The Black Project Discussion

[daz greenwood]

Well I've learnt something from this thread.

And that is about the seats being set at different angles.

[wadeocu]

Now that is the best indication, yet, that I've seen, of the way the seats were set at different angles.

Edgar

Great pictures indeed Hugh! They show the windscreen shape very nicely as well as the curvature of the fuselage and canopy rail that the lines of the canopy follow. They really do show the offset nicely as well. Thanks for posting. - Jack

Edited January 8, 2010 by wadeocu

[Edgar]

All designed to keep them separated, in the event of an ejection, as it was told to me, not just so that the navigator could watch over the pilot's shoulder! While I think about, a similar idea was used in the two-seat Lightning; the seats used different-coloured harnesses, so that the crew couldn't buckle into each others' seat (happened once, and, in the ensuing ejection, both were killed.)

Edgar

[AnonymousAA72]

Nice pic's Hugh - Thanks for posting. The seats were offset as Edgar says to aid ejection - well thats what I had read somewhere. I seem to recall also reading that the navigators seat was offset by 2", though that does look more than that, perhaps Hugh can comment, confirm?

[TonyT]

Jag was the same, though not pronounced, there was a delay if both seats were fired together, was 10ths of a sec and the front went out to the port side whilst the rear went out to the stb i think it was.

[Hughgos hobby bench]

The rails that you see pictured were designed to be part of the canopy jettison system on the Buccaneer, these rails were slid back and jettisoned along with the entire canopy, during testing however it was found that without the canopy the Bucc would fill with water ( being designed as a carrier borne aircraft) which meant that on ditching the aircraft would assume a nose down attitude. so blackburn came up with the idea of blasting the Plexiglas's with a revolutionary MDC system, in actual fact the pilot and nav/observer could eject independently of one another, this became the standard and is still used to this day. Without the Buccaneer we would not have many of the systems that are used today. As for the seat copnfig it was to a certain extent to enable safe evac of the aircraft but also to enable the Observer/Navigator to keep an eye on the pilots instruments!! The Buccaneer was described as an ergonomic slum and the instruments were not duplicated in both cockpits so when the pilot was concentrating hard ie,landing on a carrier the observer /nav would be watching over his shoulder so to speak.

Also it may be of interest that the Observer/Navigator,s ejection seat was different to the pilots, namley that it was a Type 6 MSB3 Mk 3 as opposed to the pilots MSB1Mk2 which differed in that when the Martel missile system was introduced the TV display unit was situated beetween the Observers knees which ment that his ejection seats sides were splayed outwards to provide more knee clearance.

Hugh.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Sky Pirate

[andy wood]

I have to say, no matter if it is 1/48 or 1/32, I AM getting one. Surley all those pipes, etc, cant be injection moulded? I have the airfix kit with the Neomega and Flightpath sets waiting to be build. I suspect that will become a donor for various bits and bobs. One thing that does conern me is the amount of space between the blast screen and the navs' ejector seat. It has already been rasied elsewhere on BM. Looking at photos of the real thing, either a) the seat is too big, the rear cockpit is not long enough or c) the blast screen is too big. I suspect it is c, especially when it should be further forward, right up against the pilots seat. If it is a) or c) that would be easy to correct. If left as is, it would be physically impossible for a fully suited navigator to climb aboard.

Edited January 9, 2010 by andy wood

[Hughgos hobby bench]

Folks it is really tight to get into the Observers seat..in fact there is only room for your elbows to stick out once seated when the canopy is fully retracted.See the you tube vid attatched. At approximatley 3min in to the vid all becomes clear!!

Hugh.

PS..please feel free to read my profile folks and follow the link below there really is a lot of info available here even to guests..my username on the forum is XV867.

http://buccsociety.conforums.com/index.cgi

Edited January 9, 2010 by Sky Pirate

[andy wood]

Folks it is really tight to get into the Observers seat..in fact there is only room for your elbows to stick out once seated when the canopy is fully retracted.See the you tube vid attatched. At approximatley 3min in to the vid all becomes clear!!

Hugh.

Thanks for that. Having had a look at the video, I think the problem lies with the blast screen being to big, along with oversized ejector seat handles. Both easily fixable

[wadeocu]

Another observation for you Mr. Song. The arrangement of the various holes/vents on top of the intakes seems a little off and appears to be 'handed' (a mirror image with symmetrical placement between the two). This is incorrect, they were arranged differently from one side to the other per photos below. Please let me know if you are unsure of the point I am trying to make. Cheer, Jack