Thunder & Lightnings

Supermarine Scimitar - Walkaround Photos

Cockpit

All of these pictures are of XD235 and have been kindly supplied by Kim Raquet of the Southampton Hall of Aviation (now Solent Sky), where the nose section of XD235 resided (in storage) for some time. Contact Kim if you wish to use these pictures for anything other than personal use.

An old and grainy photo but shows the canopy, ejection seat and decking behind to good effect. Port cockpit side, with the unequipped ejector seat taking up the bottom left-hand corner of the picture. Closeup of the forward port corner of the cockpit; the left-hand part of the instrument panel. Throttle handle just about visible at bottom left. Overall view of the instrument panel and coaming. Lots of missing instruments unfortunately. Closeup of the central part of the instrument panel and the joystick, which is missing the handle assembly. Starboard rudder pedal visible to the right of the joystick. Panning up and right to look at the top right part of the instrument panel. Panning down and right to see the starboard forward corner of the cockpit. Zooming out for a more general view of the starboard side of the cockpit. Closeup again, of the top part of the starboard side console. Panning down for the bottom part of the starboard side console. Finally, out of the cockpit for a view of the ejector seat from the starboard side.

Nose

Under the nose looking forward. Now this is a picture of a nose! The off-center panel visible on top is where the inflight refuelling probe would be mounted. Starboard nose. Port nose. XD235 (then at Southampton), with the radome folded back. Gives you an idea of the amount of plumbing in this area. Closer view of the end of the nose with the radome open.

Fuselage

Port intake. As with the starboard intake, you can see the prominent boundary layer splitter. Intake interiors appear to be natural metal with a painted lip. They appear to be lighter in the bottom half here because of all the dust inside them. Port intake side, emergency canopy release - very worn! Port cannon port. Port intake side Underneath port wing, pair of intakes forward of undercarriage bay Port fuselage and spine. Looking forward over port wing root Port airbrakes. The upper one has perforations, though when closed they are filled by rods in the airbrake bay as you can see. Port jetpipe surround; forgive the over-exposure, at least it shows up all the rivets! Port rear fuselage and airbrakes. Starboard airbrakes. The upper one has perforations (blanked off here). Under the rear fuselage; the thing jutting out is the fuel dump. Another view of the fuel dump, from the starboard side. Lower airbrake petal to the right. Under the centre fuselage (left is aft), showing how the pipes to the fuel dump run forward and disappear inside. Open airbrakes showing how the uppermost petal is perforated. Looking forward over starboard wing root Starboard wing root and fuselage. Starboard wing root and fuselage. Under the centre fuselage showing intakes and IFF aerial. Starboard cannon port. Four was a more usual fit; this airframe only has two, one each side. Starboard intake. Compare the positioning of the Avon engine here with those in the Sea Vixen.

Wings

Port inner pylon from inboard Port wing fold and inner pylon Port wing fold. Appears to have been zinc chromate green and then overpainted with light green. Port trailing edge flap in the fully down position. Poor quality file I'm afraid but it does show how the flap is not a simple hinged surface but has extensions either side on the lower surface. Port wing (folded) and jetpipe. Port wing fold from behind; note the small panel that hinges upwards and covers the fold when the wings are spread. You can also see the flap blowing slits at the leading edge of the flaps. Port outer wing Starboard outer wing Starboard wing fold Starboard outer wing, pylon and drop tank Starboard outer wing, showing the extended leading edge outboard of the fence

Undercarriage

Nose gear from starboard Nose gear from ahead/port Nose gear from port; note depression in the gear door for the wheel Nose gear from behind Nose gear bay Nose gear bay Nose gear bay Starboard main gear from ahead Starboard main gear from ahead and inboard Starboard main gear bay from below (top of photo is forward). Under the grime it is generally silver in colour. Starboard main gear from inboard. Port main gear from ahead Port main gear from behind Port main gear from behind and inboard Port main gear from inboard Port main gear bay, inner area; this is the area hidden by the large door that cycles shut once the gear is down and is where the wheel would retract to. Left of photo is forward. Port main gear bay, outer area

Tail & Arrestor Hook

Port tail area Looking up at the arrestor hook in its bay. The grey strip near the end is holding up and is a museum addition, as is the black/yellow sticker. Looking up at the arrestor hook bay; the hook is up, but the tail bumper is extended Starboard tail area; arrestor hook in stowed position, tail bumper extended. Closer view of the tail bumper and starboard jetpipe surrounds

Stores

Mk.20 HDU - inflight refuelling pod