NEWARK AIR MUSEUM - Press Release
Buccaneer update summer 2007
Despite the need to work around this summer’s indifferent weather conditions, steady progress is being made on repainting Blackburn Buccaneer S1 XN964, which is being extensively restored by volunteers at Newark Air Museum.
A large part of the de-corrosion phase has now been completed and major sections of the fuselage have recently had undercoat applied. Some de-corrosion work is still continuing in the undercarriage bays.
Assistance provided to the restoration team has resolved the previously reported problems with the cockpit locking / release mechanism. This has enabled restoration work to get underway in the cockpit, where access has been made easier thanks to the acquisition of a crew ladder.
The Buccaneer which is listed as a ‘Significant’ airframe on the National Aviation Heritage Register and as can bee seen from the photograph is being repainted in a white and grey colour scheme it wore in its early service days with 801 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm. This was when XN964 was deployed on HMS Victorious for what is believed to have been the first operational deployment of the Buccaneer, to the Far East from 1963 to 1965.
The team are still keen to establish contact with any former Fleet Air Arm air and ground crew that served with the Squadrons and Units that XN964 served with. These included: AHU; 801 Squadron – HMS Victorious; 736 Squadron; 803 Squadron; RAE Bedford; RRE Pershore.
Website: www.newarkairmuseum.org
