AEW.3 XL502 at Elvington, 4th May 2005; Andrew Steer	AEW.3 XL503 at Yeovilton, 9th June 2001; author

XL502 was operated on the airshow circuit in the 1980s but has led a more reclusive life in recent years. Subject to some wranglings over ownership, the airframe ended up mouldering away at Sandtoft until the collapse of the owner's operation and sale of the airframe. Thankfully the Yorkshire Air Museum got hold of it, and that means the aircraft's future is much brighter than before. The missing prop had been retained by the company employed to refurbish it after the bill for the refurbishment was not paid by the previous owner, so it remains to be seen if YAM can manage to get hold of it now. Information current as of 04/05/2005.

Displayed on the superb mockup carrier deck at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, XL503 has been left in the condition it left service in. The grime and staining make it look like a still-active aircraft and certainly make a change from museum exhibits that are either glossy factory-fresh jobs or badly faded! Having the wings folded emphasizes the height of the cockpit - it can't have been much fun climbing up there in poor weather with the carrier pitching and rolling.

AEW.3 XP226 at Newark, 17th October 2004; Phil Bulmer	AS.4 AS-00 at Jakarta, 6th November 1989; Paul Seymour

XP226 may look faded but she's in pretty good condition, with only minor corrosion to be found despite almost continual display outdoors at the Newark Air Museum, and previously as the gate guard at HMS Dryad (at Southwick near Portsmouth). The red/blue tactical roundel was brought into use on the Gannets in the last years of their lives, quite unusual considering that the FAA's Phantoms kept full colour roundels, and the Sea Harriers introduced soon after the Gannet's retirement went with full colour roundels too. Now Newark's new hangar has been erected, XP226 has been moved indoors so hopefully her condition can be improved in the near future. Information current as of 17/10/2004.

AS-00 is one of four Indonesian AS.4s preserved and on display. She looks to be in excellent condition bar some clouding of the canopies, and is beautifully presented.

AS.4 AS-07 at Surabaya, 7th November 1989; Paul Seymour	AS.4 UA+106 at Gatow, 1999; Christoph Westhaus

Now here's another 'AS-00'! Actually AS-07, at some point it was painted as AS-00, quite why I don't know. As you can see this AS-00 isn't fairing so well as the real one, with faded paintwork and signs of corrosion. The bomb bay and nose gear doors hang open as well. Unlike the real AS-00, this one shows off some underwing stores - rockets.

Put back on display in 1999 after a period in storage, 'UA+106' looks to be in excellent condition, with just a bit of dirty paintwork to deal with.

AS.4 XA459 at Lambourn, 20th October 2001; Steve Metcalf	COD.4 XA466 at Yeovilton, 23rd September 2002; author

Having spent some time in the garden of a house near Cirencester, XA459 was looking rather faded but then moved to a site in Berkshire where it was due to be restored - possibly to airworthy standards. Judging by the pictures Steve has taken, this is going to take quite a while - XA459's in a right state. Unfortunately tragedy has struck twice, with the father and son team that were going to restore the aircraft both killed in seperate accidents. The aircraft has since been put for sale - click here for the advert. Information current as of 18/01/2006.

Hidden away in the FAA Museum's storage facility is XA466, mostly intact but with outer wings detached and lying beside her. Delivered to the FAA in March 1957, she served with 849 NAS at Yeovilton, Lee-on-Solent and Lossiemouth before retirement and was earmarked for preservation. Unfortunately she's been tucked away out of public gaze ever since.

T.5 XG882 at Errol, 26th October 2004; Cyril Lofthus	T.5 XG883 at Woodley, November 21st 1999; author

Built in 1956, XG882 served at RNAS Culdrose with the station flight from 1959 and then 849 NAS for several years before being upgraded and returning to service in 1966 at RNAS Lossiemouth (still with 849 NAS). She was retired in 1976 and used as a fire practice airframe, but brought back from the dead in 1982 by being combined with bits of XA463 and XG889 to produce a complete example. Sadly the years since have not been kind to her and she now looks to be thoroughly derelict. Missing a prop, the starboard aileron is hanging down, many panels are missing and the cockpits are open to the elements so are probably a disaster area by now. Any further information on this one would be welcome. Information current as of 26/10/2004.

Rescued from the collapse of the Wales Air Museum, XG883 is actually owned by the Fleet Air Arm Museum and on loan to the Museum of Berkshire Aviation. Having suffered much corrosion when at Cardiff, it has been an ongoing restoration project at Woodley as you can see from the shot above. XG883 is one of only two T.5s remaining in the UK. Since this picture was taken she has received a repaint. She is also set to stay here as the FAA Museum (who have loaned her to MBA) have said they don't want her back as long as she is looked after. The frames over the cockpits are there as kids were throwing stones at the canopies. The future looks rosy for XG883 as the museum have applied for planning application to extend their building to keep her dry and warm. Inside the museum the cockpit controls are being restored and they also have a Double Mamba engine on display.