It was used in the Gulf War and retired in 1994. And now this aircraft is setting off for a new career in pleasure flights. A report by ANTHONY OSBORNE.

ONE of the finest British aircraft ever to grace the skies is jetting off from near Swindon for a new career in pleasure flights.

The Blackburn Buccaneer has been based at the former RAF airfield at Kemble near Cirencester since 1996.

But today it takes off on a test flight to the BAE Systems factory at Warton, Lancashire, before heading south to Cape Town in South Africa.

The Buccaneer was originally designed as a nuclear strike aircraft, using the Royal Navy's once mighty fleet of aircraft carriers.

Seating two crew, the aircraft is powered by two Rolls Royce Spey turbojet engines and can achieve speeds up to just under the speed of sound.

The Kemble Buccaneer is one of 211 aircraft to come of the production line and was formerly used as a trials aircraft by the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Bedford, which explains its high visibility raspberry ripple colours of red, white and blue.

Volunteers at Delta Jets engineering at Kemble, who also rebuild other vintage jet fighters, have restored the plane to airworthy status.

The Royal Navy's fleet of Buccaneers was retired in 1972, and much of the fleet was transferred to the Royal Air Force. Buccaneers have played their part in air campaigns, having flown against Iraqi forces in the 1991 Gulf War, and in peacekeeping duties in Lebanon in the early 80s.

One of the most unusual tasks handed to Buccaneers was the bombing of the Torrey Canyon oil tanker in the seas off Cornwall to help break up the ship and burn off the oil.

The Buccaneer was finally retired from service in 1994. Kemble's Buccaneer will be one of three currently airworthy in the world, and will join two other examples at Thunder City in Cape Town, South Africa.

The aircraft will make the flight to South Africa in stages, and will be flown by Eurofighter Typhoon Test Pilot Keith Hartley.

Although many examples of the Buccaneer exist, many are in museums or in private hands. The aircraft is not allowed to fly in the UK due to the aircraft's complex control systems.

But it has special permission to fly from the UK to its new base.

David Roome, Delta Jets, managing director and chief pilot, explained: "It's a real shame that the aircraft cannot fly over here. It is such a silly reason for it not to."

Adventurous customers who fancy a go in the ultimate big boys' toy should expect to pay around US$6,000 for an hour's flight.