XV345 - S.Mk.2 Production

Aircraft History

XV345 - Buccaneer S.Mk.2

Serial - XV345C/n - B3-23-66
First Flown	-----	Holme-on-Spalding Moor
Date Delivered	03/07/1967	To Royal Navy
	-----	Issued to 800 NAS, RNAS Lossiemouth
	-----	Embarked HMS Eagle - coded '103/E'
	23/01/1972	Tour of duty ends for HMS Eagle - 800 NAS relocated to RNAS Lossiemouth
	Feb. 1972	800 NAS, RNAS Lossiemouth disbanded
	1972	To RNAY Sydenham, Belfast and converted to S.Mk.2A standard
Date Delivered	-----	To Royal Air Force
	14/05/1973	Issued to 12 Sqn., RAF Honington
	24/08/1973	Transferred to 237 OCU, RAF Honington
	May 1978	To BAe Bitteswell for upgrade to S.Mk.2B standard
	07/08/1978	Issued to 208 Sqn., RAF Honington
	30/03/1979	Transferred to 16 Sqn., RAFG Laarbruch, West Germany
	31/07/1979	Transferred to 15 Sqn., RAFG Laarbruch, West Germany
	Jan. 1980	Deployed to Nellis AFB, Nevada, USA in preparation for Exersise 'Red Flag 80'
	07/02/1980	Crashed on the Nellis Ranges during a violent manoeuvre which caused the catastrophic failure of the starboard wing. Subsequent investigation found that a fatigue crack in the front spar caused the wing to fail, as it was unable to withstand the high loading experienced during the turn. As a result, the entire 'Buccaneer' fleet was grounded for some six months until August 1980, following completion of the necessary inspections and modifications

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) (see Reference Library page for full details)
Additional Info. -		R. Kelley: Airframe C/n NJ. Roberson (Historian, Buccaneer Aircrew Association) British Aviation Review - Vol.36 No.4