Unrestricted external access to Regulus is available to visitors at any time during Cotswold Airport normal opening hours, via the North side entrance from the A433 Tetbury/Cirencester road. On the first and third Sunday of each month the aircraft is normally open and staffed by our members between approximately 12.30 and 4.00. There is no charge for entry but donations are welcome.

When official events are staged on the North side of the airfield, public car parking is adjacent to Regulus, so make sure you visit us while you enjoy the show.

XM496 REGULUS

XM496 Regulus is the sole fully complete Ex RAF Britannia anywhere in the world.

She made the last ever flight of any Britannia when she was delivered to Kemble airfield in the Wes of England.

XM496 is cared for by the dedicated team of the XM496 Preservation Society. This unrivaled group is made up of formally trained professional Britannia Ground and Air Crew.

Built as part of contract 15527, and delivered to the Royal Air Force Transport Command at RAF Lyneham on 17 September 1960, serialled XM496 and named 'Regulus'. She was taken on RAFTC charge from 19 September 1960 and used within the Britannia pool from her acceptance. XM496 was withdrawn from RAF use on 27 October 1975 and stored at RAF Kemble with 18 413.45 hours and 8122 landings to her credit.

History..

XM496 was purchased by Monarch Airline's Airline Engineering on 6 January 1976. Converted at Luton by Airline Engineering to 253F configuration and registered G-BDUP on 31 March 1976, and two weeks later she was painted in the livery of Afrek Ltd, who purchased her on 21 May 1976 and was delivered to them in Athens on 6 June 1976 with a private C of A. Later withdrawn from use and stored in Athens, Greece.

Purchased by Monarch Aircraft Engineering Ltd on 30 July 1984 and ferried to Luton for overhaul, then sold to the Cuban Airline, AeroCaribbean, in August 1984. She was painted in their full livery, and registered CU-T120. CU-T120 operated her last flight on 21 March 1990 (thereby ending all Cuban Britannia operations). While flying between Peru and Havana, No. 4 engine was shut down, an emergency declared, and a landing at Guayaquil, Ecuador made. The following day a three-engined ferry was organised and on arrival at Havana, Cuba she was grounded due to lack of spares.

This aircraft was to become the 'Phoenix' of the Britannia fleet as she was to become the last airworthy Britannia. Following sale to Transair Cargo the aircraft was flown via the UK as 9Q-CJH ‘Jack’ and operated with trans Service Airlift ltd. Reregistered as EL-WXA to Transair Cargo in August 1997. Flown to the ex RAF airfield of Kemble and placed into the care of dedicated Bristol Britannia enthusiasts, the aircraft has since been repainted in RAF Transport Command livery and is being fully preserved as a non flying example.

To view images of the XM496 please use this link.

Sunday 4th April will be our official Easter open to the public day

Hopefully we are belatedly seeing more favourable weather conditions. Our objective is to make a visit to Regulus not only a memorable experience but also to enhance our reputation in the preservation world.

As mentioned before, it's now time to address the cosmetic condition of Regulus. The winter months, together with being so close to a range of trees, has allowed a layer of grime and algae to accumulate.

From experience we know how just hard this is to remove, so it's hands and soft brooms to the fore. Speaking of hands, if any of you out there fancy a few hours of wet, welly-booted fun then please contact us. By the way, working members are fully third party insured. We do have a fire hydrant close by and the necessary hoses, which is better than on our previous hard-standings.

We have also been fortunate to gain access to a major storage area close to the aircraft and we are starting to move equipment around. A great improvement from being dispersed over many widespread sites..