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Blackburn Buccaneer
Links, References & Credits

[History] [Memories] [Survivors & Leading Particulars] [Pictures] [Links, References & Credits] 

This page last updated on 6th April 2009

Links

• Andy White's Blackburn Buccaneer: The Last British Bomber site is absolutely excellent and I cannot praise it highly enough - bags of individual aircraft histories with colour profile drawings and weapon load diagrams, loads of varied articles on every aspect of the Bucc and photo galleries too. If you want just one Buccaneer bookmark, this is the one!
• The Blackburn Buccaneer Society forums are the place to go for info on the Buccaneer preservation scene.
• Mike Beachyhead's Thunder City operates two Buccaneers and offer holiday-of-a-lifetime packages in which you can fly in them! The web site includes a number of very nice pictures and even video clips of the two Buccs in question (XW987 and XW988). Here's an interview with Mike.
• The Andrew Brooks Collection is a wonderful place for Bucc fans to visit - Andy's taken huge amounts of superb air-to-air (and other) photos of the beast, and has a good number shown off on his site, plus details of limited edition prints and a video. Also has the Crew Room, where Buccaneer crews recount tales from when they flew them. An absolute must-visit, and he also has pictures of other UK types including the Lightning, Jaguar, Phantom and Tornado.
• William Daysh's 49ers Reunion Web Site, for RN Aircraft Artificers, includes a good number of piccies of Buccaneers in action in the galleries. Needs Java.

Books

• Buccaneer S.1 - From The Cockpit by Michael J. Doust; published by Ad Hoc Publications; ISBN 978-1-946958-62-7. A fascinating book full of recollections from those who flew and maintained the S.Mk.1, with lots of photos you won't see elsewhere - mostly black and white but some colour coverage. Gives a real feel for what life was like for those at the sharp end with the early Buccaneers - highly recommended. [Buy from Amazon UK]

• The Buccaneers by Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork; published by PSL; ISBN 1-85260-611-8. A great 'from the cockpit' type of book with development and service history interspersed with loads of recollections from those who flew the Bucc, and many previously unpublished photographs - mostly in colour. Well worth getting hold of though it is a bit tricky to get hold of now. [Buy from Amazon UK]

• Modern Combat Aircraft 7 - Buccaneer by Maurice Allward; published by Ian Allan; ISBN 0 7110 1076 5. A book from 1981, so obviously covering only the first 20 years or so of the Buccaneer, but still worth a look with a good development and service history and plenty of photos not seen elsewhere. [Buy from Amazon UK]

• Warpaint Series No.2 - Hawker Siddeley/Blackburn Buccaneer by Paul Jackson and Peter Foster; published by Hall Park Books Ltd. A 24-page monograph intended for modellers, including a good history, lots of pictures spanning the Bucc's service life, 1/72 scale plans, lots of colour side views. Particularly worth getting if you're building a model.

• From Spitfire to Eurofighter by Roy Boot; published by Airlife; ISBN 1-85310-093-5. Roy Boot was a Blackburn designer who did a lot of work on the Buccaneer, and this book is a must if you want to know more about the Buccaneer project. Very detailed with lots of interesting anecdotes from the development programme, and a number of diagrams too. [Buy from Amazon UK]

• Buccaneer - The Last British Bomber by Tim Laming. We do not advise purchase of this volume.

Magazines

• Aircraft Illustrated, April 1983: Buccaneering with 237 OCU - an article on the role of the Buccaneer Operational Conversion Unit that makes interesting reading.
• Air Forces Monthly Special - Storm in the Desert: a post-Gulf War special issue showing off the nose art etc. applied to many aircraft. Includes four pages covering the Buccaneer's role in the war and the nose art applied to them (also several pages on other RAF aircraft).
• AIR Pictorial, February 1972: "Eagle" and Her Brood & Who Sank the Carriers? - two articles on the HMS Eagle and the demise of the RN's carriers with some Buccaneer coverage. Interesting articles though not particularly useful as Buccaneer reference.
• AIR Pictorial, October 1985: Blackburn's Buccaneer - good article on the development of the Buccaneer with lots of pictures of the prototypes etc. and a 3-view.
• AIR Pictorial, March 1997: Choose a Pirate for the Navy - part 1 of a fascinating two part article by Tony Buttler on the projects put forward to match the M.148T specification.
• AIR Pictorial, April 1997: Choose a Pirate for the Navy - part 2 of a fascinating two part article by Tony Buttler on the projects put forward to match the M.148T specification.
• AIR International, August 1982: apparently includes an article on the Buccaneer's development and early RAF service. I haven't seen it myself.
• AIR International, March 1994: Buccaneer Bows Out - good article looking back over the Bucc's career with the RN/RAF/SAAF, 3D cutaway and some nice pictures. This issue also has two Sea Eagle-laden Buccs on the front cover.
• Flight International, 11 February 1971: RAF Buccaneers - article on the introduction of the Bucc into RAF service.
• Scale Aviation Modeller International, January 1997: Buccaneer - article on building the Airfix 1/48th scale kit (which is truly excellent despite some early production examples having warped fuselage parts).

Credits

This section would have been greatly the poorer without contributions from the following - so many thanks to (in alphabetical order):

Dave Allanson, Allan Barley, Kerry Bee, Mark Bewick, Andrew Brooks, Patrick Burke, Les Bywaters, Nick Challoner, John Eacott, Karl Eklund, Nigel Goodall, Michael Hall, Bill Harkness, Guy Hulme, Rick Kent, Garry Lakin, Bob Lawson, Ian Malcolm, Neil McGibbon (RIP), Colin Mears, Albino Panigari, Les Richards, Graham Salt, Les Taylor, Mervyn Thomas, Hugh Trevor, Louis Vosloo, Jack Wade and Neil Youngman.

Thanks also to the following organisations:

The Buccaneer Supporters Club, Incredible Adventures, Ministry of Defence (RAF), National Museum of Flight and Salvair.

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