audiobook TSR2: Britain's Lost Bomber (Crowood Aviation) by Damien Burke in History

Review

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. TSR2 - Too Much Too Soon; Excellent bookBy matt8386Britain 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.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. This is a book which was a long time coming.By Glyn ThickettThis 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.15 of 16 people found the following review helpful. All modern aircraft have four dimensions: span; length; height and politics. TSR2 simply got the first three right.By LimeyThis book is by far the most definitive of all the books on the TSR.2 currently in and out of print; Damien Burke has certainly undertaken a considerable amount of in-depth research and covered all aspects of the TSR.2's development and its ignominious demise at the hands of the grossly incompetent British Labour party politicians of the 1960's. I worked as an engineer in the UK aerospace industry during the late 70's and for a time at the BAe (former BAC) works in Weybridge; Surrey; UK where the TRS.2 was built. The office where I worked on the AV-8B Harrier design (a satellite office of BAe Kingston; formerly Hawker Siddeley) had in-fact been the production line for the TSR.2 over ten years earlier. From time-to-time we would meet people who had worked on the design or production of the TSR.2. To hear them describe some of the scandalous events surrounding its cancellation were very disturbing; such as the production jigs being cut up with acetylene torches in order that there was absolutely no possibility of the program being restarted.The cancellation of the TSR.2 was part of a gutting of the British aircraft industry during the 1960's that led to the heart being torn from the UK's Aerospace engineering capability once and for all. It became what was called the 'Brian Drain' when thousands of highly skilled British aircraft engineers pulled up their roots and took their expertise to the USA where at least at that time they would be appreciated and put to work on projects that would at least see the light of day. The British aircraft industry never recovered and assumed a continual decline to what we see today. There are now no solely British aircraft designs in existence; the industry is now resigned to playing bit-parts with European consortiums such as the Tornado; Eurofighter and A400. These programs are the result of political compromise which leads to products that due to their need to meet the requirements of different nations end up being very average in their capabilities.This book provided the very beginnings of the program with the demanding requirements from the UK MOD; through the design; production; flight testing. There are detailed descriptions of the aircraft; power plant; avionics and weapons systems; all are supplemented by excellent photos; specially commissioned drawings as well as original manufacturers drawings; sketches; manual and document excerpts. It truly does provide a plethora of information for the most detail oriented aircraft enthusiast and historians to feast upon.I am extremely pleased with this book as I had for some time been looking for a history that provided the in-depth information that is contained in Damien Burke's book. Highly recommended to anyone with a curiosity of both the pinnacle and the beginning of the end of the British aircraft industry.