.
Back around
1983, I was Airboss aboard
HMCS Margaree, a Canadian DDH (ASW-helo-carrying destroyer). While working with the
NATO Squadron,
StaNavForLant (aka "Stanley Foreskin"), I would often hang around the Ship's bridge and pilotage during my non-flying hours. I found I could learn useful things while watching the "Fish-Heads" playing their part in the ongoing War Games.
One of my strongest and fondest memories of those times, was when our vessels were transiting between the
Shetlands and the
Orkneys, and we came "under attack" by
Buccaneers out of
Lossimouth. The aircraft were detected to our rear, and they quickly closed towards our "six", weaving back and forth in what I thought at first were purely evasive manoeuvres, but always managing to stay at our Six.
And it soon became aparent that part of *our* tactic was to turn to bring our forward guns to bear, so as to augment the aft gun. But those clever guys in the Bucc's just kept swinging to limit our firepower to the aft gun only. Pure magic to watch these huge, fast "smoking" aircraft cranking large bank angles at such low, low altitudes -- usually 100 to 200 feet! Best noisy, smoky "airshow" I ever saw!
I've always harboured a fondness for "functionally beautiful" aircraft, and
Blackburn's Buccaneer kinda epitomizes that definition, I think. Y'know, with that big, beefy landing gear and the big "barn" gear doors to go with them. And that "pregnant" bulge in the after fuselage, to say nothing of those huge, air-brake doors. It made for a really *solid* looking aerodyne!
But enough of my nostalgic babbling. My chief reason for this post is that I stumbled across this rather interesting video on YouTube regarding the history of this lovely aircraft. Worth watching, methinks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46a-7N_13Sk
A tad lengthy, but interesting nevertheless.