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Handley Page Victor B1a(K.2p) XH648


Adam Poultney

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I made my fifth visit to IWM Duxford today to see their Victor B.1a(K.2p), XH648,  being moved from the hangar it has been restored in for the past few years to its new home in the Conservation Hall. I just missed the initial rollout but managed to catch most of its journey across the site. Of course as a regular modeller of V Force aircraft, my latest being a Victor B1, I took plenty of useful reference photos which I'm more than happy to share here for those who will find them useful. Although the Mk1 and Mk2 Victors are quite different, they do share a lot in common so a lot of these will be applicable to all Victors.

As you can see restoration work is more or less complete on the fuselage, although the canopy looks badly faded which I guess is not surprising given the time it endured outside and how close it came to being scrapped. I had a chat with some of the people who were working on her, they said the museum wants it fully reassembled by the end of May but some time in summer is more realistic due to the amount of work left on the remaining parts to be restored (and it being a Handley Page aircraft, which I was told are never easy to work with!). The fin will display 55 Sqn insignia as it is representative of a much longer period of XH648's service life. I was told that around 97% of the skin has been repaired and is original rather than being replaced.

I will be visiting again when she is completely reassembled, if I remember to I will add photos of the currently missing parts then.

 

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Nose

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Intakes

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Jetpipes

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Flap fairing

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Main gear

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Nose gear

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Fuselage

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Red Steer Intake

 

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Tail wheel

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Tail

 

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I was there today and saw it. And was mightily impressed given the state of it before work started. Last time I was there the old paint had been stripped of and there was still a long way to go. But the results so far look excellent. Looking forward to seeing it with the wings on.

 

Justin

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