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Reply To: Why Dakota? (The origin of aircraft names in general now)

Home Forums Historic Aviation Why Dakota? (The origin of aircraft names in general now) Reply To: Why Dakota? (The origin of aircraft names in general now)

#1201571
XN923
Participant

Seems unlikely. According to Thunder & Lightnings (‘cos it’s a lot quicker than going to look at some books) the Sea Vixen had been in squadron service for 3 years before the Buccaneer was officially named.

Don’t have sources to hand but this is what I’ve heard.

The Sea Vixen was still being referred to as the DH110 as late as 1957, just before it went into service, while the name Buccaneer could well have been flying around long before the aircraft were – ‘Buccaneer’ was definitely painted on some of the pre-production batch of NA39s, before the name was official (April 1960). The DH110 had been born in 1948 and the Buccaneer in 1954, while the RN only decided to order the DH110 in 1955. Vaguely possible that the Buccaneer/Pirate names originated at the same time, well after the DH110 had already been unofficially known as the Sea Vixen…