Blackburn Buccaneer - Survivor ZU-NIP (ex XW986)
S.2B ZU-NIP - Hangar 51 Aviation, (stored) Diemerskraal Airfield, South Africa
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Buccaneer S.2B ZU-NIP at Thunder City, 31st October 2012; Francis Wallace
XW986 is an ex-RAE aircraft (hence the paint scheme). After it retired, she was bought by Delta Jets who at the time were based at Wellesbourne. At the time of sale, the aircraft was not in great condition with the tailplane removed and other parts missing. It lived at Wellesbourne Mountford next to Vulcan XM655 for a while, but when Delta moved to Kemble, now Cotswold Airport in 1996, XW986 went with them. While at Kemble, Delta Jets did a brilliant job in restoring XW986 to near-perfect condition, with the hope that one day she could fly again. Efforts to fly it in the UK were frustrated by the CAA for a long time and just when there seemed a glimmer of hope for the aircraft she was sold to Ian Pringle in South Africa. Permission was granted for some test flights here in the UK, receiving her civil serial, ZU-NIP. After several test flights, on Friday 29th March 2002, she made her first flight in 9 years. She sadly departed these shores a few weeks later, heading for Cape Town Internation Airport in South Africa to be housed with Mike Beachy Head's Thunder City operation, where it joined sisters ZU-AVI (ex XW988) and ZU-BCR (ex XW987).
ZU-NIP spent several years flying in South Africa, displaying at airshows alongside the rest of the Thunder City fleet, and even offering backseat rides to the public. Unfortunately, Thunder City was effectively shut down by the CAA after identifying various maintenance failings that cost pilot Dave Stock his life in the crash of their Lightning ZU-BEX when displaying at an airshow in 2009. This resulted in the collection being grounded for the foreseeable. She was briefly put up for sale by auction in November 2011 but didn't sell. Thunder City later got the approval to make private flights with the aircraft, however, ZU-NIP never returned to the skies, but instead her sister ZU-BCR did. Around 2016, Thunder City sadly closed its doors, with all the aircraft being left untouched for some years while they were put up for sale. In February 2020, the fleet was pushed outside due to the hangar getting a different use.
After much waiting, ZU-NIP and some of the other airframes were acquired by Hangar 51 Aviation, who have a view to returning them back to the skies of South Africa. ZU-NIP and ZU-AVI were moved to Diemerskraal Airfield in November 2022, where they are currently being stored before they are moved to Port Elizabeth International Airport in Gqeberha, where it is hoped they'll undergo restoration to return back to flight.
ZU-NIP spent several years flying in South Africa, displaying at airshows alongside the rest of the Thunder City fleet, and even offering backseat rides to the public. Unfortunately, Thunder City was effectively shut down by the CAA after identifying various maintenance failings that cost pilot Dave Stock his life in the crash of their Lightning ZU-BEX when displaying at an airshow in 2009. This resulted in the collection being grounded for the foreseeable. She was briefly put up for sale by auction in November 2011 but didn't sell. Thunder City later got the approval to make private flights with the aircraft, however, ZU-NIP never returned to the skies, but instead her sister ZU-BCR did. Around 2016, Thunder City sadly closed its doors, with all the aircraft being left untouched for some years while they were put up for sale. In February 2020, the fleet was pushed outside due to the hangar getting a different use.
After much waiting, ZU-NIP and some of the other airframes were acquired by Hangar 51 Aviation, who have a view to returning them back to the skies of South Africa. ZU-NIP and ZU-AVI were moved to Diemerskraal Airfield in November 2022, where they are currently being stored before they are moved to Port Elizabeth International Airport in Gqeberha, where it is hoped they'll undergo restoration to return back to flight.
Information on this page current as of 24/11/2022, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of ZU-NIP on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net