Supermarine Scimitar

The story of the sea machete

For its history, the Super Scimitar served with the British Fleet Aviation (FAA) as a carrier-based jet single-seat fighter. The aircraft had a number of "firsts" while in service with the Royal Navy - becoming its first swept-wing single-seat fighter and the first FAA aircraft approved for nuclear use.

The Scimitar can be called upon for multi-role missions involving long-range reconnaissance, high-altitude interception and low-altitude bombardment, making her an ideal and lethal addition to the Royal Navy and aircraft operating in these varied capabilities for a decade.

The Scimitar's legacy stems from a long development period for single-seat naval fighters starting with the Vickers-Supermarine Type 508. V-shaped tail.

Another prototype with straight wings soon appeared, designated Type 529, while another research prototype, this one with swept wings, was designated Type 525.

Attention quickly turned to the Type 525 prototype, a design that showed promise. The first flight of the prototype took place on April 27, 1954.

Although later lost in an accident (and somewhat a harbinger of the future), the Type 525 was designed to withstand even in a modified form of the Type 544. Three slightly different Type 544 prototypes were then produced. Under the N113 specification, the revised Royal Navy changed the Type 544's requirements from a dedicated combat platform to a low-altitude attack aircraft.

The Type 544 then completed its maiden flight on January 19, 1956, and soon 100 were ordered under the final designation "Scimitar F.1". The Scimitar F.1 made its first flight on January 11, 1957. Initial production orders were quickly reduced to just 76.

The design of this rather large aircraft is rather conventional. As part of the shortened nose arrangement, the cockpit is well maintained in the circular fuselage.

The air intakes are located on the sides of the fuselage, occupying about 80% of the length of the aircraft, and are eventually covered by exhaust nozzles in front of the tail. The rear wing is also conventional, matching a single vertical rear wing to a raised horizontal plane. All rear surfaces are swept.

The main wing is mounted low on the side of the fuselage and has a high degree of swept, especially on the leading edge. The landing gear is a tricycle arrangement with two single-wheel main landing gear struts and a single-wheel nose landing gear strut.

The main gear is retracted towards the centerline, while the nose gear is retracted aft, just below the cockpit floor and aft. A grappling hook is attached to the bottom of the rear wing.

The Scimitar F.1 is powered by two Rolls-Royce Avon 202 Series turbojets, each delivering up to 11,250 lbf of thrust. Performance specs include a sea level top speed of 736 mph and a range of 1,422 miles. The aircraft has a service ceiling of 46,000 feet.

Total weight at launch is approximately 34,200 pounds.

Standard armament revolves around an impressive quad 30mm Ayton cannon turret. This can be supplemented by external ordnance spread across four mount points.

The hardpoints can be equipped with American-made air-to-air missiles in the form of the AIM-9 Sidewinder or air-to-surface missiles in the form of the AGM-12 Bullpup. In addition, the Scimitar can deploy up to 4 x 1,000 conventionally dropped bombs or 4 x rocket pods with 2- or 3-inch unguided rockets as needed.

The fact that the Scimitar's legacy is limited is reflected in the only production form that exists as the Scimitar F.1. Of the 76 production planes delivered, about 39 were killed in accidents at least a staggering rate.

Scimitars are prone to accidents, as the Royal Navy's small aircraft carriers combine well with the power of advanced aircraft. While pilots and aircrews appreciate the sophistication of the Scimitar, it was ahead of its time and required a lot of focus and skill - both in the air and on the ground.

At one point, a single machete was said to require about 1,000 hours of maintenance to keep it functioning properly.

The Scimitar was used by the 736th, 800th, 803rd, 804th and 807th Naval Air Squadrons after serving in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Forces, replacing the more vanilla coloured single seater Hawker Seahawks. Its first users were Boy 803 from Loussiemouth in June 1958.

The Scimitar was eventually replaced in the ground attack role by the Blackburn Pirates and was removed from front-line service as early as 1966, but did not retain its nuclear role until 1969. Ironically, the Scimitar Corsair once served as an air fuel tank.

Although the Scimitar also retained some air-intercept properties, she was also hired for the role by the unique de Havilland Sea Fox, which entered service in July 1959.

A Supermarine Scimitar F.1 (serial number XD220) on the deck of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City. This particular example is on loan from the FAA Museum.

All in all, Scimitar lives a sort of "invisible" existence, albeit briefly. The aircraft was also the last product of the legendary Supermarine company responsible for the brilliant, war-winning Supermarine Spitfire of World War II.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes