FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2575.PDF
576 FLIGHT international, I October 1964 the pull of the orange Irving 30ft braking parachute. Afterwards Mr Beamont said: "The keynote of the flight was 'no sur- prises.' Everything went according to plan. There were no snags; we didn't expect any. The planned speeds were reached, and we carried out all our planned tests. 11 thoroughly enjoyed the flight; we weren't • pushed, we even had time to look at the view. It is difficult on these occasions to say something which hasn't been said umpteen times before, but this looks like being a real winner, a very good aeroplane." There were some political recriminations during the days preceding the flight. On September 23 Mr Denis Healey, Labour j Party spokesman on defence, described in WORLD NEWS TSR.2 TAKES THE AIR XR219, the first British Aircraft Corpora- tion TSR.2, took off on its maiden flight at 1528hr local time last Sunday, September 27. The white-painted strike/reconnaissance aircraft is based at the Ministry of Aviation's Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down, Wilts, and was flown by Mr R. P. Beamont, BAC deputy chief test pilot, and Mr Donald Bowen, BAC chief test navigator, TSR.2. After numerous and protracted delays— Culminating on September 25 with a postponement caused by an excessive cross-wind, followed next day by the discovery of slivers of metal finally traced to the starter trolley—the two Bristol Siddeley Olympus 320 engines, with an aggregate maximum thrust considerably in excess of 60,0001b, were started at 1458hr on September 27. A Canberra and Lightning departed to serve as chase aircraft, and the TSR.2 then took off with full reheat at a relatively light weight, using much less than half the 10,500ft of runway available. With its nose high in the air it unstuck cleanly and then pulled up into a relatively steep climb, the trails from the engines becoming smoky on return to cold power. Beamont made two wide sweeps over Wiltshire and Hampshire, leaving the undercarriage extended according to the test schedule and not exceeding the pre- scribed envelope of 25Okt speed and 10,000ft altitude. White vortex trails from the down-sloping wing tips showed clearly. At 1543hr the TSR.2 gently touched the Boscombe runway again, and slowed under top of col 3) his Leeds constituency "a new crisis over the ill-fated aircraft." Mr Healey, who was addressing Amal- gamated Engineering Union shop stewards, said: "Mr Chapman Pincher [of the Daily Express who has a habit of giving the public better information than all the Ministers put together, tells us the Govern- ment knows of new anti-aircraft weapons which will shoot down the TSR.2 by the time it is in service—at least four years hence—so it is not planning to make more than the 30 production models already ordered. "That will mean paying £16 millions an aircraft, if you include development costs, and according to Mr Amery, its missile will simply drop ordinary high explosive on tanks and bridges. If this is true, it makes all Mr Amery's other blunders look like chicken-feed: £250 millions would pay for 50 Ferrantis, and that is the lowest First Flight—I The two photographs on this page were taken at Boscombe Down last Sunday during the first flight of the TSR.2 (news story above). It can now be disclosed that it has a span of 37ft, length of 89ft and height of 24ft. Current orders are 20 for development and 30 for RAF service
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
