(All images via Google Street View)
Former military aircraft used as marketing tools have often experienced uncertain retirements, but the Elgin Buccaneer has fared significantly better than the ill-fated A1 Lightning. And while there’s no great pleasure to be had in filling one’s car up with fuel, passing this monster on the road towards Lossiemouth in Scotland makes it hard not to go in and top off the tanks.
This Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B has been displayed outside the aptly named Buccaneers Service Station on Lossiemouth Road, Elgin, since the 1990s.
The aircraft, serial number XW530, first flew in 1970 and was finally withdrawn from RAF service around 1993 along with the remainder of the Buccaneer force.
A Gulf War veteran, Buccaneer XW530’s swansong came in 1991 when it flew a number of combat sorties during Operation Desert Storm. The decorated jet carries the ‘Sky Pirates’ flag and mission markings on its forward fuselage.
Despite its faded paintwork the aircraft, which was based up the road at RAF Lossiemouth during its service life, is understood to be in good condition. And with Lossiemouth’s remaining Tornados being phased out on a rolling basis, will XW530 will be joined by a Tornado GR4 in the not too distant future?
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