
The title says it all - this is all about what it was like to fly the beast, kicking off with a brief chapter on design and development before getting to the meat of the book, the flying. Detailed accounts of the flight test programme and initial carrier trials, the S.1 and its handling characteristics, same for the S.2 along with tactics for anti-shipping and overland strike missions. Finishes up with a chapter on accidents, and some "I was there" stuff from Buccaneer pilots. It is a frustrating book though, because if it had been produced in a fully illustrated format it would have been absolutely superb - alas it's an old fashioned production with a few inserts of black and white photos here and there, and the grand total of two line drawings (in one of the tactics chapters). Still, content is king and the content is fascinating so this is absolutely worth buying and is good value to boot.

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. Makes a very good companion to Flying the Buccaneer, above.

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and service history interspersed with loads of recollections from those who flew the Bucc, and many previously unpublished photographs - mostly in colour.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.

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.

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.
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.
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, the late Les Bywaters, Nick Challoner, John Eacott,
Karl Eklund, Nigel Goodall, Michael Hall, Bill Harkness, Guy Hulme, Rick Kent, Garry Lakin, Bob Lawson, Ian Malcolm, the late Neil McGibbon, 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.
Visitor Comments
3 people have commented on this page. This is comment section 1 of 1.
Phil Rose from Norfolk
Posted at 9:13pm on Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
Yes also enjoyed Phoenix Squadron, and just think that this is a rather wonderful piece of engineering
Norman J Roberson from OAKHAM, Rutland
Posted at 12:22pm on Saturday, September 26th, 2009
Reference Buccaneer S2 XK526
This aircraft was the Gate Guardian at RAF Honington from 16/2/83 until early 1994, when the Station became the HQ for the RAF Regiment. It was made a Memorial prior to this change of roles, to prevent the RAF Regiment from replacing it with a piece of artilery. A Memorial can never be removed, whereas a Gate Guardian can.
Regards
Norman Roberson
(Buccaneer Aircrew Association Historian)
Jeremy Edwards from Melton Mowbray
Posted at 12:43pm on Sunday, August 30th, 2009
The book "Phoenix Squadron" by Rowland White, Bantam Press ISBN 9780593054505, covers the 1972 mission to overfly Belize by a pair of Buccaneers, supported by others in a tanker role. It's a good book and a strong argument for the excellence of the aeroplane