SEPECAT Jaguar - Survivor XZ375
GR.1A XZ375 - City of Norwich Aviation Museum, Horsham St. Faith, Norwich
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Jaguar GR.1A XZ375 at City of Norwich Aviation Museum, 3rd December 2022; Jake Wallace
First flown on 16th December 1976, XZ375 entered service with 20 Squadron in early 1977, coded CB. By 1984 she was with 14 Squadron, coded AK. By 1986 she was based at RAF Coltishall with 54(F) Squadron, coded GB and later GR.
She was part of the JagDet mixed-squadron unit that took part in Operation Granby (the build-up and conflict of the 1991 Gulf War), and was given an overall desert pink scheme. Flown by Sqn Ldr Mike Rondot, apparently, there was some objection to rumoured plans of gaudy nose art, so Mike gave her a restrained bit of artwork - just the text of 'The avid Guardian Reader'. On her return from the gulf, she regained her tail code of GR but retained the desert camo for a few months before it was stripped back to her former green/grey camo.
She was retired to CTTS St. Athan for ground instructional use as 9255M, and at one point her nose and cockpit section was considered for transplant on to the badly damaged XX745, which had suffered a mid-air collision. However, this was decided to be too expensive a proposition and she was moved to Coltishall in early 2002 for further ground instructional duties.
The nose was removed by 2005 which joined the several other cockpits which were kept at Coltishall. XZ375 was refurbished into her Operation Granby colours, which still look shiny to this day. With Coltishall's closure a year later, she was transported to the City of Norwich Aviation Museum in April 2007 and has been there ever since. After her arrival, she spent a little while on display outside but has since been moved indoors with a handful of the cockpits too.
She was part of the JagDet mixed-squadron unit that took part in Operation Granby (the build-up and conflict of the 1991 Gulf War), and was given an overall desert pink scheme. Flown by Sqn Ldr Mike Rondot, apparently, there was some objection to rumoured plans of gaudy nose art, so Mike gave her a restrained bit of artwork - just the text of 'The avid Guardian Reader'. On her return from the gulf, she regained her tail code of GR but retained the desert camo for a few months before it was stripped back to her former green/grey camo.
She was retired to CTTS St. Athan for ground instructional use as 9255M, and at one point her nose and cockpit section was considered for transplant on to the badly damaged XX745, which had suffered a mid-air collision. However, this was decided to be too expensive a proposition and she was moved to Coltishall in early 2002 for further ground instructional duties.
The nose was removed by 2005 which joined the several other cockpits which were kept at Coltishall. XZ375 was refurbished into her Operation Granby colours, which still look shiny to this day. With Coltishall's closure a year later, she was transported to the City of Norwich Aviation Museum in April 2007 and has been there ever since. After her arrival, she spent a little while on display outside but has since been moved indoors with a handful of the cockpits too.
Information on this page current as of 06/12/2022, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of XZ375 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net