Blackburn Buccaneer

Blackburn Aircraft / Hawker Siddeley · United Kingdom · first flew 1958 · bomber

The Blackburn Buccaneer is a British twin-engine low-level strike aircraft built for carrier operations and prized for its rock-steady high-speed flight at very low altitude.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, swept
E — Engines	2 × turbofan, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	Bulky area-ruled fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Bulky area-ruled fuselage
Rotating bomb-bay door
Twin Spey engines in wing roots

Look for the deep, broad area-ruled fuselage, swept mid wing with engines buried in the roots, and the distinctive rotating bomb-bay door rather than conventional bay doors.

Specifications

The Blackburn Buccaneer has a length of 19.33 m (63 ft).
It has a wingspan of 13.41 m (44 ft).
Its maximum speed is 1074 km/h (667 mph).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

First flown in April 1958, the Buccaneer used area-ruling and blown flaps for carrier performance and was optimised for fast, low-level penetration beneath enemy radar. The improved S.2 introduced Rolls-Royce Spey turbofans for greater power and range.

Variants

The original S.1 had Gyron Junior engines, replaced in the S.2 by Speys. The South African Air Force operated the S.50, while RAF S.2A and S.2B aircraft were adapted from the Royal Navy fleet after the carriers were retired.

Where you'll see it

Originally a Fleet Air Arm carrier aircraft, the Buccaneer transferred to the RAF and flew with distinction, including laser-designation strikes in the 1991 Gulf War before retiring in 1994. Preserved Buccaneers are displayed at the Yorkshire Air Museum, RAF Cosford and Newark, with ground-running examples kept alive in the UK.

Related aircraft

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