XM594

XM594 was retired in 1983, being delivered from the nearby RAF Waddington to Newark on 7th February that year. Until a few years ago some systems were electrically live on the aircraft and were powered up often, but this is no longer the case.

Although I personally have not been in the cockpit of 594, it is apparently in very good condition and fairly complete.

Externally the aircraft appears to be in good shape, only a few areas look slightly damaged by her time outside, just a fresh coat of paint will need applying soon to some parts of the aircraft. According to museum volunteers, this was scheduled to happen in 2020, but had been delayed due to the Covid pandemic, it appears some work is ongoing on the aircraft as of October 2021. Given the great work on other smaller exhibits at the museum recently, I'm sure '594 will be well looked after for a long time yet.

This is a good Vulcan to photograph as it is well positioned and has a number of angles where it is not obscured by buildings or other aircraft, and the museum seems more than  happy to let you walk all around the Vulcan taking photos from all sorts of odd angles.