes and green beans worked exceeding well, though it didn't quite keep out insect pest. My winter project is a Keyhole garden structure.

[@Tech_Renegade]

I'm enjoying these quite a bit. In fairness to Blackburn, the requirements for the Firebrand changed several times and it's remarkable the end result was as good as it was.

[@HardThrasher]

Like, it was a living nightmare for all involved - and they did produce a very decent aircraft in the end, but ye gads was there some messing about

[@wbertie2604]

Don't mention the Firecrest.

[@tra779]

Great video! I was a kid during Desert Storm and was obsessed with the Tornado. I didn't really care about the Buccaneer until I heard a few stories from pilots talking about it's escapades at low level and found a whole new love for it. I'm lucky enough to live close the RAF Cosford where they have a TSR2 so I'm interested to hear what you have to say about it!

[@20chocsaday]

A geography teacher at school spoke about TSR2 for some reason and said it would be a one way trip. Hadn't thought about the people before. Only the terrain following type of attack they would do. Now we have cruise missiles.

[@robertricketts5467]

I think I read somewhere that it was so we'll designed that pilots said that it almost took the fun out of low-level flying.Brilliant video Thrash,thanks.

[@maxiggy8069]

Im so happy to see you delving into Cold War era English aircraft. The Blackburn Buccaneer was one I was always curious about.

[@brianetchieson5958]

Definite echoes of Adams and Rankin in your narrative style. Excellent as always, sir.

[@HardThrasher]

Flattery will get you everywhere

[@uranium_beaver]

As always too good for this platform. Thank you!

[@jonathanlee5907]

Ha! My Dad chucked relief supplies (and other things) out of the back of the Beverley in the 50’s/60’s before becoming an army pilot. I didn’t know until recently that it was a powered conversion of the giant Hamilcar glider. Which would explain a lot.

[@iceman7975]

As a kid of the 70s I used to enjoy seeing the Buccaneers fly past and fast over the Gibraltar runway,as your video footage shows at RAF Gibraltar. Elegant looking aircraft.

[@badhippo]

Lord Hardthrasher, my third favourite form of thrashing.

[@wkcia]

Today I learned the origin of a Yes Minister joke; the one where Bernard thinks “Lossiemouth” is a dog food when Sir Humphrey threatens to send him there as punishment

[@watsisbuttndo829]

I work with a guy here in australia that was in the RAF and he was standing at a crossroads as to wether to re-enlist or get out when he found out his next posting would be lossiemouth. He's had a very diverse civil aviation career!.

[@buzz2b2000]

Loved that jet, as a sumpy on Bucc's on both XV & 16 sqns out in Laarbruch, later working on on Tonka's

[@joyousmonkey6085]

Yet another jewel of a video from his Lordship. Everything from a solid forward defensive to a dashing late cut, and all served with salmon and champagne.

[@wideyxyz2271]

Saw 2 Buccs at Woodford in the early 80s when I was an apprentice tin basher. They were in for some engine work. We also got to look around a military 748 and a Nimrod armed with 2 wing mounted sidewinders and a fookin enormous bomb bay! I seem to remember one of the Buccs had a crossed sabers emblem on its side!

[@treanttrooper6349]

The Buccaneer is my favourite Jet Bomber in WarThunder bar none, it is SO FAST and i LOVE the countermeasure pods that shoot sideways, like mini AC-130 angel wings

[@chrisstrawn4108]

Dad flew A-4s during his first VN cruise. 0.95 Mach at that altitude, loaded, is NUTS. Those were incredible pilots and credit where it's due-- the Buccaneer was a solid strike ("Attack" in 'Merican) A/C. Well done sir! Here I was thinking everything Brit Navy postwar not labeled "-Fury" sucked.

[@barbaraanneneale3674]

I can't watch your videos while drinking a beer. I have never laughed out laughd as much At A History video. At the same time they are informative And very well done. informative and very well done.

[@paulrutter5330]

How well I remember the impact of seeing a Bucc at 500+ knots, scream down the centre line at an airshow at HMS Daedalus / Ariel in the 60s - heading for the Isle of Wight, and tearing the air asunder - once seen, never forgotten. Magnificent bus, which later rattled my married quarter windows in West Germany in the late 70s!

[@ingihrannar8781]

I'm delighted to see this new video from, on such an interesting topic as well. Gratitude, your lordship

[@Ade2bee]

ex-208 ground-crew here. I worked on Buccaneers in the mid 80s, and she did her job. Well, I was proud to Serve and work on them. Loved the dry humour and honest breakdown. I don’t think you’ll get a perfect Aircraft because goalpost keep moving

[@Birch12430]

Honestly my favorite channel now, can't wait to watch on a flight tomorrow

[@RoadToad123]

Another fine video sir. When I was a callow youth the Buccaneer not a popular aircraft among my fellow planes nerds because a) it wasn't a Phantom which looked well hard and went like a banshee and b) because it wasn't the TSR2 which clearly was going to be the greatest aircraft ever built and we all thought we were robbed of seeing in service by scheming politicians. My view of this was reinforced by my father who had done some consultancy work (although it wouldn't have been called that then.) on one aspect of the plane and he was utterly convinced that cancellation of that plane was due to a number of dark forces and brown envelopes and not the fact that the whole project was the very definition of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Anyway that is for another day if you decide to do a video on the TSR2 & God help you if you do.. I only really appreciated the Buccaneer after the Gulf War and the reveal of those Red Flag videos. Anyway if you're doing more planes Fairy Battle next please and then maybe the Natter.

