Abnormal load: RAF Buccaneer takes a road trip after losing gate guardian role

A former RAF Blackburn Buccaneer S2 has been transported through Lincolnshire to a museum for restoration – on top of a heavy goods vehicle.

The aircraft was seen with its wings folded going round a roundabout, with police cars escorting it safely down the road.

"Lincolnshire Police escorted this ex-RAF Buccaneer through Lincolnshire," the force said in a post on X that accompanied a video of the road move.

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The plane travelled at no more than 25mph and could not be moved at night.

The Buccaneer was designed for low-level strike missions, and over the years, several pilots have been spotted flying the type extremely close to the ground.

"It's still higher than its operational altitude," one X user joked when commenting on the post.

The Buccaneer S2 in question, XK526, had been serving as a gate guardian at RAF Honington and is being handed over to the Binbrook Collection for restoration.

A gate guardian is a retired or decommissioned aircraft that is put on display, acting as a reminder of the contribution it made to defence.

The aircraft had been stationed there as a guardian at the base since 1983, before being replaced by a Tornado.

The Blackburn Buccaneer was a high-speed aircraft originally designed for Royal Navy service.

After the aircraft was transferred from the Royal Navy to the Royal Air Force, it used Paveway laser-guided bombs and was deployed during the First Gulf War in 1991.

The aircraft, which has a 13m wingspan, was retired in 1994.

Several Buccaneers can be seen at various locations, including the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Somerset and the National Museum of Flight in East Lothian.