T.5 XG888 at Nowra, July 2002; Bob Lawson	T.5 XT752 at Goose Bay, July 2005; Shannan Hendricks

XG888 is a little unusual in that it has made the trip from Britain to Australia more times than most Gannets! Originally manufactured as a T.2, it was delivered to the RAN in that form and served with 816 and 724 Squadrons but was later sold to the RN who returned her to the UK, and then to Fairey who converted it to T.5 status. After that it served with the RN with 849 NAS until retirement at Culdrose in 1978. In recent years an effort to return it to Australia was successful, with the RN donating it to the museum in 1995. The plan was to have it as a flying tribute to the RAN's Gannet force, but sadly this plan has been abandoned. Information current as of 07/2002.

XT752 was one of three Gannets kept in excellent condition by the FAA, and was sold to the Polar Aviation Museum in the US. On arrival there the aircraft was reassembled, restored to airworthiness and displayed on the airshow circuit, regularly stopping crowds who had no idea what this strange machine was! Sadly the museum has closed its doors to visitors and the aircraft was put up for sale shortly afterwards - but the silver lining to this cloud was that XT752 was planning to come back to the UK - as a flier! An attempt to fly it back to the UK met with problems, getting only as far as Goose Bay in Canada with the accompanying engineer believing that an engine replacement would be necessary. The owner has had an in-depth engineering assessment of the aircraft carried out - this found several serious defects apparently not found by the previous engineer could have caused the loss of the aircraft. These have now been rectified and another assessment of the engine is underway to see if it really does need replacing. Watch this space for more news! Information current as of 23/07/2005.

ECM.6 XG797 at Duxford, 17th February 2001; author	ECM.6 XG831 at Flambards, April 16th 2000; Paul Burton

Duxford's Gannet is an ECM.6 variant. The folding wings carry out their design purpose of reducing the required storage space and give the Gannet it's peculiar bird-like appearance! XG797 was in superb condition when on display in the Superhangar but has been stored outside for some time now and is suffering somewhat as a result, with some minor damage evident also. Information current as of 13/05/2005.

This Gannet is one of the slowly shrinking collection of aircraft to be found at the Flambards triple theme park near Helston in Cornwall - just down the road from RNAS Culdrose. XG831 is positioned near the entrance, outside the park, so you don't have to pay to get in if you only want to see this aircraft and not the remainder of what was once the Cornwall Aero Park's collection. While faded the aircraft appeared to be in good condition when I visited - the cockpit is substantially complete, though the glazings are slowly becoming opaque. Paul's photo appears to show a less faded aircraft, but I think that's because of recent rain rather than a repaint!

NOSE/COCKPIT/OTHER SECTIONS

Simulator at Tangmere, September 2001; Richard Jones	Simulator at Dunkeswell; Alan Allen

This Gannet nose is thought not to have ever been part of a real Gannet - it was only ever used as a simulator. She has now finally moved from her previous home at Tangmere and is now at Hooton Park.

Captioned as a Flight Simulator, this Gannet nose is from an AS.1 or AS.4, but its identity is unclear, as is whether it was ever part of a full Gannet, or just an unused cockpit section used for procedures training.

AS.1 WN411 at Southampton; Alan Allen	AS.4 XA460 at Doncaster, 14th September 2003; John Manson

Hiding in a garden and doing a passable imitation of a garden shed extension, the remains of WN411 are looking rather pitiful. This aircraft was discovered in component form in a scrapyard by a national newspaper in 1982 - the Falklands War was raging and the MoD had started a desperate search for airworthy examples of the type to be used for AEW - a capability the RN had lost with the retirement of their large carriers and their fixed wing aircraft. The newspaper found WN411 still in packing cases along with several engines but as an AS.1 it was useless for the AEW task anyway. The war ended before any plan of restoring a Gannet to airworthiness got anywhere, and the AEW Sea King was created instead.

Displayed at the front of Deeside College for many years in all weathers, XA460 was once in good condition but the Welsh climate and the sea air had not been kind to her; covered in algae, showing signs of corrosion with damage in places and the canopy frames were so rotten she was open to the rain - no doubt the cockpits are total disaster areas by now. She really was a sad sight. Put up for disposal, 750 (Thorne) Squadron ATC have acquired her but sadly the move to Doncaster has caused even more damage. The nose has been hacked off; one prop blade was badly bent and another broken off when the nose gear collapsed. Others were then cut off so the nose could be lain on its side, which caused another to be bent too and the canopies to be smashed. An object lesson in how not to begin a restoration!