Thunderbird shootout.

[uwe]

May I make a(n innocent) proposal too? 



Sorry, I was just Focke-Wulfing around ...

[TBird1958]

My cream Tokai T-bird has arrived, and I get to play it this evening! I'm thinking of having a custom pickguard made up, with the bird image replaced with either a top-down plan of an Avro Shackleton or a front-on plan view of a TSR-2.

Any other suggestions? Aircraft that fit the relative outline of the bird on the pickguard. All welcome.

 Go with the Shackleton, contra rotating props rule!

[Psycho Bass Guy]

My cream Tokai T-bird has arrived, and I get to play it this evening! I'm thinking of having a custom pickguard made up, with the bird image replaced with either a top-down plan of an Avro Shackleton or a front-on plan view of a TSR-2.

Any other suggestions? Aircraft that fit the relative outline of the bird on the pickguard. All welcome.

For a Reverse Thunderbird, the choice is clear:

[uwe]

Sigh, a most prevalent design crime ...

[Psycho Bass Guy]

They are both from the same time period as well. The X-29 test program ran from 1984-1991. Most of what was learned from it was ported into the flight control software of "normal" looking aircraft, but without the X-29, there would be no F-22 or F-35. Russia also had a similar program the Sukhoi Su-47

[veebass]

[Alanko]

I'm going to have to go with the Hostess with the Mostest and go with the Shackleton. Eventually.... 

Had a spin on the Tokai T-bird. The thing is massive. I'd forgotten just how big these things are.  It is far longer than any of my other basses, which creates some issues with storage and transportation. None of my stands like it either. 

The pickguard is bleach white, almost blue against the cream paintwork. I'm going to get it out in the sunshine over the next few weeks where possible, just to give it some colour.

[Highlander]

Re the stand... I use one with a central swivel point which tilts to suit any instrument shape - some prefer to use racks that allow for sideways storage...
Re the scratchplate... wear you Alba pride on your bass and have the Lion, Rampant...!

Your knowledge on TSR2 is better than the average (tips hat) but some add info for any interested parties...

It is a fact that the peculiarity that "blinded" the crew, albeit temporarily, on landing, was part of an unresolved vibration fault associated with the undercarriage, causing a "shake", the frequency of which was similar to that of sight... that must have been a bugger of a thing to discover the first time XR219 touched down...


This is (afaik) at Brooklands in the 60's - foreground may be XR223 or 228, neatly sliced into three lumps and missing the wing/tail...


XR223 or 228, as above, prior to slice-and-dice...

There are well known images of XR219 with shell holes in the fuselage... they have (had) the "stick" on a mount, for posterity, in their office... no later images have ever turned up...
XR221 and 223 also went with 219 to Shoeburyness (Foulness)

Several wing sections were to be found there in the 70's, iirc...

XR220, the one that "infamously" fell off the back of a lorry and should have flown, was used for engine testing post cancellation... this, the most complete airframe, is on display at RAF Museum Cosford in the UK Midlands...

XR222 is structurally and visually complete, and on display at IWM Duxford...

There is a cockpit section at Brooklands that was never part of a complete airframe and not scheduled to be... this is stored adjacent to Delta Golf and not in the "long grass" - this is my local museum and I have a few pictures of this section...
There are four, maybe five engines I am aware of... there are probably more, unidentified... the one I posted (ebay) I believe was only found in 2010...
No TSR2 reference site seems to know of any radar systems still around, but as noted by Alanko, pieces turn up...
There is a well known image of multiple chopped-up sections in a scrappies yard...
Newark has an engine cover; maybe an engine...

Alanko... if you are on FB then join the TSR2 pages (I can pm) and there are a couple of "genuine" TSR2 people that would be interested in knowing more, if they do not already know... I personally know a RAF veteran (Eng, one time 230 Sqn) that witnessed the lorry debacle at Boscombe... it is an interesting tale and so stupidly avoidable...

This is a fairly good forum site for additional info and some pictures... there is mention of the final fate of XR219 and the most likely destinations of the leftovers...

[Alanko]

Hello Highlander!


These are supposedly the TSR2 formers, as recovered at Brooklands. Another piece of the TSR2 puzzle that was officially lost but then skulked back out into the open.



I was under the impression that XR222 was the best of a bad bunch. Visually it is most complete but there is still avionics missing and many cut wires.

As to the famous Foulness image of XR219...



Supposedly a similar quantity or XR219 was removed from Foulness in the late '70s or so, and was disposed of by the much loved Hanningfield Metals. A collector discovered the front fuselage under a tarp and somehow saved it. Given the politics behind TSR2, the nasty chemicals tested on the aircraft on Foulness (radioactive or furiously corrosive) and the fact that Hanningfield had a contract to honour, I find it hard to believe that they would let stuff slip out the back gate. Given the size of the Brooklands cockpit trainer it would be some job to smuggle that sort of thing around.

Wing sections of XR219 did survive into the early '90s and were supposedly saved by the late John Hallett, whose Sea Vixen resides at Solent Sky. The wing sections were subjected to chemical testing, so the Hallett story might also be a myth. I've seen an aerial image of the Foulness ranges from the early '90s, and large panels in anti-flash white are visible, alongside Vulcan parts. From the ground;

[uwe]

Pet Plane Sematary!!!

[Alanko]

Isn't that a Ramones album? 

[uwe]

Yes, recommended for young parents, Gage is a real sweetheart with a healthy suspicion for elderly people going after his ass:

[Alanko]

I joined the TSR2 page on FB. Seems like they enjoy a rumour as well. 

I'm slowly replacing the black tuners with chrome ones on my Tokai T-bird. It already looks better!

I guess Dee Dee Ramone never used a T-bird?

[Highlander]

PM in progress...

[Alanko]

How.... mysterious. 

In the mean time, here's Dee Dee!!