There were THREE politicians who were involved in the 'death' of the TSR2. Jim Callaghan, Roy Jenkins and Denis Healy. In the documentary that the BBC did, with a huge input by 'Bee' Beamont, all three denied it! Their "nothing to do with me" stance was nothing short of lies. Then, of course, there was Mountbatten, who had little of an aviation background but who stabbed the TSR2 project in the back, with the help of the lying three above, by making a supermarket style offer of three F-111's for the price of one TSR2 to the Australian government. The RAAF were said to have paid three times the originally quoted price by the time the bugs had been eliminated, years later.
I met 'Bee' in April 2001 at a signing ceremony of our TSR2 prints at which time, over an extended lunch, he related a few stories which Tim Deadman, a PPRuNer and I sat enthralled by. He also made it clear that the TSR2 should not have been killed off. He told of his test flights, some of which were conducted up and down a N/S line from Warton over the sea. He achieved supersonic speeds frequently and told that the TSR2 would have been capable of 2.3M. He also said that had the project not been cancelled there would have been NO requirement for the Tornado!
TSR2 was a worldbeater and would have still been flying today probably! 'Bee' seemed to always carry his design sortie and I noted a few posts back that BEagle had posted one. That is it EXACTLY. Quite something.
Here today, nothing has changed. The politicians still interfere on the back of a distinct lack of knowledge and control. They will never learn that the money they need to enforce their own power hungary ill thought out ideas comes from the people. I just to see the true figures exposed after the Tories get back.
But, sadly, with a quick return to the topic!!! The finest builders of aircraft have been let down time after time after time! Sickening!