(Image: Richard Vandervord, reproduced with permission)

This atmospheric photograph depicts the beginning of the end for an early production Avro Vulcan – B.1A XH483 – which perished in the fire pits of RAF Manston, Kent, during the late 1970s. First flown in 1958 by no. 617 Squadron (famous for the Dambusters mission during World War Two), this Vulcan finished its flying days at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire before retiring to Manston in 1969.

The image shows the Vulcan’s original anti-flash white paint beginning to show beneath the more modern grey/green camouflage of its latter service life. A sorry sight for sure, but one with a compelling quality that would surely make XH483 an excellent scale model subject?

Keep reading – check out these Rare Photographs of the Avro Vulcan Mock-up from the Bond film Thunderball.

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