Tour XB259

Take look around and inside the ‘flying furniture van’ and see just how useful it was to the RAF and the Army who made excellent use of this leviathan.

XB259 being dismantledXB259 being dismantled
XB259 being dismantled at the Museum of Army Transport. Photos: John Collier.

The Freight Bay, which was enormouse for its time, along with a tail boom which held more people than many aircraft of the day, made the Beverley a truly versatile aircraft. Despite its ungainly appearance and slow speed, there was no other aircraft which could match it for what it could do. Its short take of and landing, combined with its ability to reverse allowed the Beverley to deliver freight and vehicles to airstrips no other large aircraft could get into.

Rear view of XB259 at Fort Paull
XB259 at Fort Paull

The words “no other aircraft” became synonymous with the Beverley. After one got used to its appearance and what it could do, the wisdom of these words was abundantly clear.