Serial - XX900 C/n - B3-05-75 |
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| First Flown | ----- |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Date Delivered | 24/11/1976 |
To Royal Air Force |
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Issued to 208 Sqn., RAF Honington |
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Aug. 1977 |
Exercise 'Red Flag 77' - Nellis AFB, Nevada, USA Main fuselage temporarily over-painted with 'Dark Earth and 'Light Stone' wraparound scheme (Temporary scheme removed on return to UK) |
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Mar. 1979 |
208 Sqn., RAF Honington - coded 'J' |
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Jul. 1979 |
Transferred to 216 Sqn., RAF Honington |
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Feb. 1980 |
Buccaneer fleet grounded for six months following crash of XV345 at Nellis AFB, Nevada, USA during Exercise 'Red Flag 80' |
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04/08/1980 |
Transferred to 12 Sqn., RAF Honington |
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Nov. 1980 |
12 Sqn. relocated RAF Lossiemouth |
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Jan. 1982 |
Noted at No.19 MU St.Athan |
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11/03/1982 |
Re-issued to 12 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth - coded '900' |
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Apr. 1983 |
Operation Western Fox - NAS Key West, Florida Keys, USA 12 Sqn. 'Live Firing' exercise of 'TV' & 'AR' Martel missiles against redundant naval vessels. Participating Aircraft: XN976, XN983, XV165, XV168, XV333, XW530, XW542, XW547, XX894, XX900 |
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Nov 1983 |
Aircraft used in the trials of the ALE-40 'Chaff/Flare' dispenser in support of Operation 'Pulsator' - Overflights of Beirut, 1983 |
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By 03/1984 |
Serving with 208 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth - coded 'MS' |
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By 09/1986 |
Mod's 1724 to 1727 completed - Sea Eagle 'Anti-Ship' missile capability (1 of 20 airframes modified Pre-ASR1012 (Avionics Upgrade Programme) |
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| Date Received | 08/09/86 |
To BAe Woodford - ASR1012 (Set No.003) Avionics Upgrade Programme (AUP) - 44wks cycle |
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| Date Delivered | 13/07/1987 |
'AUP' completed - returned to 'Operational Status' |
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14/07/1987 |
To 'Station Flight', RAF Lossiemouth |
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15/07/1987 |
Re-issued to 208 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth - coded '900' |
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Jan. 1990 |
Transferred to 12 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth - coded '900' |
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Early 1990 |
12 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth ended use of 'TV' Martel 'Anti-Ship' missile and replaced it with Sea Eagle 'Anti-Ship' missile - in line with 208 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth |
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Oct. 1990 |
Transferred to 237 OCU, RAF Lossiemouth - coded '900' |
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Oct. 1991 |
237 OCU, RAF Lossiemouth disbanded |
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Nov. 1991 |
Transferred to 12 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth - coded '900' |
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| Date (exact) Between .gif){kind=small} |
(unknown) Aug.1989 Oct.1992 |
Mod.1736 'Modified' - Smaller Wingtips — Fitted to extend airframe flying hours by reducing wing-loading. Result of fatigue testing of XN982 at HS Brough, to determine cause of the crash of XV345 while participating in 'Red Flag 80' on 07/02/1980 - (Fatigue testing commenced Jun. 1982 - solution implimented to specific airframes from Aug.1989-onwards) |
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01/10/1993 |
12 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth disbanded |
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Transferred to 208 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth coded '900' (Retained 12 Sqn. markings) |
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06/04/1994 |
To No.19 MU St. Athan for disposal |
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Cold War Jets Collection, Bruntingthorpe Current position - ground runner (date currency at 23/02/2006) |
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| Source - | Buccaneer: The story of the last all-British strike aircraft (Tim Laming) Buccaneer: Modern Combat Aircraft 7 (Maurice Allward) Hawker Siddeley/Blackburn Buccaneer (Paul Jackson & Peter Foster) RAF Buccaneer (Peter R. Foster) (see Reference Library page for full details) Survivor's current position - The Blackburn Buccaneer Society |
Additional Info. - | R. Kelley: Airframe C/n NJ. Roberson (Historian, Buccaneer Aircrew Association) for information on: ASR1012 'Avionics Upgrade Programme' + 'Modified'-Smaller 'Wingtip' Airframes British Aviation Review - Vol.36 No.4 Bill Spidle: Participating Aircraft - Operation Western Fox, 1983 |