Questioned: Is The 1970's Buccaneer Red Flag Low Level Bombing Tactic Feasible In DCS WORLD?

• The Buccaneer at Red F...
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[@Sorarse]

My understanding is that the Buccaneer pilots only had enough room to descend to their operating height after they had raised the undercarriage.

[@MarkloopRAF]

Over flat surfaces, the ground effect would stop the Bucc going any lower. To get lower than 10ft, they would rotate the bomb bay which would disrupt the airflow under the aircraft allowing them to get lower. Several Buccs came back with the aerials on the underside of the aircraft worn away.

[@thisisadebrown]

True story ex-208

[@craigcowan2971]

Well played!

[@sloppy-1-1]

Climb to 20ft is not a thing you hear often

[@Mach1048]

Mossie pilots also used to say that too :)

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

Possibly after take-off.

[@Power5]

At 550knots...

[@andypaine7489]

Big balls; no brains; but big balls. Love these guys!

[@gunner678]

Well, on a ladder lol.

[@JerryJ26]

1979 Maple Flag at Cold Lake, Alberta. I was a crew chief on USAF F-15s that were doing area defense. These little buggers of the 208 Squadron evaded the Look-Down Shoot-Down radar, delivered their simulated payload and were egressing the target area before our pilots even knew what happened. One of the best TDYs I've been on as all the crews got along real well on our time off. The CAF were also terrific hosts. GO SHEEP!!

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

The dust at 10ft was caused by the pilots' gigantic balls of steel dragging along the desert floor, hence the need to climb to 20ft.

[@robgoodsight6216]

hahahahahahahahahhahahahahah

[@zeberdee1972]

This just made me laugh , i now have an image of an RAF pilot at 10ft with his family jewels dangling below and his wide eyed sudden realisation that there is a 10ft fence with barbed wire on top ........makes your eyes water lol

[@robgoodsight6216]

@@zeberdee1972 BRO!!! hahahahahah

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

@@zeberdee1972 At that point the barbed wire fence would just duck!

[@zeberdee1972]

@@sergarlantyrell7847 lol

[@rogerwhittle2078]

There was a thread about just how low the Buccaneers would fly on the PPRuNe forum some years ago. My favourite eye witness account was by a gnarled and wizened Shackleton pilot who simply posted something very like; "Exercise BombEx, 1982, midnight, North Sea. 100ft AMSL, bomb doors open and one of you bastards flew underneath us."

[@grimreapers]

lol

[@madjock2878]

Always thought Bucanners never took off they just raised the gear

[@gwheeler1609]

They raised the gear, then descended to cruising altitude. In the gulf, they had to choose whether to go around camels or under them.

[@elanman608]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqXIfWRurMlka7s about 30 seconds in just that.

[@danielearley5062]

There are some great videos on KZbin of them doing just this.

[@hughgordon6435]

somewhere the is a NATIONWIDE ( BBC nightly news broadcast) of FAA buccs at an American range, the only footage the Americans got, after being told the ingress route, and timings??? a tail fin of one buc as it flew BELOW the sand dunes!!!😅😅😅

[@christopherfinn7986]

I have 2200 hrs in the back seat of the Buccaneer, I was a QWI and EWO, served on 809 NAS (125 cats & traps), XV Sqn, 237 OCU, 208 Sqn and CTTO. I was on the RAFG team for the first Red Flag the RAF participated in, and again a year later as the Op Phase of my QWI course, We trained at 100 ft in the north of Scotland. 10 ft climbing to 20 ft to stop the dust trails is complete B******s. A good pilot could cruise safely at 50ft over the flat desert and that was more than adequate. Bear in mind that the nav, unless he was the lead nav, spent his time looking backwards. So you had to trust the pilot not to kill the pair of you. Bear in mind that the ground has a PK of 1. The lowest I ever went was about 20 ft when my Driver, a fellow Crab on 809 NAS, beat the s**t out of the tower at Tain range - the idea that any competent Buccaneer pilot could, or would even want to, do this over more than a minute is complete nonsense. If you are flying in battle formation all but the lead pilot have to repeatedly look away from where they are going. Rolling over ridges, rather than “bunting” was SOP. The Bucc was a superb low level strike-attack aircraft for its time and all Forces like to create a mystique for themselves, we were no exception in this.

[@grimreapers]

Thanks Mr Finn!

