NA.39 XK488 at Yeovilton, 23rd September 2002; author	S.1 XK532 at Inverness, 18th September 2004; Richard Bell

The Fleet Air Arm Museum's XK488 was the first thing any visitor there saw as she used to be positioned outside the museum entrance. However, she's now been moved to the storage hangar and is due some TLC. Wearing the blue and white NA.39 prototype scheme, the long nose probe also gives you a good idea as to this aircraft's use in development - in fact, she was the third prototype and was assigned to De Havilland Engines for development work on the Gyron Junior engines used in the Mk.1 Buccaneers. They've actually taken out XK488's engines so if went round the back you could see right through the engine bays and out the front - so that dodgy model kit you built when you were ten years old wasn't entirely wrong! Information current as of 01/02/2003.

Buccaneer XK532 S.1 has re-emerged from storage after some 10 years of uncertainty, James Campbell, curator of the Highland Aircraft Preservation Society has purchased the aircraft after some two years of negotiations with the owner Mr Ken Charlton. She was successfully moved to her new home on December 23rd 2002 for display at Dalcross Industrial estate next to Inverness airport. XK532 was the first Buccaneer to be allocated to the Royal Navy in 1961 and served with 700z and 809 squadrons at RNAS Lossiemouth Scotland, then for development work at West Freugh in 1964. After some 3 years she was then transferred to Manadon as an instructional airframe untill 1984 and finally she was returned to Lossiemouth for gate Guardian duties. After some 8 years she was replaced in favour of the desert pink S.2 Buccaneer XW863 and then went into storage in Inverness..The Society is looking for anybody in the Inverness area interested in helping with restoration of the Society's aircraft, no special skills are required. Both the Buccaneer and the Society's Hunter F.1 are available for viewing at any time by calling James on (01463) 831459. XK532 turns out to have a retractable inflight refuelling probe fitted - a rarity to say the least - and they are particularly interested in getting this working again. Information current as of 18/09/2004.

S.1 XN923 at the Gatwick Aviation Museum, April 1st 2000; author	S.1 XN957 at Yeovilton, 23rd September 2002; author

This is S.1 XN923, part of Peter Vallance's collection. This particular Buccaneer was the second production S.1 and after a brief stint with 700Z NAS, the Navy's trials squadron and the A&AEE, XN923 was assigned to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough and carried out a lot of test and development work, which included the fitting of the familiar fixed refuelling probe. It also had a detachable nose cone used for flying various pieces of equipment in. XN923 is in good condition, having had a partial repaint in 1999 and even has her engines run up from time to time. Information current as of 01/02/2000.

Another old-timer - this is S.1 XN957, another resident of the Fleet Air Arm Museum. She was placed in storage for several years during the 1990s but is now back on display as part of the museum's Carrier exhibition, parked next to their S.2, XV333. Information current as of 23/09/2002.

S.1 XN964 at the Newark Air Museum, 6th February 2006; author	S.2 XK526 at RAF Honington, May 1999; Allan Barley

Here's another S.1, this one to be found at the Newark Air Museum. XN964 had served with 801, 800, 736 and 803 NAS and during her time with 736 NAS she took part in the bombing attacks on the crippled supertanker Torrey Canyon. Since the above photo was taken she's undergone considerable restoration work, with much de-corrosion work and a repaint into her early 801 NAS colours as worn on the first operational deployment of the type to Far East on HMS Victorious during 1963-1965. Information current as of 30/08/2007.

XK526 stands as a reminder of Honington's past, when the Buccaneer OCU was stationed here. She looks more like a plastic mockup than a real aircraft though, with high gloss paintscheme and a black-painted canopy (what sins does that cover I wonder?). Information current as of 01/05/1999.

S.2 XN974 at the Yorkshire Air Museum, 20th May 2001; Bob Lawson	S.2 XV361 at Langford Lodge, 15th June 2002; Eric Gray

The Yorkshire Air Museum has two Buccaneers, and XN974, pictured here, is one of them. XN974 was the first production S.2 and spent much of its early life in development work. She's in excellent condition though the paintwork is a little worn in places. She's seen here having her engines run up - happily that excellent condition means she is runnable, so the Museum occasionally wheel her outside for a blast and even fast-taxi her at the annual airshow. However heavy brake usage means they're currently after some new brake discs - see the help wanted page if you can help on that score. Information current as of 20/09/2002.

Pictured here exercising its hydraulic systems - including the wing folding mechanism as you can see - is XV361, which flew into retirement with the Ulster Aviation Society back in 1994. Eric tells me this was the first time the hydraulics had seen any use since then, so well done to all involved for getting her wings moving at all! She's normally kept indoors so is in excellent condition as a result. Originally serving with the FAA (on both HMS Victorious and Ark Royal), she transferred to the RAF and life with 12 Squadron. After being given Sea Eagle missile capability she transferred once more, to 208 Squadron, and spent the rest of her active career at Lossiemouth. She holds the record for the shortest planned flight by a Buccaneer - 92 seconds, from Aldergrove airport at Belfast to Langford Lodge! This was because the plan had been to road her from Aldergrove to Langford Lodge, but somebody pointed out the number of trees at the side of the roads en-route and the decision was taken to fly her instead. Information current as of 15/06/2002.

S.2B XT288 at East Fortune, 7th January 2004; Iain Clark/Blackburn Buccaneer Society	S.2B XV168 at Brough, October 16th 1999; author

This has been a rather reclusive Bucc - XT288 is the National Museum of Flight's example. XT288 has been restored externally (bar missing pylons, pitot probe and ECM bullets) but is missing her engines (at least that means no problems with dripping oil!) and her cockpit is near-gutted right now. XT288 had a varied career, serving with the Fleet Air Arm to begin with and then going on to serve with 12 Sqn, 230 OCU, 28 Sqn and 208 Sqn. Ending her days with 12 Sqn, a ground accident caused one of the wings to become twisted, thus relegating her to ground weapons handling instructional use only (thus she never had a chance to see service in the Gulf). Held in the reserve hangar at East Fortune for many years, she spent some time outside but is now to be found in the main display hangar. Information current as of 27/11/2004.

Displayed within BAe's airfield at Brough - the home of the Buccaneer - is XV168, unhappily parked rear-end on to the fence and rather far away with signs ruining the view as well. The aircraft is is good condition and carries a dummy laser designator and ECM pod on the wings. the engine intakes and exhausts are blocked by plexiglass that has frosted a little making it hard to tell what is behind them. The cockpit looks to be complete. The gear and the doors are a little rusty but otherwise the aircraft is in good condition. Information current as of 01/05/2004.