Looks like Brigands were finally grounded around 1953, the Bucc first flew in 1958, and entered service (with RN) 1962, so even if the photo dates to an early trial Buccaneer Prototype (note the long nose pitot) then any Brigand airframe would have been static for five or six years.
Don't know why, but the feel of the photo looks like a "hot and high" trial to me, or possibly a long-range positioning flight ovweerseas. Possibly Kenya, which might tie in with the Brigand and Canberras?
Single engined type, powered by Centaurus, four bladed prop..... can't think of anything that fits offhand, but would be more than happy to be proved wrong.
The very round nacelle made me wonder about a Hastings, which might fit in better time-wise but the shadow and colour scheme don't seem to fit a Hastings, and that black underside of the nacelle matches the colour scheme on Brigands.
Yes, the nacelle matches the Brigand type the singles do not. Since it is a monochrome image I would say the underside of the nacelle is dark rather than black
Definitely a Brigand nacelle I think. Brigands were finally withdrawn in 1958 which was the cross over year with the buccaneer so that's all consistent.
The colour scheme appears to be consistent with a MET 3 Variant.
Is the photo taken at Hatfield? [DH people liked to wear white overalls and dustjackets] Looks like a Gyron Junior in the port side of that Canberra, which of course is a DH engine which was fitted to the development Buccaneer seen in the pic.
Agree that the nacelle in the foreground look like a Brigand. At Hatfield for propeller development tests?
Last edit: 25 Nov 2016 13:53 by JCB. Reason: Spelling
The Canberra with the tractor could well be WF909, flying test bed for the de Havilland Gyron Junior engine, as fitted to the Blackburn NA39 alongside. The new Hikoki book states that in late 1957 WF909 went on to be fitted with a second Gyron Junior in the starboard installation.
However, perhaps this photograph disproves that theory. If the prototype NA39 first flew on May 1958 then Paul's photo must have been taken after that date. Could we perhaps assume that this photo was therefore taken on a sunny summer day at Hatfield (perhaps summer 1958?) which suggests that the second engine might not have been fitted to WF909 until at least a year later.
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