It has been owned and maintained by the Southend-on-Sea-based registered charity the Vulcan Restoration Trust since 1993 and carries out regular taxi runs at London Southend Airport.

[2] XL426 was part of the first batch of 24 Avro Vulcans ordered by the Royal Air Force on 25 February 1956.

The aircraft had the pennant of senior RAF commander John Slessor painted on the side of its nose.

On 10 September 1963, Slessor flew XL426 from CFB Goose Bay in Labrador, Canada to RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, England in 4 hours and 5 minutes, an unofficial pre-Concorde Atlantic crossing speed record.

However, as its flying hours were running out before needing a major service, its role as a display flight aircraft was transferred to XH558, which had been retrieved from a fire dump at RAF Marham.

[4] XL426 was put up for sale in the summer of 1986, and after a failed deal with a French consortium, it was eventually sold to businessman Roy Jacobsen of Croydon,[9] who had purchased another Vulcan, XM655, two years prior.

Jacobsen eventually transferred ownership of the aircraft to the VMFSC in July 1993, which reformed as the Vulcan Restoration Trust (VRT) and gained registered charity status in 1996.

In 1995, it was moved to a purpose-built pan by the railway line on the airport's eastern perimeter, where it was more visible to the public.

In spring 1997, it performed its first public high-speed taxi run on the main runway, during an airport open weekend.

In August 2005, the VRT suspended the aircraft's public taxi runs to carry out more major servicing works, which were termed the 'Return to Power' programme.