You wouldn't call it good if it buzzed you flying at thirty feet while you were trying to fix a Lightning ... one of dads friends had that experienced, it knocked him off the Lightning ....he fell on the re-fueling probe, then the Red Top then to the ground in a heap.
Surprisingly he wasn't that badly injured, just a few bruises on his back but he only spent like thirty minutes in the med center, and then he was back on the line for the rest of the exercise.
i looked down into the bucaneers cockpit from the tower railing as he cut around the tower at probably 450 knots to let mess know he was there for tgif
We loved the Buccaner. The only plane in the world that could catch it on the deck was the F111, and its range on the deck was first class compared to almost anything else.
Even the RAF liked it after turning there noses up at it for many years before it was forced on them. I must have a photo somewhere and will try to dig one out.
Here's one. As you can tell its an old one (just look at the clothes) and I am finding that my slides have deteriorated over the years, but it gives you a feel for the plane. Personally the first thing that struck me when I first saw one was how big it was. For some reason I expected it to be smaller.
I don't suppose that there is an equivalent. If there was it would be a cross between the A6 and A7. The bomb carrying capacity of the A6 with the penetration ability of the A7.
Takes me back to the Open Days I went to as a kid - my dad was in charge of a Lightning simulator at Coltishall, and watching Lightnings, Gnats, Hunters, and Vulcans do their stuff was pretty awesome.
BTW - I could fix up some of those pics in Photoshop if you want...