[@airlinesecret6725]

Was AATC at Honington in OPPS late 70's was such a newbie 17 years old only been there 1 month, Sqn leader asked could I drive, had just passed so said yes. he took me out in his mini across the Airfield 'Seagull request cross runway, OK ed by the tower' He gets out so he can have his flight in I think it was a Chipmunk and tells me to take the car back. Coming up to the runway the lights turn red, but got my foot right down, Ah I think, Will call up tower see if I can cross, 'Seagull requests cross runway' 'yes SIR' reply from tower, half way across 2 Buccs go straight over me at about 30ft and my mini shakes like nothing on earth! I drive past the tower and they are all looking down at me ( not happy) I get back to Opps, 'LAC T***** report to the Wing Commander' go in his office and he is not happy, just had the tower complain some pathetic LAC used the Sqn Leaders callsign to cross the runway and they had to send a returning 4 ship back round before they could land. He said don't worry it happens , remember to use Seagull Driver next time your not with the Sqn Leader ! He was cool , but my Sgt put me on Bomber Box duty the next few nights. Learned my lesson !

[@mpainter22]

There's also the story of a vulcan/Buccaneer flight during red flag, where the Buccaneer hid under the wings of the vulcan (I believe to act as stand off missiles, the Americans never caught the Buccaneers

[@rovcanada1]

It was actually 2 Buccaneers under the one Vulcan. It worked too ... mission accomplished! 1 target became 3. Vulcan became a martyr, and I think one Buccaneer got the target, if memory serves.

[@zeberdee1972]

The Buccaneer when it went out of service beat up all the active RAF Airfields . I was at RAF Wittering at the time in the Fire Section Control room just beside the Tower , when all of a sudden i could see a grey wing tip and a vapour trail . The control room by the way is ground floor only , any way as soon as i saw the wing tip there was a huge bang . Every body else hit the floor , the controller who was writing in the book at the time put a huge black pen mark across the two pages . I looked right and all i could see was a grey aircraft with two engines and a T shaped tail on its wing tip feet above the taxi way !!! . It then went right over the Flight line of Harriers and then between the hangers . The Sherpa van outside was still rocking and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest . Then the Tower buzzed down on the Hadley box ( like an intercom ) and said " did you like that " . To be honest i didn't know what to think as at that point i still couldn't process what had just happened . Very impressive flying , they don't have to drop bombs to scare you . All they have to do is buzz you at speed at low level and im pretty sure your stunted for a good few minutes !!!

[@Gman-109]

Great story, thanks for that.

[@TeensierPython]

I was in Afghanistan. We had been attacked and things were winding down. A-10 had come to assist. On his way out the A-10 decided to dive over the base and then pull up and do a roll. When the plane dove over the base the sound of its engine sounded like incoming mortar (very big) rounds. Everyone scattered and hit the ground. That guy was a jerk.

[@zeberdee1972]

@@TeensierPython Yep a fast jet low and fast makes a hell of a noise as it passes over . You can't hear it on approach but as soon as its over head BOOM . It's enough to make me rust me armour !!! :-)

[@zeberdee1972]

@@TeensierPython You got to admit though ......i bet you was glad that A-10 was on your side , fearsome beasties they are . wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of them .......could ruin your day !!!! . Cool story TeensierPython

[@TeensierPython]

@@zeberdee1972 - totally worth it! Just pisses a guy off.

[@superowl91]

the british knew the best way to win a air battle was to not take to the air. so they decided to run the bucaneers along the ground at a very fast taxiing speed, this proved very successful although they later found if they raised the undercarriage they could save on tyres.

[@grimreapers]

lols!

[@Volcano-Man]

Too blooming right.

[@Ecthaelyon]

A famous question that abounded back in the day: Ever wonder how the valleys in Wales were formed? By the steel balls of the Buccaneer & Tornado pilots...

[@grimreapers]

agree

[@zeberdee1972]

I think RAF pilots have wrecking balls lol , who needs bombs when you can tea bag you target to destruction lol . Now don't be telling any RAF pilot this as there balls are already over size and dangerous , we don't want the heads getting any bigger either !!!

[@134StormShadow]

Mach loop didn't exist pre-bucaneer... Prove me wrong (and I've flown Jags)

[@davidburke8311]

I was actually buzzed by one of these in the early 80s as I summitted Bowfell in the English Lake District. As he went over he did a barrel roll over the summit. About 30 ft above me! Remains one of my best aeroplane experiences along with an A10 underneath me as I walked along Striding Edge on Helvellyn ( I lived in Newcastle at the time and I seem to remember a spate of them landing there as they were so "unreliable"?) Another one even earlier was a Phantom about 200ft above. Bloody loud. And I'm a Black Sabbath fan.

[@cageordie]

Did you hear about the squadron of Army Westland Lynx that landed in Lamesley when the cloud deck dropped when they were flying back from Otterburn? We used to see the Buccaneers blasting around the Scottish coast near Arisaig in the 60s and 70s. Always fun to have a couple of them come over the camp site certainly below the 'legal' limit.

