Sam Publications Blue Water Missiles

[kitnut617]

Pick up a few sets of TSR2 bits when I renewed my subscription to SAMI.  These are the recon pack, the Blue Water missiles and the 2000 lb'er set which comes with the extended front undercarriage leg.  They are very nicely cast and to me they look like Paragon might have done them, seems like the same style Neil uses anyway.

Question though, what would have the targets been for the Blue Water missiles?  Would having them on a 617 Sqn. aircraft be appropriate?

Cheers,  Robert

[Geoff_B]

Hi Robert

The targets for blue water would be the same as the those fose Red Beard and WE177, and therfore the rear echelons of the Red Army in Europe where ever the reserves were located. The stand-off ability thus allowing the taget to be attacked at ranges outside their AA umbrella and thus increasing the surviability of the aircraft for a repeat mission on other targets. Highly unlikley that it could make the run on Russia itself however as that was going to be for V-Force and then the Polaris.

For sqdns it depends on how you want to play it, if this is the mid 70's and the SSBN's are in service then 617 sqdn using TSR2 with Blue Water is quite possible, if the heavy bombers armed with Skybolt or Blue Steel 2 are still going than 617 would likely still be one of them.

Cheers

Geoff

[kitnut617]

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for that,  I've already decided that one of my TSR2's is going to be a 617 Sqn. aircraft (Xtradecals offering) but it looks a bit plain without something hanging off it.  So Blue Waters it is.

Out of interest, what was the extended nose leg intended for, RN?  My other two TSR2's I have are going to be in Canadian markings (Xtradecals again) and one will be a recon bird,  I'm thinking the extended nose leg and operating from a dispersed airfield hacked out of the forest in the far north, somewhere closer to the north coast line

Cheers.  Robert

[Nick]

The extended noseleg was for the same reasons as Navy F-4 Phantoms had them, to allow a shorter takeoff distance. Not sure how it works but you know....

Nick B)  

[elmayerle]

The extended noseleg was for the same reasons as Navy F-4 Phantoms had them, to allow a shorter takeoff distance. Not sure how it works but you know....

Greater angle of attack generates greater lift letting you lift off sooner and at a lower speed.  The extending nose wheel strut is a pragmatic approach to doing this.

[Geoff_B]

THe extended leg was fitted to the prototype batch but i think it was intended to revert to a conventional leg for the production aircraft as the STOL performance wasn't as critical as it once was for the program. It may be related to the issues with the main gear that needed to be braced for normal operations !!!.


G