Beverley C1 Album Part 2

Photograph: Caz Caswell © 2003-2010

Picture Notes & Links
XB261 first flew on July 5th 1955 and went to the Aeroplane & Armament, Experimental Establishment[A&AEE] for both trials and type acceptance testing. At this stage it was assumed that XB261 would be at some stage handed over to the RAF for operational use, but A&AEE kept finding new uses for the Aircraft and eventually it was formally sold to the Ministry of Aviation (MoA) and became part of A&AEE's permanent fleet.

XB261 was used for all kinds of trials, much of it out of the Public Eye, a notable exception being the demonstration of a low level air drop technique at 'Unison 67' on Salisbury Plain in September 1967.

Eventually XB261 was retired from the A&AEE and flown to Southend for the Historic Aircraft Museum on 6th October 1971. Like so many British Aircraft Museums, ambition exceeded funding and XB261 deteriorated over the years and this gentle decline became much more rapid, when the Museum was forced to close.

Sadly with no organisation, able and willing to retrieve the situation XB261 was eventually scrapped in 1989. However he cockpit section survived and was moved to the Imperial War Museum (IWM) at Duxford And restored. But the curators felt it did not fit in with the exhibits plan and it was past to the Newark Air Museum in 2004.

For more information See: Beverley Main Album Notes:
A&AEE and RAE     XB261 Beverley Cockpit Survivor

For more information onThe Blackburn Beverley See: Beverley Main Album Notes:
The Blackburn B-101 Beverley

Other sites on the Web of interest:
Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment - Wikipedia Entry

Imperial War Museum Duxford  and  Imperial War Museum Duxford - Wikipedia Entry

Newark Air Museum  and  Newark Air Museum - Wikipedia Entry

The Beverley Association   and   Blackburn Beverley - Wikipedia Entry

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