Thunder & Lightnings - British Aircraft Corporation TSR2

Two complete airframes, XR220 and XR222, survived and have both been restored to good static condition. All the other TSR2 airframes along with the only TSR2 to fly were destroyed as mentioned in the history section.

British Aircraft Corporation TSR2
Survivors

Serial	Mark	Owner & location	Updated
XR220	Type 571	RAF Museum Cosford, Shropshire	21/04/2010
XR222	Type 571	Imperial War Museum, Duxford Airfield, Cambridgeshire	21/04/2010

Serial	Mark	Owner & location	Updated
T5	Type 571	Brooklands museum (forward fuselage), Weybridge, Surrey	21/04/2010

Bristol-Siddeley Olympus engine, Wroughton, 2005; Martin Gatter

Various parts of TSR2 are scattered around the country - both the Gatwick Aviation Museum and the Science Museum at Wroughton have zero-time Bristol-Siddeley Olympus engines that were destined for TSR2s (both pictured here). Several wing sections were to be found at Foulness for some years but were sold and scrapped, finally becoming saucepans or something in 1995. A main wing apex section can be found at the Newark Air Museum (due to be restored and placed on display soon they informe me); an engine access door is also there, in the engine display hall (this is from XR222 - XR222 has a replacement!). Various other small items survive, e.g. the partial pressure helmet pictured on the history page is in store with the RAF Museum, and Cosford also have a TSR2 ejector seat, sectioned engine and a publicity model. Canopies can be found at the Midland Air Museum (who also have an ejector seat) and also reportedly still in use as a training aid at RAF Halton.

Bristol-Siddeley Olympus engine, Vallances, 17th July 1997; Dick Clements (RIP)

In April 2010, an unusual survivor came to light - the very first Olympus 22R, serial 2201, which had been stored for over 40 years, has been restored and is now up for sale - see the eBay classified advert and note that the seller is open to offers! This particular engine underwent considerable bench test running, tearing itself to bits twice in the process, and was rebuilt each time to continue with its valuable development work. Quite a find - and deserving of a place in a museum somewhere.

Pazmany PL.1 G-BDHJ at Bodmin Aerodrome, early 1997; Martin Pengelly

There is a strange little postscript to the TSR2 saga, involving another aircraft that could almost justify being included in the TSR2 survivors list... some of the metal destined for the production TSR2s was instead used in the manufacture of G-BDHJ, a Pazmany PL.1. This is a light trainer type aircraft, which has been used as a basic trainer by the Chinese air force. However, the one in question here wasn't used by the Chinese - it first flew in 1971, and was for some time based at Bodmin aerodrome in Cornwall. It's a world apart from the TSR2, but I thought that it merited a mention! Sadly the aircraft has not flown since 1997 and is no longer on the CAA register.

First flight	27th Sep 1964
Crew	Two - Pilot and Navigator
Armament	Final specification called for carriage of 2 x WE177B nuclear weapons, up to 16 x 1,000lb HE bombs, rocket pods, reconnaissance pack or 2 x Martel missiles.
Powerplant	Two 30,600lb (16,600lb dry) Bristol-Siddeley Olympus B.O1.22R turbojets.
Max. speed	Prototype reached Mach 1.12; specification called for Mach 2.0+ at altitude
Service ceiling	Final specification called for 40,000 ft
Range	1,000 n.m. combat radius on internal fuel only (3,000+ n.m. ferry range)
Empty weight	54,750 lb
Max. take off weight	102,200 lb
Wing span	37 ft 1.7 in
Wing area	702.9 sq ft
Length	89 ft 0.5 in
Height	23 ft 9 in