[@jean-pierregermain6854]

I was in charge of a RCAF fishing camps in Labrador and was happily fishing on Noname Lake when 3 of these guys flew over me in line astern... about 20 feet AGL. Scared the daylights out of me. Bet they laughed....

[@zeberdee1972]

Yes i bet they did , how ever some times they get it back . We was asked to take our Fire Trucks to a Squadron party once . The plan was to soak a retiring Pilot with our foam cannons . Well that was the plan but the Pilot retiring was no fool and he knew what was coming and lets say he payed to be the higher bidder ( Beer talks ) . So after quite a few crates of Beer arrived the plan was reversed . So all these pilots plus wives etc were stood in a bunch waiting for the great washing of said retiring pilot , who was stood away on his own . We can around the corner , engines screaming , monitors opened ( foam Cannon ) and soaked the shit out of the group stood behind . I must say i really enjoyed this , they on the other hand i think not so much . On the way out some Officers decided to attack us with water pistols .....we have the biggest water pistols ever ( Bad idea ) . So after soaking a few and knocking some of them off their feet we retired back to our crash bays :-) .....i think we won that one lol .

[@johnhoward7875]

They did that to me back in 84 when my wife and i were travelling through the Scottish Highlands in our VW Camper I swear the bastard was 6 inches above my van!

[@michaeldunn9228]

Watching them skim the waves heading toward your ship was amazing. Full boundary layer design for max lift at low level. Awesome machines.

[@DieyoungDiefast]

Just a shame that no one can own one in the UK due to regs regarding nuclear capable aircraft.

[@jonwatson654]

I got buzzed by a Buccaneer when I was driving across a moor in Scotland once in the late 80's. It was outrageous. I could actually smell the jet fuel.

[@roberthardy3090]

It wasn't just Buccaneers, I remember descending a road in the Highlands and briefly looking down on to the top of a camoflaged Lightning coming up the road before it flashed over the top of the car leaving in shaking in the exhaust blast.

[@zeberdee1972]

Yes that smell of burnt Avtur is very strong , remined me of Burgers from the mess . Which begs the question !!! was the mess cooking burgers with Avtur !!! . Tasted good and when working shifts we was generally hungry , busy days back then , now not so much .

[@Valisk]

Love the Buccaneer. I remember the day they flew the gate guardian in to Brough Site (where it was built) when they were being retired. Four ship formation flew from the direction of the Humber Bridge and tore up the runway one by one. The last aircraft peeled off and landed for the final time. Got to spend some time in the cockpit while it was sat in the Ops hangar - it was awesome. It still had some of its Desert Storm livery visible on the panels in front of the intakes.

[@ImplodedAtom]

Fun fact, there's a Buccaneer parked at a petrol station just down the road from me outside Elgin, in Scotland. You can walk right up to and around it. The only things missing are the rear sections of the two engines. Needless to say, I go there whenever I'm nearby :-D

[@kingfishercomputing9497]

Seen that while visiting the area many times.

[@jimmyfreemantle879]

Yeah seen it when I visited my brother in lossie. He's not an aircraft buff so didn't half confuse me when he said "drive past the petrol station with a harrier parked in it"

[@madjock2878]

I worked on that very aircraft on No 12 Squadron in the 1980s

[@jimmyfreemantle879]

@@madjock2878 Wicked mate. And it was definitely not a harrier? Tell me more. What trade did you do? What was the most challenging jobs on the bucc?

[@kingfishercomputing9497]

@@jimmyfreemantle879 Were you in Aberdeen before you phoned him to say you hadn’t seen the Harrier yet? Defo a Bucaneer, lol.

[@bigblue6917]

The Buccaneer pilots didn't have to worry about ground fire. At just five feet off the ground they had to worry about the Buccaneer.

[@arnewoodman]

"... to avoid leaving dust rails in the dessert." Says the voice-over. The text actually reads "desert". Hilarious - imagine a Buccaneer leaving dust trails in your pudding! surreal.

[@sarkybugger5009]

The blighter's left a streak across my crème brulée!

[@BrockwellLanemodelrailway]

So many great stories on Aircrew Interviews Channel. I often think "I wish Grim Reapers could recreate that -so I can better understand what the pilots are describing " maybe one day you could consider working together? ( Not to take away anything from you own crew interviews which are also excellent) This is my favourite type of video you guys do Entertaining and full of valuable historical info. Keep it up Cap.

[@grimreapers]

Yup always happy to work with them!

[@MostlyPennyCat]

@@grimreapers I'd like to know if it still works with modern SHORADS. Or even 80s SHORADS. Would a shilka ruin your day?

