Blackburn Buccaneer - Survivor XW541
S.2B XW541 - Tony Collins, Lavendon, Buckinghamshire
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Buccaneer S.2B XW541 at Cotswold Airport, 30th March 2024; Jake Wallace
First flown in November 1971, XW541 was delivered to the RAF on 7th December 1971, entering service with 16 Squadron (coded Q) at RAFG Laarbruch. She also had spells with 15 Squadron and later 12 Squadron at RAF Honington. She was grounded in 1980 as part of the fleet-wide grounding due to an in-flight spar faillure of another airframe, and was found to have spar damage sufficient to make it uneconomical to repair her, and was stripped for spares.
In 1985 she was transported to Foulness Island for weapons effectivness trials. The cockpit section was acquired by Roy Jermand and moved to Welshpool in 1991, and then acquired by Tony Collins who moved her ot his home in Lavendon at the end of July 2011. He's been working on restoring her since.
In 2011, it was moved to Tony's house in Buckinghamshire where it has undergone a full restoration. After many years of struggling to find the part to complete the cockpit, by the latter end of 2023, XW541 was rubbed down and resprayed into 15/XV Sqn colours which looks sublime! The cockpit's first public outing post restoration was The Buccaneer Aviation Group's 30 Years and Still Going Strong event held at Cotswold Airport. It's hoped that XW541 will be on the road a lot for the next few years, attending several different events.
In 1985 she was transported to Foulness Island for weapons effectivness trials. The cockpit section was acquired by Roy Jermand and moved to Welshpool in 1991, and then acquired by Tony Collins who moved her ot his home in Lavendon at the end of July 2011. He's been working on restoring her since.
In 2011, it was moved to Tony's house in Buckinghamshire where it has undergone a full restoration. After many years of struggling to find the part to complete the cockpit, by the latter end of 2023, XW541 was rubbed down and resprayed into 15/XV Sqn colours which looks sublime! The cockpit's first public outing post restoration was The Buccaneer Aviation Group's 30 Years and Still Going Strong event held at Cotswold Airport. It's hoped that XW541 will be on the road a lot for the next few years, attending several different events.
Information on this page current as of 31/03/2024, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of XW541 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net