There is a Buccaneer S2B at RAF Scampton which is believed to be about to make its first flight shortly as long as the CAA will allow it. It should apparently be on the airshow circuit very soon- maybe even this year.
Maybe this will open the doors for the lightning, however it must be a ‘T’ variant as the single seat lightnings need afterburner to take off (or so I’m told). The CAA won’t let a lightning fly unless the afterburner is disabled.
By: JetBlast - 18th January 2004 at 00:31
Coanda, sorry for my late reply, a get together with some of my other restoration mates, equals too many beers at the local!!!!
God, do we talk and drink too much!
The BLC, as far as I remember, could only be cleaned by two ways, 1) Running up the system and blowing it out or 2) Putting a protective sleeve over the opening orifice, putting a hole in the sleeve to allow a high pressure airline head into it and blowing it through that way.
Most of the time the Bucc’s would have the BLC ducts covered by a series of blanking plugs to stop naughtly little birds from nesting in them, so would eliminate the neccesity of blowing the ducts clear, but its mighty impressive to see BLC in action when there has been load of water collecting in the BLC slit.
Hope my spelling has not suffered from my time down the boozer!!!
By: coanda - 17th January 2004 at 00:47
i would imagine the ‘what if’s run for pages…..
just loosing the connection from one pipe is probably enough to down an aircraft if blc was in use (slow speed etc etc…) its complex enough because of its effects on the performance of the aircraft.
which is not to say that it will not be looked after properly, however it has to be said that its not somthing you hear about being a problem with this particular aircraft…
buccsociety would you be able to expand on how they cleaned out the blc system as i have a pic which seems to show water being blown out of the blc exits…….is this ‘normal practice’
coanda
By: JetBlast - 16th January 2004 at 20:00
Originally posted by Old Fart
You cant fly a Bucc in the UK because if the blown flaps go you have to land at arround 200kts, its a viatal system
If the BLC systems goes, you eject!!!!! Aircraft, no matter what type, cannot fly without engines. BLC is bled straight from the 9th or 13th stage compressor, for BLC to fail you have have to have an engine go U/S.
By: Old Fart - 16th January 2004 at 18:30
You cant fly a Bucc in the UK because if the blown flaps go you have to land at arround 200kts, its a viatal system and without it the aircrat dose not like to fly for very long, the control gets sluggish its like flying a brick I’ve been told.
So odds on seeing a UK based flying Bucc ZERO.
By: mike currill - 16th January 2004 at 12:28
Originally posted by tonyosborne
I am afraid I don’t know anymore than that Coanda, but may be Thunder City have proved to the CAA that it is possible to fly these things safely, and the CAA could be warming to the idea.
I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting. Unless it is something to hinder the course of aviation, decision making in the CAA is akin to mating elephants – takes place at high level with lots of noise and takes two years get any results.
By: LN Strike Eagle - 12th January 2004 at 15:13
I keep hearing about this Bucc, and it’s fantastic news if it’s true. Is there a website that has details of the project at all?
By: Firebird - 12th January 2004 at 14:36
Re: UK Airworthy Buccaneer
Originally posted by XR728
Maybe this will open the doors for the lightning, however it must be a ‘T’ variant as the single seat lightnings need afterburner to take off (or so I’m told). The CAA won’t let a lightning fly unless the afterburner is disabled.
I wouldn’t hold your breath about a Lightning flying, but, if re-heat operation is truely the only stumbling block as far as the CAA goes then you never know what may be around the corner…:)
Not quite all single seat Lightnings as you suggest, just the heavier F.6 variant I seem to remember needed re-heat for take-off, the lighter F.3’s, (and maybe the F.2’s and F.1a’s) could take off on cold power only, but as no F.3’s or earlier marks exist in a potentially airworthy state, that why a T.5 (essentially a 2-seat F.3) could be the only candidate. And there is only 1 of those in the UK with possibly that potential, XS438(?) at Cranfield, plus of course XS422 under re-build in the USA, and Thundercities 2 x airworthy T.5’s, the ex-XS452 and XS451.
By: trumper - 12th January 2004 at 13:53
🙂 Good news if that is true,but does the Lightning need the afterburner as a safety device to get out of trouble or can it fly and get out of any problems without the afterburner.
I assume this means no vertical takeoffs for the lighting then,Bah.:)
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January 12, 2004 at 1:41 pm