[@wbertie2604]

Prior to the TSR-2 being cancelled (we're talking 1963 here) the Royal Navy made it clear it was happy with its Buccaneers plus some F4s. Then the RAF pointed out that the TSR-2 was supposed to fly strike missions in support of the V-force, but they were going to retire the V-force in 1970 and the TSR-2 wasn't going to be in service before 1970 so could they please have something cheaper or with a bigger bombload rather than TSR-2, but a dozen or so for reconnaisance would be OK. Then the government worked out how much building just a dozen was going to cost and cancelled it. If it had been on time (1965 service date) then that would have saved it but the whole aircraft industry got reorganised in the late 1950s and early 1960s so everything went sideways. In the end, some of the TSR-2 roles got rolled into the Tornado after it turned out the F-111K wasn't going to deliver. The Tornado was also designed to be an all-weather interceptor, so a sort of Javelin replacement, and supersonic so covering some of the Lightning roles.

[@Kaname1981]

Loved it came looking for a vid on the buccaneer for help with war thunder but stayed and watched most of your videos love them all keep it up good sir

[@stevenlauzon7031]

This gives my miserable self something to look forward to. Thanks you Lord Thrasher

[@IAmTheAce5]

Reminds me of one of my favorite gags from HOT SHOTS!! ‘For your information I’m at 150 feet’ ‘I’m at 3rd and Main’ [car traffic level]

[@jimdavis8391]

My goodness this is a pleasure to see on this foul vapourous Saturday evening! Carry on!

[@HistoryofEverythingChannel]

As always, loved it.

[@chrisdevine7878]

I know I have come a bit late to this gem, but I feel that I have to comment anyway. Having been brought up less than a Lightening’s range from the Brough aircraft factory and drunk and been drunk many times at the featured Buccaneer pub as a teenager, it was nice to have a very local story for a change. It’s also worth mentioning that the Brough railway station shown only existed to ferry the factory employees in and out and take executives to London. Every train to and from Hull still stops there which does mean we have ridiculously good rail links to the rest of the county with a commute time of less than 3 hours to London. Unfortunately, it does mean that Brough has become a commuter town with house prices of a 4 bed house with 2 gardens and a drive at less than a bus shelter in Knightsbridge.

[@adamelliott2302]

Thanks!

[@HardThrasher]

Oh wow, thank you!

[@FL-by9xz]

My father was a sooty SNCO and part of the detachment that went to Cyprus in ‘83, from Lossie, as mentioned at 21:48. The detachment tshirt had a suitable pic with the slogan ‘Beirut Buccs, through not over!’. Great days. Even better days - Laarbruch 16 Sqn, 73-76, with added Cold War awesomeness.

[@indigohammer5732]

As a kid in Glasgow there was a display in George Square featuring half a BB. I got to sit in the cockpit and I was fired out of a Buccaneer's Martin Baker ejector seat. It was a trainer fired by compressed air up a rail. Always liked the BB.

[@simonthompson1099]

Great and quirky video, I enjoyed the 1980's pub scene intercut idea! Good factual material summarizing the history of a very interesting aircraft.

[@richardcooper9417]

The Gyron Junior engine was designed by Ray Stoward. He told me that the engine had never been designed to provide air for the blown flaps. This meant that the engine was seriously short of wind when it needed to spool up rapidly, hence the dreadful performance in an overshoot.

[@Chronohome]

Lord HardThrasher, my heart positively sang when you called the PBY Catalina "a beautiful aircraft". This plane does not get enough love, and neither do you.

[@skrunk409]

Genuinely pleasant content. Keep it coming, mi Lord

[@Lenderz]

Keep up thrashing 🎉

[@HardThrasher]

Thank you so much!

[@davidforbes7772]

Quite a few years ago, I was living in Scotland. My work involved being on the tops of hills a lot in areas where Buccs would routinely fly up the valleys several hundred feet below me. One always had to look down to see them rather than up.

[@itsyaboithanos717]

Another lovely video! well worth the waiting time

[@chunkblaster]

VERY excited for the TSR2 video

[@HardThrasher]

Bear with! Will be a while!

[@chunkblaster]

@@HardThrasher Im along for the ride brother, take your time 👍

[@mitchellminer9597]

Marvelous video. Amazing aircraft.

[@albin2232]

It's a great aircraft. They're very impressive when you see one up close.