[@itsokaytobeaselfhatingjew5971]

Fly inverted with the F14 so that the gun points 3 degrees down lol

[@zeberdee1972]

Now that sounds like it could be done ........just as long as im not in the F14 lol

[@itsokaytobeaselfhatingjew5971]

@@zeberdee1972 Maybe in acecombat but DCS......al the glory goes to the person that can pull this off.

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

Based and Maverickpilled.

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

Just remember to flip them the birdie as you do so.

[@Exodon2020]

Same problem as your AoA needs to be higher to maintain altitude.

[@thetreblerebel]

The Turning Inverted Hill manuver, is insane, but it s what the F 111 pilots did too so the aircraft stays off Russian or Eastern Block radars

[@DieyoungDiefast]

My old man was on the OLD Ark Royal and got talking to a Bucc pilot. He talked about an exercise, probably Red Flag, where they had to attack a target which had a lot of AA cover. They plotted a route in to the target that would put a sand dune between them and the target, and it was about 1/2 mile from the perimeter. Appaerently the attached Navy observers were chuckling when the US defenders said they could hear the Buccs inbound but nothing was on radar..... until the pair split and passed either side of the dune. He was also present during the Suez crisis, his ship being off Gibraltar, and was amazed when the Buccs didn't really take off... they just got to flight speed and lifted their undercart.

[@64mickh]

The Suez crisis was before the Bucc came into service

[@Papershields001]

Reminds me a little of the story of the US navy’s A6 squadrons on the first night of desert shield. Just because flying at 100 feet worked in Vietnam doesn’t mean it’s a tactic that’ll work forever.

[@Papershields001]

“Look down, shoot down” radar

[@rebellion2054]

Great aircraft though the A6

[@Mojje42]

This is why i love the Viggen low alt high speed.... target destroyed... what SAM/CAP? heard from one Technician working on the Viggen that they very often had to pick tree branches out of the underside of the plane and i listened to one Viggen pilot being told by the ground crew he was a lucky SOAB because they found a very big hole in his wing and inside the remains of the tree he hit... he hadn't noticed or hear anything

[@Phonobrain]

4:20 On the UFC press "ALT" then press "ON/OFF" to disable L(ow)A(ltitude)W(arning). Not sure about the PULLUP warning but there is at least a knob somewhere to mute it.

[@grimreapers]

thx

[@matthayward7889]

Loads of awesome interviews like this at Aircrew Interview!

[@cf453]

That was awesome. Great job, guys.

[@paulqueripel3493]

27 seconds in, did you say they had to climb to 20ft to avoid leaving trails in the dessert? That's a trifling problem.

[@SimDeck]

Great stuff. Very interesting. I was 10 years old living at RAF Laarbruch in west Germany in the early 80’s when my dad was in the RAF and used to see Buccaneers every day taking off and landing. It was also the time when Tornado was coming into service. Phantoms were also in and out at the time. Great days.

[@zeberdee1972]

Some classic Aircraft there , love the Buccaneer and the Phantom . As a kid in the 80's our school quite regularly was buzzed by Tornadoes and Jaguars . And we used to see USAF F-111 and A-10's as well . The skies back then was always full of Military Aircraft , i loved it .

[@bepolite6961]

I was stationed there Oct 81 to Jul 85 remember the transition to the Tornado. We worked our butts off, Generation Exercises every two weeks for months! Loved the Buccaneer, hard to believe that the Tornado is now also gone!

[@moondust1969]

We were stationed at RAF Laarbruch from 78-81, three fantastic years. For a young lad of 12 when we first went there, i was in awe as it was like a airshow everyday. I remember when the Tornado came to the Base around 1980 to carry out its trials before being permanently based there a few years later. It skimmed the tree line right across the sports field where we were having PE at the time, we all dropped to the floor including the teachers, funny as hell. I was also lucky as our next door neighbour was a Chief Tec on XV squadron and every now and again at the weekend would take me to a XV hanger and start the generators up and let me sit in a Bucc and get the flaps etc working, fantastic memories of a great RAF Station and fantastic aircraft.

[@andrewforrest862]

Same, but at Lossie in the late 60's. My mum took me a couple of times up the beach near the lighthouse, by the end of the runway. Seeing/ hearing the Buccs take off and landing, flying right over us..... wow. Seeing Shackletons flying over was commonplace (My Daddy is flying that, us kids would all proclaim). Sonic booms were not uncommon;, I never thought about that but it must have been Phantoms as I think that they were the only supersonic Aircraft in the FAA then. Sure, we would have had RAF and other countries' AFs as visitors, certainly for the air-show on 'Navy Day' . Dad was a CheifArticifer and worked on many aircraft during his 21 years service, but the Buccaneer gave him the greatest pride.

[@ivomendonca2468]

The British Harriers trained to do the same in Cold War, to fly at grass level and high speed over East Germany, hit targets and come back. Works fine, until you find a MANPAD.

