TSR2 was primarily designed to carry a nuclear weapon most certainly (Red Beard and WE.177) but it was never intended to be part of Britain’s nuclear deterrent as such – it was a tactical aircraft. The deterrent rested with the RAF’s V-Force until responsibility was handed to the Navy’s Polaris fleet.

As to why the prototypes were painted anti-flash white, that indeed remains a mystery. There’s never been any explanation as to why the scheme was adopted by BAC and it wouldn’t have been applied to production aircraft, indeed a paint scheme drawing was issued for production machines which (not surprisingly) showed standard grey/green disruptive camouflage and white undersides (which would of course have been switched to Light Aircraft Grey in due course). Best guess is that the white scheme was simply copied from the short-lived white scheme applied to some FAA Buccaneer S1’s. There may have been some pseudo-political motive, perhaps to illustrate (to interested parties) that the aircraft was nuclear-capable. Britain’s aerospace industry was pretty good at this type of showmanship back then – one recalls the prototype Lightnings all of which wore roundels of varying sizes so that Soviet intelligence experts couldn’t determine the aircraft’s size and – therefore – its predicted performance.

I think that her role as a supersonic bomber, would have meant a lesser order for tonkas and jaguars

You can go round in circles speculating what might have happened. Certainly, the Tornado would doubtless have never happened – it wouldn’t have been necessary. The Jaguar might still have appeared though, not least because of its political roots. The Buccaneer would have stayed with the Navy and the Vulcan fleet would have been withdrawn sooner. The TSR2’s presence would have created a very different manufacturing and political climate so it’s impossible to judge what decisions might have been made. Even the Phantom’s purchase (primarily for the FAA) is open to question – given the cost of TSR2.

Likewise, it’s impossible to make an accurate guess as to what would have replaced the TSR2. Clearly, it would have been retired by now, but without the legacy of the Tornado, it’s impossible to judge whether Britain would have had the resources to design an indigenous replacement. It seems logical that an American purchase would have been made – possibly the F-15E.

In some respects the loss of the TSR2 wasn’t a disaster as some like to imagine. The RAF got the Buccaneer which was, by any standards, a brilliant aircraft. Okay, the TSR2 had great potential but as has been said many times before, the Buccaneer with the right equipment was just as suitable for the RAF’s requirements – perhaps even more so – and certainly cheaper.

Given that TSR2 would now be gone in any case, my best guess is that if it had entered service, we would now have a fleet of F-15E’s. The Phantom would never have been ordered (I suspect the carriers would simply have been dumped as being unaffordable) and we might well have purchased F-15A’s to ultimately replace the Lightnings.

Exactly Rob! Unfortunately, it’s become almost traditional for commentators (especially authors) to wax lyrical about those days (and particularly TSR2) as if the abandonment of so many projects was simply an act of political spite. The reality was that we just didn’t have the money to carry-on in the same way and even if TSR2 had survived, it’s certain that some other major project/s would have suffered a similar fate at a later date. It’s just rather sad that the poor ol’ TSR2 was the project which happened to be the most expensive and complex programme at that time; a classic case of the right aircraft at the wrong time.

WP840 – I guess the straight answer is that it was always possible to re-start the TSR2 programme and still is. It’s just a question of making the judgement as to when it becomes too expensive to contemplate in relation to the function which the aircraft performs. In the TSR2’s case that judgement was made shortly after the prototype flew! If you take the cost of the programme out of the equation, then I guess the TSR2 would still be a suitable platform even today if someone had the will (and money) to re-start it, but seen as we have a pretty decent fleet of Tornados…

Think the confusion is because Revell did re-issue either the old Matchbox kit or an even older Revell moulding, and this has led lots of people to steer clear, but if you find the more recent Revell 72nd F-101B (actually I checked and the plastic is stamped “1991” so it’s not that new!) it’s a great kit – accurate and nicely detailed. Think the key is to check what’s in the box before you buy it!

Not really – Channel 4 gets a huge amount of income from Endemol’s Big Brother screening, and without it they’d be hard pressed to finance other less-mainstream programmes. The problem seems to be that the current crop of executives just don’t seem to have grasped that aviation is a very popular subject. I suspect the reason why it is largely ignored is because of all the “post-Baxter” television which has mostly been complete rubbish, and has consequently failed to attract a good audience. As a result, the subject is perceived as being dull, even though it’s the production standards that have been at fault – not the subject itself.

To quote the great John Cleese:-

I may not know much about art, but I know what I like😀