TSR2: Britain's Lost Bomber (Crowood Aviation)

Britain does not have a monopoly when it comes to large defense projects that go bust. The US Air Force certainly has had its share. The key difference is in scale - where the US industry got away with this for many years, the British Aeronautics Industry was too small to absorb this non-starter.As with the B-58 Hustler, the XB-70, A-5 Vigilante to name a few, the TSR2 got caught reaching for too much too soon and ever changing government specifications. While the technical difficulties were being resolved, the prototypes were not meeting the minimum requirements, even after they had been lowered. When viewed from this perspective of time and hindsight, it's easier to see why this plane was canceled, and none of those involved knew that they were signing the death warrant of the British Air Industry.The book itself is magnificent. Many excellent photos, some in color, show the progression of the plane from the RAF General Operating Requirement to the drawing board to the factory floor. There are many parallels with the CF- 105 Avro Arrow, which looked similar and shared the same fate. Burke has included dozens of line drawings, charts, cutaways, photo graphs of the interior and all of the details of this bomber.This book is more than just the story of one plane - it's also a history of the British Airspace companies in the early 50's, 60's. Along with the excellent details of the TSR2, Burke sheds light on the competing forces of technology, economics and politics. Highly recommended reading, a great addition for all aviation buffs.

I cannot say if this is the definitive essay of the TSR2, what I can say is the depth and expanse of information it contains should make it the reference resource book for years to come. 12 Chapters and 352 pages of well researched information. A good 25% is devoted to all the contenders and the design of the TSR2 with lush diagrams many in colour.We then progress to building of the TSR2, the TSR2 in detail, thru trials, thru politics then to the disposal, and what if is asked.Many beautiful photos of the aircraft/bomber that never was. Diagrams cutaways are clean and clear and as stated many in colour, well presented technical drgs. The author certainly went to great lengths to research, and then put pen to paper, to bring a well structured and to me, easy reading book. Laced with information only now given the OK from official sources, the book takes us from the original request from Government for an advanced bomber to the political decission to scrap it.The book covers the problems the flight testing found, the shakes from the undercariage on landing (due to I would suppose lack of rigidity) to the need to add more struts to overcome. To the dirty poluting olympus engines, the tell tale vortices created by the wings etc. First hand infomation, anecdotal information plus a wealth of excellent photographs many of which have not before seen the light of day.The aircraft had potential, it died to soon, but what could have been was lost and the impact on the RAF and aircraft design in England will never be known. Shame it died , shame so many ended up shot to pieces and only two restored, and these two nevr flew, out of 20 remain. The original and only flying example eneded her days on a test firing range shot to bits. The author has done well at pulling togther information some of which was suposed to have been destroyed to erase any trace of the TSR2. 40 odd years after her cancellation and demise the TSR2 still can turn heads and leave you guessing. Wonderful book - well worth the purchase - well worth the read.

This is a first class book and well worth the money. The research for this book must have been a monumental task and as far as I can see so far it is very accurate. I spent six years working on the project in the Weybridge Division and was with the aircraft during its final assembly and initial flight testing at Boscombe Down and at Wharton during its flight testing until the cancellation. The book contains a wealth of information and, of course, brought back many fond memories as well as sadness at its demise.The book covers the entire life of the program from the original government specification,the development of the airplane configuration, manufacturing, flight testing, cancellation and it's aftermath. It also gets into all of the political aspects of the program and puts everything into perspective. It contains many photographs and detail pictures and illustrations of all of the structural and systems details of the aircraft, also describes its various missions of bombing, reconnaissance and in flight refueling. There are details of future unbuilt versions of TSR2 which I had never seen before. In short, this book leaves absolutely nothing out and is a must for the library of any aviation enthusiast.

I bought this on recommendation from someone on a model kit group on Facebook. I wanted a decent reference book for a model TSR2 that I was building. Damien Burke's TSR2 Britain Lost Bomber has to be the ultimate book on this fascinating plane. The research and pictures is amazing, with many unseen photos from BAC (BAE) archives. all aspects from concept,design and construction are covered along with in-depth sections on each part of the aircraft (avionics, engines, weapons,etc). The political wrangling is mentioned but not in a manner that it detracts from the star of the book. Not only have I found it an invaluable reference for my model, but a fantastic read. Definitely the book to buy if you want to know about Britain's bomber that was cancelled by a penny pinching government

This book is full of detail and is an excellent read for anyone interested in the TSR2.

Excellent telling of the TSR2 saga - one can only wonder why no heads rolled as a result of the whole sorry mess. Mr Burke has the story well covered, coupled, with an in-depth, semi technical, book of great merit.

A superb work of reference on this ill-fated British aircraft, which held so much promise. It goes into a lot of detail on design and a few of the politicians who had a hand in cancelling the project also give their account.Fascinating but not a book for a quick read. It is one to be dipped into and savoured.

Expensive book but, packed with a huge amount of amazing detail. The Author has done an awesome job putting this together