[@Gman-109]

The thing with manpads is that the operator has SO little time to react, in almost every case the manpad operator would only see/hear a low level striker after it blasted by overhead, and then to get a shot off is difficult - you have to super elevate the missile launcher to fire it, and then the missile would have to dive to get the target (increasing the odds it'll eat dirt first as in the videos above), even if it somehow stayed locked on after launch vs an extremely low fast moving target. We tested this with Stingers vs high speed drones, and in most cases the drones weren't hit.

[@ivomendonca2468]

@@Gman-109 yes,low level strikes still very effective way to hit a target, anyway.

[@blackhatch46]

Most manpads cant engage lower than 10m.

[@dannsgamingfails8899]

This was tried is the border war with the SAAF and their Buccaneers. It didn’t work.

[@poiu477]

how fast can you twist your waist with a 20 pound tube over your shoulder?

[@userofthetube2701]

Right chaps! Double your altitude to 20ft!

[@chriswilde7246]

Great clip, it does prove the point what the Buccaneer pilot said in the interview, it's a shame you cant get the Buc on DCS, you would probably win many bombing missions. I did see a Buc years ago flying low in the UK, and it was really low lol..

[@infernalelysium7676]

I love the Buccaneer, if a DCS module came out I would never fly anything else heheheh

[@bmw540i]

Absolutely!!!!!!

[@bmw540i]

Or the A-6 Intruder 😀👍🏻🇬🇧

[@johntravis1393]

Peter Broomfield or a5 vigilante

[@evoman44]

I would take a Buccaneer over a Tornado any time. It would also be one of my top favorite aircraft to fly.

[@mrhamishknox]

More British jets as a whole would be amazing. Imagine flying a lightning, a vampire or a hunter alongside buccaneers and tornadoes. That would be amazing.

[@simonyip5978]

I wasn't aware that the Buccaneers were originally owned and operated by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) and flown from aircraft carriers. After the aircraft carriers were scrapped, the Buccaneers were transferred to the RAF.

[@davecottrell8292]

The first RAF Buccaneer Sqn was formed in October 1969 at Honington in Suffolk. 12 Sqn my old Sqn.

[@simongrover1819]

The Buccaneer was designed as a navy strike bomber and was the best of its type for its time! RAF got them after they had denied the navy new carriers!

[@tonyhaynes9080]

RAF got the original order after the TSR2 was cancelled and they decided that they didn’t want the F111.

[@andrewgreen7771]

Great video, the Buccaneer was an amazing aircraft, nice to see it capabilities simulated.

[@clankilpatrick4417]

LOVE these crazy stunt flight re-enactments you folks do - THIS one is insanely great! *and p.s.: yeah, thought you were gonna pick the Viggen since it's from about the same time and obv a low lever monster, but great to see Harrier laughing at Tomcats for once ;) p.s.s.: probably one of the few scenarios where JF-17's downward canted gun would come in handy for A2A ;)

[@grimreapers]

lol yeh good point.

[@memkiii]

@@grimreapers The Viggen, is what I initially thought too, but it's not a Bucc. Nothing in DCS is close - Perhaps an F-14 if its performance was limited to that of a Buccaneer would smell right at least? The harrier is too nimble for a comparison imo.

[@llanero9177]

Really great video. Old school. Now you could try the very same thing but over the sea and with some Argentinian A-4 Skyhawk against the Royal Navy.

[@kirgan1000]

Buccaneer see a Viggen, finaly a worthy challenger.

[@ZacYates]

Absolutely brilliant! Although Harrier wasn’t what I expected to see as a Bucc analogue until I compared the stats on Wiki. I’m impressed, AV-8B!

[@andrewcox4386]

Good choice of aircraft fof the attack - the RAF Harriers used similar flying tactics in the Falklands, there are reports of them cresting ridges inverted at about 10ft before rolling upright to bomb targets in the valley below

[@jezzbass1826]

spoke to a buccaner, phantom pilot on portland dorset the old navy base who was on the aircraft carriers the other week nice video

[@CameTo]

To shut alt Betty up in harrier: 1) press ALT (on UFC) 2) type 10 press enter (default 500) - radar alt sorted, gets rid of "altitude altitude" 3) on the left button display, uncheck GPWS and PUC - gets rid of "pull up pull up" and "terrain terrain" (Button display needs you to press ALT on UFC first, to get in context).

[@Mojje42]

you don't need to set a number for ALT... just press On/Off to turn it off

[@grimreapers]

thx

[@ryanshaw2204]

That was awsome, thanks for doing it!

