Originally Posted by
Jayviator
I see that the cannons were removed on the recce version so did the trigger on the stick have another purpose or was it simply redundant, I also read that the recce variants were still able to carry and drop weapons so there is still a small chance that red button on my stick might have been used in anger,
Quite a large chance that the pickle button was used in anger as the original converted GR1A recce jets tended to have most of the war-going mods so were frequently drawn to support operations which then triggered additional mods. Back then the guns were hardly used so their absence was not a big deal. The as-built batch 7 GR1A recce jets had less toys but were amongst the youngest in the fleet so went on to form a good part of the GR4 fleet.
The trigger was still utilised on the GR1A for Sidewinders and, for a period, ALARM missiles. Part of the haze above is not just because of our failing memory but due to the functions changing throughout aircraft life. Some were just bad design - the basic autopilot mode being a classic - a simple stick button that held the current attitude; in the days before the ‘head-up’ panel and warning bongs this innocuous button that lead to many pilot-induced-oscillations and wtf moments.
The GR1 trainers did have a trigger and rear-seat strafe was a good game with canopy rivet of the day vs bush of the day. As an aside, recce squadrons received the same training allowance of 27mm as regular GR1 squadrons but only had 1 or 2 GR1 trainers on the squadron with guns fitted. The harmonisation on the these jets was outstanding as all the squadron gun use was focused on them. It also meant we had quite a lot of ammo to burn through when we had a rare chance to use the guns. On a regular squadron strafe was usually a short burst from a single gun selected to slow rate. On a recce squadron I found myself with full ammo tanks and both guns at fast rate was the order of the day. It felt rather good, to say the least - brrrrrrrrrrrpppp.