XM598

This Vulcan is another Black Buck veteran. It was the primary aircraft for Black Buck 1 which suffered a pressure failure and had to turn back, causing XM607 to continue as the primary aircraft, and the rest is history.

XM598 arrived at Cosford in 1983, likely playing a significant role in the decision not to continue with restoration efforts on XA900, the last Vulcan B1, which was already in poor shape. Three years later, the B1 was cut up for scrap. After a number of years on outdoors display, XM598 was eventually repainted and moved into the large Cold War hangar. In common with most aircraft in there, a good photo is very hard to get and it can only be viewed from a limited number of angles. The nose is suspended from the ceiling, although the main gears are firmly on the ground, as a result access to the cockpit is impossible. In the bomb bay, there is a TV mounted which displays footage of the Falklands war. A bit of a pain if you want to photograph the poorly lit bomb bay, but it serves a good purpose; there are other Vulcan bomb bays to photograph. Some covers for wiring leading to the surrounding displays have been added under the wings, these are subtle and painted the same colour as the aircraft so don't mistake them for an original part of the Vulcan. 

The RAF Museum also has Victor K2 XH672 and Valiant Bk1 XD818 displayed alongside the Vulcan, although access to photograph the Victor is even worse and there are only two good angles of the Valiant easily accessible. Thankfully, the collection being inside means it has a safe future, just we will for now have to visit other examples if we want good photographs or a look inside the cockpits (although for the Valiant, it's the only complete one around).