[@gordon861]

The UK did the same thing during the first Gulf War, but they also had terrain following radar and they could predict what was coming up due to digital terrain models. The problems occurred when they had to gain altitude to drop stuff on the airfields and due to the weapons they had to fly along the runway to the route was predictable.

[@dogsnads5634]

No aircraft was lost delivering JP233. One was lost following weapons release, but it was believed it was a CFT. Aircraft lost were on the toss bombing missions.

[@petejones7532]

I remember being on Uffington Castle hillfort in Oxfordshire in 2010 when Vulcan XH558, which was doing a flypast at the White Horse Country Show, flew past. I was looking down on it as it was below me!

[@jameskirk578]

Our brilliant Wing co retired in style by beating up 12 Squadron site flying straight down the lazy runway. We knew what was about to happen and some ground crew climbed onto the Houchin for a better look. All had to jump off in blind panic because the c/o was so low. Some ground crew had climbed onto the aircraft shelters and were rewarded with blurry pictures looking down on the whole celebration. Great days leading the field.

[@evoman44]

If the Harrier was able to avoid hits flying low imagine a Viggen flying much faster and easier down low. Many aircraft would have a hard time just keeping up with it much less try to lock on.

[@Rover200Power]

Have you heard the story of the Vulcan at Red Flag one year flying at low level? It was eventually taken out by one of the CAP patrols, only to pull up and reveal two Buccs hiding below it the whole time which disappeared off to their targets.

[@almac2598]

I'm retired Fleet Air Arm. Never worked on Bucs, only Small Ships Helo Flights. The Bucs used to use us as practice targets. Used to come past at max chat below the level of the Flight Deck which was about 15 ft above the sea. The only way we could see them coming was their exhaust which was smoky black.

[@steveburns4543]

Me too I was on Glasgow Flight in 1990 in the western isles. We had a ADEX and 2 Bucks beat us up. On the final pass attacked from astern, wingtip to wingtip as you say below flight deck level on a flat calm sea. One rolled left the other right and passed either side of the ship just feet away. Just awesome!

[@Radio478]

I worked for Bae, this style of flight is genuine, ive see unbelievable stuff from red flag

[@geoffroberts1126]

Two aircraft I'd really love to see in DCS World, one is the Buccaneer, the other is the F111, preferably the Australian versions of it.

[@grimreapers]

agree

[@simonyoung5480]

You need the ground effect of the Bucc to keep that air bubble under the ship and let you really press the terrain. We used to take sea water out of the lox bay after a sortie. Cool cool jets.

[@robertdraper5782]

I remember seeing footage on BBC News of observers standing open mouthed as two buccaneers hugged a cliff, it was on a joint exercise in the US, it was back in the early 70's. I check youtube from time to time but have never been able to find it.

[@wbertie2604]

I remember the same. At one point the Buccaneer started banking hard side-to-side, wingtips about 3 feet off the desert...

[@sichere]

@@wbertie2604 The lost 1970's footage from Nationwide 😒

[@justwhenyouthought6119]

I remember that, amazing piece of flying!

[@aboriginaleveything]

That should be one of the reapers tactics in the next campaign or king of the hill.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

There is footage of the RAF's aircraft flying low over the deserts of Saudi Arabia in the run up to the first Gulf War. They were so low that at tknex you couldn't tell the aur raft from the shadow.

[@jameshewitt8828]

Absolutely in love with the Buccaneer, awesome impressive aircraft thanks to its area rule and its boundary layer control system. Awesome. There's a beautiful gulf war example at the RAF Museum at Hendon

[@dogsnads5634]

Best place to see them is at Elvington. They've got 3. One RAF markings, one Navy and one in full Gulf War colours with Pave Spike and LGB's. Plus you actually go under the wings and tail...and you can touch, and they don't mind...

[@wbertie2604]

They never did make the supersonic development, though. The initial role was to be nuclear strike, and it was going to be passed on to submarines as a strategic element so wasn't seen as necessary for the navy. Even more so given the TSR-2 development was already going badly and wasn't projected to be in service as a nuclear strike aircraft before the V-force was retired.

[@russcattell955i]

I read a feature years go the SEPECAT Jaguar was successful with the same tactics at Red Flag.

[@jimmyfreemantle879]

Probably true but it wasn't an intended tactic for the Jag, they were simply still trying to get airborne lol

[@bonidle726]

I recall a documentary back in the early 80’s that showed the Buccaneers on Red Flag doing exactly this and the American Opfor AAA crews coming outside their positions to watch them leaving furrows in the desert floor with their wingtip vortices as they manoeuvred. I think it was a BBC panorama special called “The defence of the United States” but I may be wrong. The crazy low flying tactics of the RAF in Red Flags also lead to the adoption of the wrap around scheme for the Vulcan as it was showing its upper surface as much as its lower surface during low level attacks.

