The short tips reduced wing-loading
How does reducing wing area reduce wing loading?
That truly is a stunning model - is there a miniature foldie to pop in the back seat?
The 2-person crew thing was indeed paramount on the Bucc - we had it instilled in us on Day 1. If I recall correctly, we used to ensure that the weapon safety breaks were left swinging during the walk round (which we did in opposite directions) so that whoever got there second had proof positive that his chum had checked them.
It got a bit daft during the sim phase - the ever present monitoring and "Check cheeses' call from the chap (not 'kid') in the back was a bit too enthusiastic once and off we went with the GPI still stored.... So next time, it went "Airborne, gear up, lights out, flap up...moving together, stop together"..."Check cheeses"..."Check GPI!!" "OK", said the instructor, "..maybe a little more time in your own cockpits, please chaps!".
I once had 'one of those feelings' when climbing out after a trip and checked the rear seat pins - to find that the almighty staff Nav had put the wrong one in the wrong hole - so the seat wasn't safe as one pin was shorter than the correct one. I swapped them back to their correct locations - and made the seat safe. Did I get any thanks? 3 guesses.......
Anyway, a very nice model. Perhaps both wing tip options should be available?