Supermarine Scimitar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Scimitar

The Supermarine Scimitar was a British naval fighter aircraft operated by the
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. The prototype for the eventual production version flew
in January 1956 and production aircraft were delivered in 1957. It saw service
with the Royal Navy from 1958 until 1969, replaced in service by the Blackburn
Buccaneer.

The Scimitar stemmed from a number of designs from Supermarine for a naval jet
aircraft, initially to a requirement for an undercarriage-less fighter aircraft
to land on flexible "sprung" rubber decks, which would allow for a lighter and
simpler structure. Supermarine's design to meet this requirement was the Type
505, featuring a thin, straight wing and a V-tail (or "butterfly tail") to keep
the tail surfaces away from the jet exhausts, and to be powered by two
Rolls-Royce Avon turbojets, mounted side-by-side in the fuselage. In 1948, the
Admiralty had second thoughts about the undercarriage-less fighter and
Supermarine reworked their design by including a nosewheel undercarriage,
becoming the Type 508. The Vickers-Supermarine Type 508 was the first Scimitar
ancestor and shared the layout of the Type 505, i.e. a twin-engined
straight-winged type with a V-tail. Pitch control was by moving the whole tail,
with elevators for additional pitch control when working in tandem and to
replace the rudder on a conventional tail when working differentially. Ailerons
were fitted to the wings for lateral control and leading and trailing edge flaps
were also fitted to the wings. An order for three Type 508s was placed in
November 1947, to Specification N.9/47.

The first Type 508 made its maiden flight from Boscombe Down airfield on 31
August 1951, with the aircraft carrying out carrier trials aboard HMS Eagle in
May 1952. The second aircraft had significant differences, carrying a cannon
armament and was different enough in detail to be renamed the Type 529, flying
for the first time on 29 August 1952. One unusual modification was the larger
tailcone for a proposed tail-warning radar. The maximum speed of the
straight-winged Type 508 and 529 was relatively modest, with the Type 529
reaching 607 mph (977 km/h) and it had already been decided when the Type 508
first flew, to redesign the third prototype with swept wings to improve
performance. The resulting Type 525 also featured conventional swept tail
surfaces as well as blown flaps to reduce the aircraft's landing speed and first
flew on 27 April 1954. It later crashed but the basic design had already
proved sound enough to proceed with an outwardly fairly similar looking
aircraft, the Type 544, to specification N.113. A total of 100 were ordered,
although the Royal Navy had changed the specification to a low level strike
aircraft with nuclear capability rather than a fighter.

The first of the Type 544s serving as prototypes for the later production series
flew on 19 January 1956. The aircraft evolved more with the third Type 544
incorporating different aerodynamic changes and a stronger airframe for the new
low level role - to quote Flight; "To permit uninhibited manoeuvring in thick
turbulent air at low levels while carrying heavy loads of strike weapons, the
structure is extremely sturdy". Various aerodynamic "fixes" to try and counter
pitch-up effects at high speed and altitude included flared-out wing tips and
wing fences. The tailplane was also changed from dihedral to anhedral. The
combined modifications led to the final Type 544 being considered the
"production standard". The first production Scimitar flew on 11 January 1957.

The aircraft pioneered fuel flow proportioning and integral main-plane tanks,
along with "blown" flying surfaces to reduce landing speeds.


Role
Naval strike fighter

National origin
United Kingdom

Manufacturer
Supermarine

First flight
19 January 1956

Introduction
1957

Retired
1969

Status
Retired

Primary user
Royal Navy

Number built
76

At the time of introduction most of the Royal Navy's carriers were quite small
and the Scimitar was a comparatively large and powerful aircraft. Landing
accidents were common and the introduction of the type was marred by a fatal
accident which took the life of Commander John Russell, commanding officer of
803 Naval Air Squadron, the first squadron to operate the Scimitar. After a
perfect landing on the newly recommissioned HMS Victorious and in full view of
the press, one of the arrestor wires broke, and Russell's Scimitar (serial
XD240) fell into the sea. With no means of ejecting through the jammed canopy
and despite the best efforts of the crew of the Westland Whirlwind planeguard
helicopter to perform a rescue, Russell's Scimitar sank to the bottom and Cdr
Russell drowned. The incident was later broadcast by British Pathé News. Overall
the Scimitar suffered from a high loss rate; 39 were lost in a number of
accidents, amounting to 51 % of the Scimitar's production run.

--- At one time, it held the record of 1,000 maintenance hours per flying hour.
Although the Scimitar could operate as a fighter, the interceptor role was
covered by the De Havilland Sea Venom and then the de Havilland Sea Vixen. The
Scimitar itself was replaced by the Blackburn Buccaneer. The Scimitar was kept
initially as a tanker to allow the underpowered Buccaneer S.1 to be launched
from aircraft carriers with a useful weapons load. To save weight, the Buccaneer
would take off with minimum fuel then top up from a Scimitar. Late in the
Scimitar's operational career, examples were flown between 1965 and 1970 by the
Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU) based at Bournemouth Airport (Hurn). The FRU was
managed by Airwork Services and provided realistic flight operations for land
and sea-based naval training units.

Prototypes

Type 544
Prototype for the Scimitar F.1, 3 built by Vickers-Armstrong Experimental
Department at Hursley Park
Production model

Scimitar F.1
Single-seat multi-role fighter aircraft, 76 built by Vickers-Armstrong at South
Marston. Original order was for 100 aircraft in 1952 later reduced to 76.

Survivors

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 2 in (11.33 m)
Height: 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m)
Wing area: 485 sq ft (45.1 m2)
Empty weight: 23,962 lb (10,869 kg)
Gross weight: 34,200 lb (15,513 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Rolls-Royce Avon 202 turbojet engines, 11,250 lbf (50.0 kN)
thrust each

Performance
Maximum speed: 640 kn (736 mph; 1,185 km/h) at sea level
Range: 1,237 nmi (1,424 mi; 2,291 km)
Service ceiling: 46,000 ft (14,000 m)
Rate of climb: 6,751 ft/min (34.30 m/s)
Time to altitude: 45,000 ft (14,000 m) in 6 minutes 39 seconds

Armament

Guns: 4 × 30 mm ADEN cannon with 160 rounds per gun
Hardpoints: 4 with a capacity of ** 4 × 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs or 4 × AGM-12
Bullpup or AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles or
up to 16 two or three inch unguided rockets (4 per pylon)
1 × Red Beard freefall nuclear bomb,





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