Title:FIRST TAKE OFF AND LANDING OF THE TSR2 (PART 1) [Main Title]
Film Number:DEC 2
Other titles:
Summary:The prototype of the TSR2, designed to satisfy an Royal Air Force requirement for a low-level supersonic strike aircraft, makes its maiden flight from the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) airfield at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, on 27th September 1964.
Description:START 10:00:00 Camera #1 (located at some mid-point along the runway at Boscombe Down). High-speed slow-motion film showing the prototype of the British Aircraft Corporation TSR2 supersonic strike aircraft, XR219, in all white anti-flash paint scheme common to all RAF nuclear strike aircraft at this time, heading down the runway to take off with test pilot Roland Beamont at the controls. Visible in the background are the A&AEE's administrative buildings and hangars and a miscellany of British military aircraft types, including several Vulcans, Victors, Canberras and a lone Valiant, a Gannet, an Argosy transport, a Shackleton and a Valletta (in red). A Westland Whirlwind helicopter hovers nearby in case Beamont has to eject from the aircraft. At 10:00:48, the nose wheel lifts off and, powered by two Bristol Siddeley Olympus jet engines, the TSR2 takes off at a steep angle with its undercarriage still lowered. An unknown object obscures the view as the camera follows its climb.
Production Details:British Aircraft Corporation (Production sponsor)
British Government, Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscombe Down (Production Company)
