I also worked on the TSR2 terrain seeking radar and was there the day she was cancelled. We were aware of the problems with the TFX (later F111) and were shown film of the crashes. The problem with the undercarriage was resolved on the morning of the cancellation. To quote the navigator who I knew personally, on a flight up the north sea, he said " We flew up the north sea with only one afterburner working and we made 2 PR Lightnings look like Tiger Moths". A few days before the cancellation we were informed that they had got the Olympus engine up to (memory) 68,000lb static thrust. Most fast jet aircraft (including the Americans) owe a lot of their technology to the TSR2 as also do Civil Jets. Had TSR2 gone into service it would have upset the balance of power between the East and West. The Warsaw pact countries would have had no counter measures to combat it (neither did the Yanks!). This was a major factor from the Americans to put pressure for it's cancellation. Notice all of the jigs for her were destroyed making it virtually impossible to ever put her into production again. How many other aircraft have ever been scrapped to this extent.

The TSR outruns the Blackbird? Keep dreaming. Its skin couldn't withstand the temps of flight speed that fast nor could its engines come close to the high Mach ramjet efficiency of the Blackbird. All you whiners about the demise of the Avro Arrow need to take along look at the Mig 25. Avro was heavily inflitrated by the KGB and the Mig 25 is pretty much a two-stabilizer Arrow.

I would not call Polaris and then trident leaving Britain defenceless. Britain was and is not the global super power it once was and couldnot aford both combat aircraft and missiles. The gulf is against a third world nation not a third world war which was the bigger threat in the 50s and 60s.

Ducan Sandy was the man that killed the aerospace industry in The Uk
He nearly killed the bucaneer and nearly the lightening programs
he thought that manned aircraft was not neede no more
Omg imagine the raf or the rn without those aircraft or the harrier
if he had his way Britain would be defenceless
Has I said what do plolictions know about defence
Oh great about budgets hey lets just surrnder no manned aircrat only missiles
My point is this The Tsr 2 programme is not the only one to suffer because of Budget constriants
Hell how would the Raf fight in the gulf with only missiles
That what Ducan Sandy wanted lol.

Duncan Sandy is allways seen as the vilain of the british air industry but can any one tell me how a manned aircraft can defend against ICBMs? May be he was thinking about defence costs rarther than aircraft fans.

whose Ducan Sandy opps been sacarstic there
another witlees fool doing defense for the better of a nation
Oh hell i Fogot they Knighted the fool for wrecking the aerospace industry in Britain
Oh well whose knows about defense then the poloticians lol

TSR 2 (Techological Sleek Revolutionary TIMES TWO)What an aircraft nothing would have touched,it not even the Failure one eleven sorry F-111,the government failed the aircraft industry the country and more importantly THE RAF,Labour muppets doing a monkeys job Nothing new there then.LONG LIVE TSR-2 in our hearts at least

TSR 2 (Techological Sleek Revolutionary TIMES TWO)What an aircraft nothing would have touched,it not even the Failure one eleven sorry F-111,the government failed the aircraft industry the country and more importantly THE RAF,Labour muppets doing a monkeys job Nothing new there then.LONG LIVE TSR-2

This brilliant aircraft would have been in the air earlier if it had not been for interference by meddlesome civil servants. There would have been a possibility that the odious Harold Wilson and his henchman Dennis Healy may not have been able to have used this as some political football. The worst part of this whole fiasco was the fact that all the remaining aircraft were totally scrapped and all plans and equipment were destroyed. Yes Paul Scott you are quite right and sadly the same attitude prevails to this day.

I wouldn't mind if we did get the F-111, although politics aside, and it smacked of just that, at least the RAF would've had a somewhat TSR-2 like aircraft. Nevertheless, I'd much rather have had the projected pride we should have had, like France and Sweden, supporting their fine aircraft and industry. TSR2 we miss you!

Just read a quote by Sir Sydney Camm. Aircraft have 4 dimensions, wingspan, length, height and politics. TSR 2 got the first three right.

only 16 and i love this machine. just wondering if roumers ive heard about it having a canopy covered in a gold plated film to shield the pilot from nuclear explosions are true

Hate to tell you boy's this, but we lost the B-58(in-production), the XB-70, the F-107 Rapier, on and on. Read your PM's "White Letter" by P.M. Duncan Sandy (1957). He sank your beautiful TSR.2, not us. We didn't want the Ardvark either.

Another great plane shut down before production along with candian Arrow due to American polictics...

beautiful aircraft,so advanced we can`t have this let`s get some cheap american rubbish ( F-111 ! ) typical labour party dumping british genious!

Same story for Avro Arrow. Don't build it, we got better stuff cheaper, Disney tickets for you and the kids too. The soviets will steal the plans and whip up the Tupolev Arrovich. According to my CIA links...OOPS What do I know.

@ R.Hunt I would be interested to see this evidence, perhaps you could provide us with a link ?? Not that I'm saying you're wrong or anything, I'm just interested in learning more about what you said, however, TSR2 capable of going faster than mach 3.5 ???, surely that would of made it the fastest aircraft ever ??

after doing a bit of indepth reaserch i stumbled apon some shocking evience the T.S.R 2 was cancelled because the americans threaten the goverment for all the war money to be paid back if the project was continued because the T.S.R was capable of going faster than the Lockheed Sr-71 Blackbird (mach 3.5 +)

A wonderful and beautiful aircraft, again, owing to political pressure, sadly cancelled. This would have been an aircraft to be reckoned with.

I worked on this aircraft as a Stress Engineer for three years prior to its cancellation, not for defence cutbacks as stated in the description but as part of a sell out by Harold Wilson to LBJ and the F-111 which wound up being more expensive and an inferior aircraft. As TC stated "A beautiful aircraft

whoops, the link failed... log on to PPrune and search for TSR2 history, you'll find the thread caled "TSR2 (Signed prints now available.) Some lovely pictures and video

You may be interested in this thread and images from PPrune

what a beutiful aicraft
what a shame it never entered service
loved since i was a kid