[@rovcanada1]

I found the same documentary after reading Phoenix Squadron by Rowland White. I distinctly remember seeing grainy long range footage of a dust cloud streaking across the desert floor. I'd love to know what altitude is required for a Buccaneer to leave an extended dust cloud across the desert.

[@memkiii]

@@rovcanada1 As the interviewee said - 10ft. Sounds reasonable to me.

[@JD96893]

This really is amazing! It sounds like the guy was was making was making it up, but obviously not. The missiles must try to get a lead when the plane bobs down and thus hits the ground. The only way to really get them is probably coming in from above and shooting a missile.

[@psychomusician1]

The real Buccaneers had flare or chaff options if needed, I think ( may be wrong ) missiles found it impossible to keep track even with radar due to ground clutter

[@Jolly0gd0show]

That was awesome! LLT! Should make this a low level tactic thunder dome style games!

[@andrewpease3688]

The legendary BBC nationwide clip that no one can find. Vortices whipping up the dust as the plane avoided boulders.

[@grimreapers]

Cool

[@redssracer4153]

@4:13 Cap: "RC you're leading us...God help us" RC: "Lol"

[@rjds1800]

I've sat in that very cockpit of that Buccaneer featured in the video at the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum the other year.

[@grimreapers]

Cool

[@kevthefisher]

We used to get buzzed by Buccaneer's (and Vulcans) when I used to work on Bloodhound missile sites. .. and can totally vouch for the attack pattern - always low - rolling over any hills - an amazing spectacle.

[@TheBerendir]

Can't imagine that IRL (turtles head was popping out watching you on a sim :P)

[@tonyhaynes9080]

I was at Holbeach Range in the late seventies. We had a flight of four Buccaneers call up for a first run attack as they couldn’t land in the UK with the weapons on board. The American range safely officer was told, ‘watch this. This will be interesting’. The aircraft lifted up over the sea wall, blew the dive circle to smithereens and disappeared between two spotting huts. The American was a F111 jockey and just couldn’t believe what he had witnessed.

[@ronaldwatson1951]

Great 👍 demonstration and those Buccaneers pilots are extremely courageous. Good video

[@a77mighty666]

there is a buccaneer aircraft in a local petrol station here rescued from back in the day. the raf then went to tornadoes and now they fly typhoons

[@markdavis2475]

Aircrew Interview channel is great. The pilots are so nonchalant about their exploits!

[@Warlock7seveN]

20ft got that, don't wanna leave dust trails in my trifle :D

[@charlesrussell1764]

flying at 10 feet at 500 knots is not as dangerous as one might think. Ground effect would be pretty strong at that height, but I would rather fly more sedately and have the undercart down!

[@sniper2217]

Saw the last flight of the Buccaneer, old school jet but pretty cool.

[@zeberdee1972]

I remember being at RAF Fairford for the big air shows they had back then . And there was this Buccaneer sat right next to us with a " For sale sign ...£500 good runner , one previous owner but many drivers " . It made me chuckle . The ground crew plus crew spent their time between displays sun bathing on its wings lol .

[@APV878]

"Proper Pipper" sounds like one of those kiddie cartoon shows

[@gunner678]

After the Americans barely got over the vulcan nuclear attacks in the 60s they then faced the buccaneer in the 70s lol.

[@zeberdee1972]

No one expects the RAF Pilot and his big wrecking balls at head height lol :-)

[@TheGunfighter45acp]

Those Buc (& Harrier) pilots were studs!

[@tomkelly6216]

Amazing aircraft. Pleasing to the eye as well.

[@hunterferguson5675]

This is an ingenious strategy against a CAP but would leave you as a sitting duck for ground based defenses, especially radar guided AAA.

[@hunterferguson5675]

@ukkowalski Unfortunately the trials of combat have proven that theory wrong. One of the biggest days of air losses we had in Vietnam was in an organized strike of F105s flying below the treetops to drop cluster bombs on sams and AAA nests. This was before the creation of the wild weasel program, but after Rob Fobears' F4 got shot down by the first combat SA-2 launch of the Vietnam war.

[@georgesloan1933]

Put the gun into A/G mode and come from above

[@grimreapers]

good idea.

[@bobthebomb1596]

Problem was, at extremely low altitude the Buc was actually faster than fighters trying to shoot it down.

[@dogsnads5634]

@@bobthebomb1596 Yep. At low level a Buccaneer with full fuel and bomb load was faster than a combat loaded F-4 in afterburner...even the F-15's at Red Flag couldn't cope.

[@peteturner3928]

That was not Bucc low, Bucc low is no TFR or GPS etc, just an AtoZ and an English to which ever country your in phrase book as you zoom past reading the street signs!

