Flying The Buccaneer

Who can say that he flew an aircraft at its Vne of 580 KIAS at sea level in level flight with only 66% thrust? That was what the Buccaneer could do.

- Dries Marais

After take-off you had to be quick in retracting the wheels otherwise you would zip through the 225 KIAS maximum speed for the undercarriage in motion. During my first touch and go landing with a Bucc at sea level (Durban), I was just that little too late in pushing the “UP” button and slightly bent one of the main doors and had to fly back to Waterkloof with wheels down at FL 180 and 220 KIAS.

It is a sturdy machine. I once sat in the rear seat when Matthew Morton, a former Royal Navy pilot landed as he always landed on deck: he simply kept the 1,800 ft/min rate of descent on finals and never did a round-out, just planted our 22-ton Bucc exactly in the centre of the first white markers on the runway. The short finals rate of descent caused me to cringe in the rear cockpit. The landing was very firm with a tiny bounce. The aircraft was designed to do that for every landing of its entire life.

What other aircraft can fly low level from wheels-up at DF Malan Airport, Cape Town to overhead AFB Waterkloof in 1 hour and 9 minutes? That was what navigator Riaan Mouton and I did - failing to break the Buccaneer’s standing record of 1 hour 4 minutes.

What aircraft flying at 1 000 km/h at 50 ft above the ground in a 30-knot wind and 30ËšC outside temperature would allow you to take your hands off the control stick and just sit there as smoothly as a Boeing 747 at 30 000 ft in stable air? That was the Buccaneer.