Editing Vickers Wellington (section)

==Aircraft on display==
[[File:Wellington 1A N2980.JPG|thumb|Wellington IA ''N2980'' on display at Brooklands]]

There are two complete surviving Vickers Wellingtons preserved in the United Kingdom.<ref name="WV MF628 history">Simpson, Andrew. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090416155844/http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/collections/aircraft/aircraft_histories/69-A-171%20Wellington%20X%20MF628.pdf "Vickers Wellington X MF628/9210M: Museum Accession Number 69/A/17."] ''Royal Air Force Museum.'' Retrieved: 13 January 2008.</ref> Some other substantial parts also survive.<ref name = "WV MF628 history"/>
Wellington IA serial number N2980 is owned by [[Brooklands Museum]] at [[Brooklands]], Surrey. Built at Brooklands and first flown in November 1939, this aircraft took part in the RAF's daylight bombing raids on Germany early in the Second World War but later lost power during a training flight on 31 December 1940 and ditched in [[Loch Ness]]. All the occupants survived except the rear gunner, who was killed when his parachute failed to open. The aircraft was recovered from the bottom of Loch Ness in September 1985 and restored in the late 1980s and 1990s. A new Wellington exhibition featuring N2980 was officially opened by Robin Holmes (who led the recovery team), [[Penelope Keith]] (as trustee of Brooklands Museum), Norman Parker (who worked for Vickers) and [[Ken Wallis]] (who flew Wellingtons operationally) on 15 June 2011, the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the type's effective prototype in 1936.

[[File:Vickers wellington MF628.jpg|thumb|Vickers Wellington T.10 serial number MF628 undergoing restoration]]

On 15 September 2016, after having its outer wings removed the day before, N2980 was towed from the Bellman hangar in which it was restored and where it had been displayed for nearly 30 years. This move was the first time that 'R' for 'Robert' had moved on its undercarriage since its last flight in 1940. The aircraft was exhibited in a temporary building while the Bellman hangar was relocated and restored until taken off display and moved back into the latter building on 25 July 2017. The aeroplane is the centre-piece of the 'Brooklands Aircraft Factory' exhibition about the aircraft industry at Brooklands, which was formally opened on 13 November 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/about/latest-news/spectacular-new-brooklands-aircraft-factory-and-flight-shed-opened-by-prince-michael-of-kent|title=Spectacular new Brooklands Aircraft Factory and Flight Shed opened by Prince Michael of Kent|publisher=Brooklands Museum|access-date=3 February 2017}}</ref>

Wellington T.10 serial number MF628 is held by the [[Royal Air Force Museum]].<ref name = "VW survivor"/> It was delivered to RAF No.18 MU (Maintenance Unit) for storage at [[RAF Tinwald Downs]], [[Dumfries]], as a Wellington B.X, on 11 May 1944.<ref name = "WV MF628 history"/> In March 1948 the front gun turret was removed in its conversion to a T.10 for its role as a postwar aircrew trainer. This aircraft is the Wellington seen taking off in [[The Dam Busters (film)|''The Dam Busters'']] and was also used for some air-to-air photography on the movie.

This aircraft made the last flight of a Wellington, from Aston Down to Wisley, in January 1955. The RAF Museum later refitted the front gun turret in keeping with its original build as a B.X (wartime mark numbers used Roman numerals, Arabic numerals were adopted postwar).<ref name = "WV MF628 history"/><ref name="VW survivor">[https://web.archive.org/web/20210412010542/http://www.rafmuseum.org/rafmdevelopment/london/collections/aircraft/vickers-wellington-x.cfm "Vickers Wellington X."] ''Royal Air Force Museum''. Retrieved: 13 January 2008.</ref> In Autumn 2010, this aircraft was taken to the [[Royal Air Force Museum Cosford|RAF Museum's site at Cosford]] for restoration.