S.2A XT284 at Stock, May 1999; Nick Challoner	S.2A XV163 at Heemsteede; Action Events

As you can see Buccaneers are big! XT284 was scrapped at RAF St. Athan and the nose section is the only remainder. Some damage to the intakes and fuselage sides is evident, and where it was separated from the rest of the airframe it's a total disaster area. Since this picture was taken at Hanningfield Metals she's moved on and is now being restored by Glenn, who has since refitted the intake nacelles that had been removed at Hanningfield Metals. Information current as of 30/04/2003.

Originally bought by a collector, XV163 has now passed on to Action Events, a company who do all sorts of outdoor events such as bungee jumping. They've fitted a games console in XV163's cockpit and now hire her out as a 'Top Gun Flight Simulator'!

S.2B XT280 at Dumfries & Galloway, May 5th 2003; Bob Lawson	S.2B XV165 at Farnborough, 22nd March 2003; Tom McGhee

XT280 is needs a lot of work and instrumentation. Some panels are missing and the cockpit canopy is cracked. However there is a replacement at the side waiting to be fitted. Some tidying up is also required where the nose section was removed from the fuselage. Nevertheless it is in reasonable condition although could do with a respray. Previously at the Dundonald Aviation Centre, unfortunately that closed and she has now moved to the museum at Dumfries & Galloway where she'll no doubt be looked after properly. Information current as of 05/05/2003.

XV165, above, is a Buccaneer nose in particularly good condition; certainly it looked to be 100% complete and the paintwork was immaculate when I saw it at the Jet Age Museum where volunteers even allowed visitors to sit in it if staff were available to supervise. Unfortunately the museum was forced to shut its doors by the airport authorities who wanted to demolish the hangar that the museum used, and after that the nose moved on to join the FAST exhibits at Farnborough. With yet more goings-on happening there, she moved once again and is now owned by a private owner in Kings Lynn. Information current as of 05/2007.

S.2B XV352 at Manston, 1st September 2001; author	S.2B XV867 at Inverness, 4th September 2004; Jim Simpson/Blackburn Buccaneer Society

XV352 served with the MoD(PE), 208 Squadron and 237 OCU, and was one of the Buccaneers that was involved in the Gulf War (named 'Tamdhu'). Her last flight was into RAF St. Athan for BDR duties in 1994. She was scrapped in 1998, with the nose section kept to one side for possible preservation. Since then it's appeared at Manston where she is now safely undercover and part of an exhibition on the history of the famed foam runway facilities that used to be present at RAF Manston (note the fake foam on the floor beside her!)

This is a well preserved cockpit, formerly with Ken Ward's cockpit collection. Apparently this particular aircraft flew originally with the RN and had a deck accident while in service. The pilot on landing thought he had missed all the arrestor wires and opened the throttles to climb out. Unfortunately he had caught the last one which pulled him back down onto the deck from 200ft severely damaging the aircraft. It was repaired and went on to serve with the RAF. Ken Ward sold the cockpit to the Highland Aircraft Museum, and it is seen here being delivered in early September 2004. Information current as of 04/09/2004.

S.2B XW527 at rest in Italy, summer 1998; Albino Panigari	S.2B XW528 at Thirsk, 7th May 2004; Guy Hulme/Blackburn Buccaneer Society

Previously owned by John Warters and kept in Wittering, XW527 was offered for sale last year and Italian aircraft enthusiast Albino Panigari spotted the 'for sale' advert here and couldn't resist! Albino also owns the nose section of the Shorts SC.9 (a Canberra variant).

Not much is left of poor old XW528, balanced on a pile of other items in a scrapyard in Yorkshire. Serving with 15 Squadron from 1970 to 1980, at that time it was inspected for fatigue damage and found to be beyond economical repair. It was then used as a BDRT airframe until eventually scrapped at RAF Coningsby. Information current as of 07/05/2004.

S.2B XX888 at Barnstaple, January 2005; Tim Jones	S.2B XX892 at Forres, May 29th 2000; Bob Lawson

XX888 is in a pretty good condition with only the Machmeter missing from the cockpit along with the refuelling probe. It has had a repaint started ("Gulf War" colours) at its previous home in Dundonald but has now moved on to a new owner in Barnstaple; Tim intends to carry out a full restoration. Information current as of 18/01/2005.

This one's in a sorry state. It was originally bought from the scrapyard with the intention of making it the focal point of a new Garden Centre. However the plan fell through with the nose section moving to a paintball site in Perth. Accordingly there is now little hope of restoration of any kind, nor of public inspection - paintballing sites should only be entered if you paintballing! Information current as of 30/04/2003.