Serial - XN976 C/n - B3-03-63 |
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| Ordered |
08/01/1962 |
Production aircraft 43 - Originally ordered as S.Mk.1 by 'Ministry of Aviation', re-ordered as S.Mk.2 |
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| First Flown | ----- |
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| Date Delivered | 31/08/1964 |
To Royal Navy - First S.Mk.2 service aircraft received |
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----- |
To A&AEE Boscombe Down as trials aircraft |
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23/07/1965 |
To USNAS Pensacola, Florida along with pre-production S.Mk.2 airframe XK527 and production S.Mk.2 airframe XN974 for 'Tropical' trials as well as 'Carrier-Combatability' trials aboard the USS Lexington |
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15/03/1967 |
Deck trials - HMS Hemes |
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| Date Delivered | Sep.1971 |
To Royal Air Force |
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----- |
Issued to 237 OCU, RAF Honington |
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Jun. 1974 |
To BAe for upgrade to S.Mk.2B standard |
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Jan. 1975 |
Re-issued to 12 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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03/11/1980 |
12 Sqn. relocated to RAF Lossiemouth |
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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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1984-1986 |
12 Sqn. using two letter 'Tail' coding - XN976 coded 'NF' |
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| Date Received | 12/06/1987 |
To BAe Woodford - ASR1012 (Set No.010) Avionics Upgrade Programme (AUP) - 45wks cycle |
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| Date Delivered | 23/12/1987 |
'AUP' completed - returned to 'Operational Status' — Sea Eagle 'Anti-Ship' missile capability |
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24/12/1987 |
To 'Station Flight', RAF Lossiemouth |
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Jan 1988 |
Re-issued to 208 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth - coded '976' |
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| Date (exact) Between .gif){kind=small} |
(unknown) Aug.1989 May.1991 |
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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1991 |
Moved to RAF Abingdon for repainting in special Squadron markings XN976 was the oldest operational RAF Buccaneer and was repainted in 'Black & Pale Blue' scheme to mark the 75th Anniversary of 208 Sqn. - due to occur 01/04/1993, after its scheduled disbandment |
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May 1991 |
Returned to 208 sqn., RAF Lossiemouth in 75th Anniversary scheme |
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09/07/1992 |
Crashed - 50 miles east of RAF Leuchars following PFCU failure |
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| Source - | Buccaneer: The story of the last all-British strike aircraft (Tim Laming) Hawker Siddeley/Blackburn Buccaneer (Paul Jackson & Peter Foster) RAF Buccaneer (Peter R. Foster) Wings of Fame - volume 14 (Aerospace Publishing Ltd) 'Fineline Decals' - 2004 (see Reference Library page for full details) |
Additional Info. - | R. Kelley: Airframe C/n NJ. Roberson (Historian, Buccaneer Aircrew Association) for information on: ASR1012 'Avionics Upgrade Programme' + 'Modified'-Smaller 'Wingtip' Airframes Bill Spidle: Participating Aircraft - Operation Western Fox, 1983 'FINELINE DECALS' - No.2004 |