Airfix 1/72 Scale Blackburn Buccaneer S Mk.2 RAF Model Kit
Airfix Blackburn Buccaneer S Mk.2 RAF The Blackburn Buccaneer is a British carrier-capable attack aircraft designed in the 1950s for the Royal Navy. The Buccaneer was originally designed in response to the Soviet Union’s Sverdlov-class cruiser construction programme. Instead of building a new fleet of its own, the Royal Navy could use the Buccaneer to attack these ships by approaching at low altitudes below the ship’s radar horizon. The Buccaneer could attack using a nuclear bomb, or conventional weapons. It was later intended to carry short-range anti-shipping missiles to improve its survivability against more modern ship-based anti-aircraft weapons. Designed to mount high speed maritime strike operations from the decks of Britain’s relatively small aircraft carriers, the Blackburn Buccaneer was a real brute of an aeroplane, built like a brick outhouse and the most capable aircraft of its type in the world – it also happened to be the heaviest aircraft the Royal Navy had ever operated. Perhaps nothing illustrates the rugged, no nonsense approach to the aircraft’s design philosophy than its manufacture and flight testing procedure. The Buccaneer entered Royal Navy service in 1962. The initial production aircraft suffered a series of accidents due to insufficient engine power, which was quickly addressed in the Buccaneer S.2, equipped with more powerful Rolls-Royce Spey jet engines. The Buccaneer was also offered as an entrant into a new Royal Air Force (RAF) contest for a new attack aircraft. It was initially rejected in favour of the much more advanced supersonic BAC TSR-2, but the cost of the TSR-2 programme led to its cancellation, only to be followed by the cancellation of its selected replacement, the General Dynamics F-111K. The Buccaneer was finally purchased by the RAF, entering service in 1969. Making a significant contribution to the success of Operation Granby, these Buccaneer ‘Sky Pirates’ provided a fitting reminder of why this magnificent aircraft should be considered one of the finest achievements of the British aviation industry. These Airfix model aircraft kits will require paints and glue to complete. Scale 1:72 Skill 3 Number of Parts 141 Dimensions (mm) L268 x W186 Age Suitability 8+
