Arncott's Tornado plane, which has sat outside the RAF base in the village since 2002 has finally been moved to its new home after fears it would be scrapped.
Earlier this year, it was decided that the beloved plane should be moved to a museum, and nearly a year later, it has now touched down at its new home in Salisbury.
Writing on their Facebook page, the Boscombe Down Aviation Museum said the aeroplane would be assembled over the coming days and put inside Hangar 1 North for public display.
READ MORE: Arncott residents fight to save Tornado plane at RAF base
The plane was one of the first to come off the production line in 1979, and many locals were outraged when they first learned about its plans to be scrapped.
Arncott Parish Councillor Lee Savidge, who long campaigned for the aircraft to be saved, said he was sad to see the aeroplane go but said he is glad it is being preserved.
“I mean obviously it would be nice to have it stay there, but you've got an aircraft which hasn’t been flown for the best part of 30 years. The airframe deteriorates, it needs maintenance for safety purposes, and just to keep it looking good, and the MOD obviously didn't want to bear that cost anymore.”
He added: “I feel quite proud of the fact that between myself, my wife, and Dan Sames, we managed to stop it being scrapped.”
The plane is a known landmark to everyone in the area, and Savidge said people frequently used it as a reference when giving directions.
When he heard about the plans for the plane to be scrapped in 2019, he put up a post on Facebook together with his wife explaining what they had just learned.
Savidge said: “When I first put up the Facebook post, it was just being shared and shared and shared, museums in Germany were asking me if they could get it, I said ‘it’s not my plane’.”
He then contacted Cherwell District and County Councillor Dan Sames, who in turn contacted MP Victoria Prentice.
Councillor Dan Sames said: “Victoria was able to contact the Defense Secretary at the time Penny Mordaunt and within the space of about 24 hours, we had moved from it possibly being scrapped to it being saved”.
He added: “It is such an iconic part of the community we would have preferred it remained as a gatekeeper, but the important thing was that it hasn't been consigned to the scrapheap. It's been saved for the nation”.
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