Having spent a considerable period out in the open, Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B XV168 has been moved undercover…
Having spent a considerable period out in the open, Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B XV168 has been moved indoors at the Yorkshire Air Museum (YAM) at in Elvington near York in line with the museum's ongoing – and long awaited – restoration of the jet.
Led by YAM's Aviation Heritage Manager Gary Hancock and volunteer Scott Clayton, once complete, the jet will take centre stage in the soon to open “museum wide” exhibition exploring the role of aircraft in the decades-long Cold War when the west was engaged in a game of nuclear stalemate with the Soviet Union. Titled MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT - HOT JETS IN THE COLD WAR, the exhibition is slated to open on April 21 – for more information, have a look at the Yorkshire Air Museum’s website here.
A notable airframe as the last example of the type to operate off a Royal Navy aircraft carrier, XV168 was built at Blackburn’s Brough site in East Yorkshire, just ‘up the road’ from its current home and delivered to the Royal Navy’s 801 Naval Air Squadron during late 1966 before being transferred to the Royal Air Force in 1978. Serving with 12 and 208 Squadrons, as well as 237 Operational Conversion Unit, the aircraft was retired from service in 1993 and delivered to Brough, by then part of what was British Aerospace, now BAE Systems, on October 15 that year.
There it became a ‘gate guardian’ in slate to the test pilots and flight test observers who lost their lives during the type’s the development of the type. Ultimately donated to YAM by BAE and transferred by road to the museum in 2013, work to restore the jet’s hydraulic and electrical systems has been ongoing.
Gary told FlyPast: “It’s important to us that XV168 gets its new coat of paint and plays such a key role in this exhibition, as the aircraft is an important memorial to the aircrew who lost their lives testing Buccaneers - John G Joyce, Trevor D Dunn, Gartrell Richard Ian 'Sailor' Parker, and Gordon R Copeman all perished developing Blackburn’s low altitude attack aircraft. We are pleased she has come inside for some well-deserved tlc.
"It also shows how the different arms of the Yorkshire Air Museum, from conservation to public display, work together. Without the aircraft there would be no museum, but without attracting visitors we would not have the resources to carry out this work. Scott, with the assistance of other volunteers, has been doing a great job in preparing XV168 for its repaint while it has been outside and has been instrumental in its restoration. We are looking forward to finishing the painting of our third Buccaneer and making it the centrepiece in Minutes to Midnight.”
Scott added: “The aircraft hasn’t been repainted since it left British Aerospace at Brough, so we are getting ‘her’ ready for the museum’s upcoming Cold War exhibition. Now she is back indoors, we will continue prepping the aircraft to get a nice clean painting surface without the weather throwing a spanner in the works, before returning her back into the 208 Squadron colours she wore when she retired from service.”
To keep up to date on XV168's progress, keep an eye on the team's social media account here.