[@Pause4pot]

What if you fly up close with Missles or just a little lower where he's skylined? Would that work

[@donaldshannon6541]

I remember the Buccaneers at Red Flag in either 1980 or 81. One thing that occurs to me is the F-14 did not have the look-down/shoot down Doppler ranging APG63 .. wonder if that made a difference in the fly at 20 ft and live scenario .. BTW .. I thought the Buccaneer was butt ugly compared to my F-15 ..

[@deadwolf2978]

i bet this tactics would wonders on A10 or Su25.

[@MeanderingBeing]

I'd love to see yall try that with a-10s and viggens

[@vegtersbaas]

Suid-Afrikaans Lugmag.. Buccaneers from 64 Squadron, Angolan experiences where are you..? ;)

[@grimreapers]

eek

[@rebellion2054]

Yes! Well said

[@dannsgamingfails8899]

Was die SAAF Buccs nie op 24 Eskader gewees nie?

[@Fiedman]

I wonder if Cap would have better success shooting RC down if he was in an F-15 Eagle.

[@Madeyes6]

Cap you can turn all the altitude warnings off on the Harrier.

[@tristancorboy8978]

was wondering if comeing in from 500-1000ft in a shallow dive on a side on atack would work

[@lohrtom]

Can’t wait to see this tactic used in upcoming missions

[@grimreapers]

Doesn't work against modern AMRAAM missiles sadly, only 70-80's missiles.

[@clankilpatrick4417]

@@grimreapers got to imagine SideWinders would be a problem as well.

[@dogsnads5634]

@@clankilpatrick4417 Sidewinders were in use from the 50's onwards, the aircraft at Red Flag were trying to get Sidewinder kills and couldn't. Even 9L's would struggle.

[@airlinesecret6725]

LOL, was based at Honington in late 70's, remember the Buccs messing with the Yanks on Red Flag !

[@scrubsrc4084]

I knew a pilot who flew bucks in the gulf War. If there was a snakes belly they flew under it. Ue said the airframe was ridiculously stable at those altitudes and when training in oman they used to have to dodge traffic on roads

[@grimreapers]

Wowser

[@shuntera]

It’s so cool seeing an F14 struggling so hard against a Harrier!!

[@grimreapers]

agree

[@cornbread5144]

*** Those Pilots back in the Day - More Bad-Assory then anyone can imagine.

[@haedubabaganush]

Back in the day, I met a Buccaneer crew who clipped the top of a telephone pole coming off our low level range....while climbing! In those days, very few aircraft and other radar systems had the capacity to detect really low flying targets so we practice low level attacks with a terminal short popup to attack the target and then back on the deck. At our range, the saying was that if you came back with grass stains on your bird, you got free beer at the Club that night. Until the F-15 and mig 31 came along with reasonably good doppler radar with ground discrimination/elimination, such attacks were difficult to defend. Of course, if they knew were you were coming from and put enough AAA in the air, then you were going to get bagged. In DCS, doing low level attacks is a viable option. In our squadron were were doing such attacks with our 16's on sam systems and airports using cbu-87's or mk 82airs. We were able to take out sam-10 systems like this. If anyone is interested, here is a link to a little video that a buddy made on one of our missions to attack the bandar abas airbase to close the runway. We used harms to take out the sam 6 radars, and then the low level attack to do a timed two plane attack on the taxiway-runway junction. We got out of dodge low level and fast as a lot of the Air defense systems were still active. You can just imagine the Buccaneers doing it the same way. As the interview said...timing is important too.

[@sichere]

The only claimed Kill of a Buccaneer by the USAF at Red Flag was dismissed at the debrief as the Bucc's Navigator reported he had released a delayed fuse bomb first. The Buccaneer was accordingly credited with the Kill. 😎

[@Daniel-wb4lr]

Raf st mawgan airshow in the 80s as a kid, 2 Buccaneers did this mock low level bomb run with pyrotechnics over the runway came in at stupid height 20ft or something an ground pyrotechnics was activated

[@Daniel-wb4lr]

I always remembered it

[@Daniel-wb4lr]

Might of been 90 or 91

[@bartacomuskidd775]

The dreaded DF-0m. Desert Floor weapon. Everytime.

[@mikkiweex]

Buccaneers had a windscreen wiper? Was there a washer fluid sprayer, too?😸

[@mrkeogh]

That and dipped headlights so you can navigate at night xD

[@chriswilde7246]

Yes as they were originally for the Royal navy, they used to get salt water on the canopy etc because I flew so low over the sea, total nutters lol...

[@jamesohara4295]

Wild weasel, Strike and Escort and now Weed wacker :)

[@TacticalKeyboardOperator]

roll to 90 or inverted with gun or heatseaker from behind