Serial - XV168 C/n - B3-09-66 |
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| First Flown | 23/11/1966 |
Holme-on-Spalding Moor |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Date Delivered | 13/12/1966 |
To Royal Navy - NASU Lossiemouth |
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Jun. 1967 |
Issued to 801 NAS, RNAS Lossiemouth - coded '231/V' |
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30/06/1967 |
Re-coded '231/H', 801 NAS, RNAS Lossiemouth |
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09/07/1968 |
Embarked HMS Hermes - coded '231/H' (Cruises: 1xFar East tour + 1xHome & Mediterranean Sea) |
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27/10/1969 |
801 NAS dis-embarked HMS Hermes - coded '231/H' |
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25/07/1970 |
Transported to Hawker Siddeley, Brough by road for upgrade to S.Mk.2B standard |
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| First Flown | 13/06/1971 |
Holme-on-Spalding Moor - S.Mk.2B configuration |
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01/07/1971 |
To RNAY Sydenham, Belfast |
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| Date Delivered | 27/10/1971 |
To Royal Air Force - 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 |
12 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth - coded 'CF' |
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11/06/1985 |
Transferred to 208 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth - coded 'VS' |
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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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13/10/1986 |
Transferred to 237 OCU RAF Lossiemouth - coded '168' |
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By 10/1987 |
Transferred to 208 Sqn., RAF Lossiemouth - coded '168' |
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| Date Received | 29/09/1988 |
To BAe Woodford - ASR1012 (Set No.032) Avionics Upgrade Programme (AUP) - 30wks cycle |
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| Date Delivered | 27/04/1989 |
'AUP' completed - returned to 'Operational Status' |
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28/04/1989 |
To 'Station Flight', RAF Lossiemouth |
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May 1989 |
Re-Issued to 237 OCU, RAF Lossiemouth - coded '168' |
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Mar. 1992 |
Transferred to 208 NAS, RAF Lossiemouth |
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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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15/10/1993 |
Moved to BAe Systems, Brough Current position - Gate Guardian (date currency at 23/02/2006) |
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| Source - | Fleet Air Arm Fixed-Wing Aircraft since 1946 (Ray Sturtivant) Wings of Fame - volume 14 (Aerospace Publishing Ltd) 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) (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 Bill Spidle: Participating Aircraft - Operation Western Fox, 1983 |