Blackburn Buccaneer - Survivor XV864
S.2B XV864 - Richard Murray, Spey Bay, RAF Manston History Museum, Kent
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Buccaneer S.2B XV864 at RAF Manston History Museum, 21st November 2021; Ian Tong
XV864 made its first flight on the 19th of June 1968 and was delivered to the Royal Navy in September of the same year.
The airframe was then transferred to the Royal Air Force a decade later when the Royal Navy had finished with the aircraft type.
XV864 made its last flight into Manston Airport on the 5th of April 1994, with it being towed over to the fire training school where it would then spend over 2 decades of its retirement.
Thankfully, XV864 has avoided being burnt to a crisp despite it being a fire crew training aid and was instead used primarily for aircrew extraction training.
Unfortunately, this meant the canopy was more or less permanently open and as a result, the cockpit is in pretty poor condition with 90% of the internals removed including the instrument framework.
The airframe has been battling the weather ever since retirement with little to no maintenance. The aircraft was also placed on grass, resulting in the main undercarriage sinking into the ground over time.
In late 2020 she was put up for sale and was soon sold along with other airframes at the Manston fire school to Richard Murray, who put XV864 on loan to the RAF Manston History Museum. During May 2021, XV864 had its wings folded for the first time since service, and was towed from the fire school over to the museum, this was also the first time the airframe had been in the public eye for decades!
The museum has long-term plans for the airframe to be restored, although considering how empty and corroded it is, this is quite the ambition! However, it is great to see that XV864 has escaped the scrap man and is finally going to get some much-needed love and is able to be viewed by the public.
The airframe was then transferred to the Royal Air Force a decade later when the Royal Navy had finished with the aircraft type.
XV864 made its last flight into Manston Airport on the 5th of April 1994, with it being towed over to the fire training school where it would then spend over 2 decades of its retirement.
Thankfully, XV864 has avoided being burnt to a crisp despite it being a fire crew training aid and was instead used primarily for aircrew extraction training.
Unfortunately, this meant the canopy was more or less permanently open and as a result, the cockpit is in pretty poor condition with 90% of the internals removed including the instrument framework.
The airframe has been battling the weather ever since retirement with little to no maintenance. The aircraft was also placed on grass, resulting in the main undercarriage sinking into the ground over time.
In late 2020 she was put up for sale and was soon sold along with other airframes at the Manston fire school to Richard Murray, who put XV864 on loan to the RAF Manston History Museum. During May 2021, XV864 had its wings folded for the first time since service, and was towed from the fire school over to the museum, this was also the first time the airframe had been in the public eye for decades!
The museum has long-term plans for the airframe to be restored, although considering how empty and corroded it is, this is quite the ambition! However, it is great to see that XV864 has escaped the scrap man and is finally going to get some much-needed love and is able to be viewed by the public.
Information on this page current as of 03/09/2022, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of XV864 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net