[@RoaroftheTiger]

It's been a long time ago; 1993 to be exact. But my Favorite "BUC" was on display at the RAF Museum in Croydon. She had the Lovliest "oriental" Lady painted on Her as Nose Art.

[@michaelleslie2913]

Another fine aircraft almost by accident from the Blackburn ee by gum it actually flys aircraft company. Loved the film and look forward to seeing the next one my lord 👍

[@colinritchie1757]

Oh my Dear man , I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this video , as I'm sure you can guess ! - I do hope you found some of the Red Flag videos of the Buc force making the US defenders look very silly - Post Viewing Comments -Marvellous, a wonderful tribute to a superb aircraft , and to Mr Vernon, I appreciate your comments and your are clearly far better informed that I am , nevertheless I have spent a very long time reading and studying military aircraft so cut me a little slack

[@richardvernon317]

You really don't have a clue what was going on in those videos do you. The Videos were not filmed from US SAM systems. They were filmed from US Threat Emitter training equipment which were very close US Copies of Soviet Equipment. Like the Soviet systems they copied, they didn't have automatic target acquisition systems. The operator had to hold the target in the cross hairs for a short while for the automatic tracker to lock on and any form of counter measure very easily broke that lock (chaff or active ECM). The Buccaneers did have ECM pods at this time. The Americans playing Red Forces on Red Flag, didn't play American, they played Russian tactics and doctrine. Had those missile trackers been the latest NATO stuff at the time, those Buccaneers would have been dead.

[@bigal3055]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnPPgZyenZZ2nrc There's this clip of the RAFs Buccs doing what Buccs did and hugging the tree line at an altitude helicopter pilots would call 'enthusiastic' at the Maple Flag exercises in the early 80's. The F4 having a crack at the same trick afterwards and difference in altitude between it and the Buccaneer is quite remarkable.

[@bigjo66]

I'm a bit young to remember their service but seeing them when they did their fast taxi runs at Bruntingthorpe was a sight to behold. One of my favourites.

[@zigzog7]

Actually if we’re doing dubiously good aircraft, I’d love a video on the IL-2 or the I-16

[@HardThrasher]

Sadly I know very little about Soviet aviation, however I beleive my main man Animarchy is working on something right now.....

[@Holland41]

And what about the Lockheed F104 Starfighter, an absolute dog of an aircraft, sold in vast numbers mainly via governmental corruption.@@HardThrasher

[@mookie2637]

@@HardThrasher Dammit, I thought you were doing something on the MiG23....

[@bogatyr2473]

I actually am one of those kids who loved the Buccaneer. Ive always had an inordinate love of airplanes that flew very low stupidly fast. Planes that navigate via roads and dodge trees. The Ukrainian SU-25s are winning my heart right now

[@shawngrinter2747]

My old boss was a Bucc pilot. He said one of the big drawbacks was that if the pilot chose to eject there was 100% probability that the navigator (who he described as a really bad trade off for 100kg of jet fuel) would smash into the canopy crushing their skull. This was the supposed reason he refused to eject when his engines failed and thus why he made a decent dent in a runway in Cypress (the photo of said dent was on his office wall)

[@martindice5424]

Excellent presentation sir! Jolly good show!

[@steweygrrr]

Aaaah Yorkshire, the land that time forgot. Love, Someone from the _correct_ side of the Pennines.

[@bigblue6917]

Looking again at 19:44 I think what is being shown here is the actually first landing of the Buccaneer and the test pilots name was Whitehead, who I think was a former Royal Navy pilot. I used to work at the airfield used by British Aerospace where he worked. Unfortunately he had to retire because the brought the retirement age down the 50 from 55. Because of the stresses on the wings parts of the ribs and one side of the skin was milled out solid blocks of aluminium.

[@kamikazemelon787]

So glad I came across your channel milord. Great, wonderful stuff here. Subscribed for queen and country

[@themocaw]

How have I never heard of this plane? Amazing.

[@jimmythatguy]

You're awesome, great job with this one!

[@braf7349]

As a famous tool reviewer once said, "Measured once, cut thrice, and the furgin thing is still too short!" -AvE

[@mothmagic1]

I've heard it said that the Buccaneer could and did fly under power lines at full throttle. The remark about the Firebrand should have been impossible to get into was by Eric "Winkle" Brown. Thank you for reminding me which type it was as it's one of my favourite comments by that late great man. One of the downfalls of the Skua as a dive bomber was down to the fact that there was no attention paid to the comments of the only Navy person on the board thrashing out the requirements. Consequently it was only good for 45 degree dive attack when what the FAA really wanted was 85 degrees. Hands of carrier launches were reintroduced by ty F/A 18. It was called boundary layer control not border control.

[@Scythl]

Buccaneer is my favourite aircraft, and I would say has excellent lines! Great video again, but I can't believe you did my boy the Fairey Swordfish like that! In true British fashion, the aircraft was kept very long after it was obscelete but still did excellent work for the Royal Navy despite this! (barring the odd mine dropped in front of the OG Ark Royal carrier on takeoff... what? carrier ops are dangerous!)