Researched 2026-10-11 from the sources listed below. Airframes move between hangars, workshops and loans: check with Aerospace Bristol before travelling to see this one.
The airframe in brief
| Serial / registration | XL824 |
|---|---|
| Type | Bristol Sycamore HR.14 |
| Units / operator | No. 284 Squadron RAF, Cyprus (late 1950s); Central Flying School (mid-1960s) |
| Withdrawn | Acquired by the RAF Museum, late 1960s |
| Previously displayed | Manchester Air & Space Museum, 1982–2008 (on loan) |
| Stored | RAF Museum store, MoD Stafford, 2008–2015 |
| Arrived | Transfer to Aerospace Bristol announced 15 April 2015 |
| Status | On display |
| Where | Aerospace Bristol, Bristol |
The story of XL824
XL824 is one of 85 Sycamore HR.14s built for the RAF as search and rescue helicopters. In the late 1950s it flew with No. 284 Squadron in Cyprus. The squadron had re-formed at Nicosia in October 1956 for air-sea rescue and support work. It gave up its Sycamores in July 1959 and was renumbered No. 103 Squadron the following month.
XL824 came back to the UK in the mid-1960s. It had a short spell with the Central Flying School, which used Sycamores to train helicopter pilots. The RAF Museum acquired it in the late 1960s.
From 1982 to 2008 the helicopter was on loan to the Manchester Air & Space Museum, where it was on public display. When it came back it went into RAF Museum storage at MoD Stafford.
On 15 April 2015 the RAF Museum announced it would give XL824 to the Bristol Aerospace Centre, as Aerospace Bristol was then called. Ian Thirsk, the RAF Museum's head of collections, judged Filton a better home for it. The Bristol Aero Collection Trust said it fitted its collection of Bristol-made aircraft. Aerospace Bristol opened at Filton on 17 October 2017.
Seeing XL824 today
Shown in the Aerospace Bristol exhibition alongside other Bristol-built aircraft.
| Museum | Adult entry | Airframes | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerospace BristolBristol, Gloucestershire | £20 | 14 | Concorde G-BOAF, the last Concorde ever built and the last ever to fly (26 November 2003, into Filton, forever). You can board her.… |
Also known as: Sycamore HR14 · Bristol Sycamore XL824