The last British bomber........

[grumpyoldb]

...........................................

 

[Scaley brat]

Ah well on the bright side, 558 did a fly past at Odiham yesterday. What a fine site she made as she went sailing past. Thank you to every person who worked on her restoration. Your hard work is much appreciated. DT_Xtremez_28:

 

[PingDit]

They haven't actually gone out of existance yet. 42(R) Nimrod OCU is still officially '42 Torpedo Bomber Squadron'.

 

[MAINJAFAD]

Bucc is the last British Bomber, not the Vulcan.

Throws Cat into the pidgons and runs.

 

[Tashy_Man]

I thought it was Bilal Abdullah ?

Crack on.................DT_Xtremez_09:

 

[Rigga]

Erm.....18(B) Sqn

...and the last designated Bomber flying in the RAF was....








the.....










Canberra!

 

[grumpyoldb]

Sorry guy's. I saw a Bucc vid on you tube. It was really good, but after I posted it the link said no longer available, and I couldnt delete the thread.

 

[Parky]

Erm.....18(B) Sqn

...and the last designated Bomber flying in the RAF was....








the.....










Canberra!

OK I'll swallow this hook,

Canberra bombers retired before the Buccs did, only photo recon canberras outlasted the Bucc in RAF service.

(Stands by to be corrected though)

 

[MAINJAFAD]

Erm.....18(B) Sqn

...and the last designated Bomber flying in the RAF was....








the.....










Canberra!

T4 may have been able to drop bombs, I think you will find that the PR9 wasn't (had they been able to, there would have been a 'B' in the designation somewhere). Though the Canberra was in service in many forms beyond 1982 when the Vulcan was phased out as a bomber and 1993/4 when the Bucc was phased out, in none of its roles was the words Bomber/Strike/Attack used.

Canberra T4, PR9, E15, T17, TT18 in service when I joined up in 83. Bucc's 'S' desigation stood for Strike, as in 'Nuclear Strike' with Nuclear Bombs (though it's a designation mainly used by the Navy, as the only two aircraft in service to ever use it were both naval in origin (i.e. Bucc and SHAR).

 

[grumpyoldb]

Buccs used to do nuclear QRA at Laarbruch late 78/79'.

 

[foxvc10]

Isnt (was) the Nimrod cleared to drop 1000lbs?? I remember reading an AP somewhere that it was wired as such.

Shades of bombing the fuzzy wuzzys with there sharpened papayas??

Probably wrong about this..

 

[Rigga]

Much as I loved working on Bucc-et loads of Instant Sunshine - I believe all Canberras were built as Bombers and some converted to their later roles, such as PR9 and T21.
ALL Canberras had Bomb Bays - whether they had the dispensing gear is another matter!

I concede that Nimrods have a Charge-dropping capability - but whether that is "bombing" is another question.

 

[Tin basher]

but whether that is "bombing" is another question.

What constitues a "bomber" - Something that has the capability to drop bombs or something with a purpose built internal bomb bay. Deciding upon the definition will go a long way to sorting which is/was the last bomber on the books.

 

[MontyPlumbs]

What constitues a "bomber" - Something that has the capability to drop bombs or something with a purpose built internal bomb bay. Deciding upon the definition will go a long way to sorting which is/was the last bomber on the books.

I thought abut this too, does the word "bomber" in this case refer to a strategic bomber (eg Lancaster), tactical bomber (e.g. Su-25 etc) or fighter bomber (Tornado GR4 etc)?

I'd say the Canberra was our last bomber.

 

[spanners]

What constitues a "bomber" - Something that has the capability to drop bombs or something with a purpose built internal bomb bay. Deciding upon the definition will go a long way to sorting which is/was the last bomber on the books.

It's not the OED, but

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
bomb⋅er
   /ˈbɒmər/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [bom-er] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. Military. an airplane equipped to carry and drop bombs.
2. a person who drops or sets bombs, esp. as an act of terrorism or sabotage.
3. bomber jacket.

 

[Ex-Bay]

Much as I loved working on Bucc-et loads of Instant Sunshine - I believe all Canberras were built as Bombers and some converted to their later roles, such as PR9 and T21.
ALL Canberras had Bomb Bays - whether they had the dispensing gear is another matter!

I concede that Nimrods have a Charge-dropping capability - but whether that is "bombing" is another question.

As I understood it, you are right. All Canberras were a Bomber airframe. PR versions had a smaller bomb bay (for dropping BIG flashbulbs) and a bigger fuel capacity, but I don't know about E15s.

 

[PingDit]

What constitues a "bomber" - Something that has the capability to drop bombs or something with a purpose built internal bomb bay. Deciding upon the definition will go a long way to sorting which is/was the last bomber on the books.

Indeed - as in the Nimrod as previously stated.
Here's Wiki's classification of 'Bomber': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomber