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TSR2
Cranston Military Prints  By Subject Aviation Art Modern Era  TSR2 |
| Modern era aviation art prints of the TSR2 aircraft. Our collection of prints and original paintings of the TSR2 aircraft from the post-war era. |
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| Text for the above items : |
Legend - TSR.2 by Ivan Berryman. Viewed by many as the most advanced and forward-thinking design for an attack and reconnaissance aircraft in its day, the BAC TSR.2 was to fall victim to inter government wrangling and the absurd belief by those in power in the mid 1960's that the days of the manned fighter aircraft were over and that all future conflicts would be fought with missiles. Eventually exploring tried and tested American aircraft to re-equip the RAF, the extraordinary TSR.2 project was abandoned, leaving the British military aviation industry bruised, angry and in tatters. No all-British military aircraft has been conceived or constructed since and it is almost certain that this remarkable aircraft would have continued in front line service for at least two decades had it been allowed beyond its difficult gestation. |
Testing Time by Keith Aspinall. A TSR2 deploys its parachute while a Lightning flies by. Test pilot Roland Beamont finally made the first flight from the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, on 27th September 1964. Initial flight tests were all performed with the undercarriage down and engine power strictly controlled - with limits of 250 kn and 10,000 ft on the first (15-minute) flight. Shortly after take off on XR219's second flight, vibration from a fuel pump at the resonant frequency of the human eyeball caused the pilot to throttle back one engine to avoid momentary loss of vision. Only on the 10th test flight was the landing gear successfully retracted - problems preventing this on previous occasions, but serious vibration problems on landing persisted throughout the flight testing programme. The first supersonic test flight (Flight 14) was achieved on the transfer from A&AEE, Boscombe Down, to BAC Warton. During the flight, the aircraft achieved Mach 1 on dry power only (supercruise). Following this, Beamont lit a single reheat unit only (because of problems with the other engine's reheat fuel pump), with the result that the aircraft accelerated away from the chase Lightning flown by Wing Commander James 'Jimmy' Dell, who had to catch up using reheat on both engines. On flying the TSR-2 himself, Dell described the prototype as handling 'like a big Lightning'. Over a period of six months, a total of 24 test flights were conducted. |
Hot Metal - TSR.2 by Ivan Berryman. Without doubt the most advanced and forward-thinking design for an attack and reconnaissance aircraft in its day, the BAC TSR.2 was to fall victim to the shortsightedness of a misguided Labour government whose entrenched position in the mid 1960s dealt a terrible blow to the British aircraft industry - a blow from which it never fully recovered. Whilst the few TSR.2 airframes that had been constructed languished in outside storage or on gunnery ranges, its intended American replacement, the General Dynamics F.111, was ready for RAF service fully ten years late and at a cost of nearly three times that of a production TSR.2, with the order being cancelled at the last minute. Here, XR219 streaks into the air having ridden the 'hump' in the Boscombe Down runway. |
Cancelled by Peter Westacott. Chief Test Pilot Wing Commander Roland Beamont CBE DSO* DFC* making the first test flight in the prototype English Electric TSR-2 Serial No.XR219 at Boscombe Down on 27th September 1964. |
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This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts. Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269. Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com
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