“This is an incredibly rare airframe, as this is the only example of this airframe on this side of the planet. The only way you can see that is if you went to England,” Hodges said.

The Handley Page Victor was a British jet-powered strategic bomber developed and produced by Handley Page during the Cold War. It was the third and final V bomber to be operated by the Royal Air Force. Later the plane, serial number XL191, was converted and used as air refueler.

Hodges said she has been obsessed with airplanes since she was a little girl, but the Victor has always stood out.

“I remember I saw a picture of a Victor bomber in a magazine one day — I think I was 9 or 10 years old. I don’t know why, but my brain just chose to obsess over the darn thing,” she said.

U.P. TRUCK CENTER employees Tom Maynard and Nick Maycunich lift the Handley Page XL191 Victor bomber off a semi-truck bed. U.P. Truck Center donated the crane work to unload the plane after it was transported from Ohio. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News photo)

Her plane — which she named XL191 Zealous Zoey, after her “tough” 7-year-old rabbit that once broke her nose — crashed in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1986.

“She had a pretty hard landing, landed 300 feet short of the runway. There were no fatalities. The only thing that probably didn’t make it was the beer they had on board,” Hodges said.

The cockpit section was given to the Canadian War Heritage Museum soon after, but the museum decided at that time it was too new of an aircraft to be put in their exhibit.

“They were going to scrap it. However, the late Walter Soplata bought it and took it to his airplane sanctuary in Newbury Township, Ohio, and that’s where she’s been for the last 38 years,” she said.

The cockpit is missing large sections of its skin because back in 2019, a company called PlaneTags took pieces of the metal to make key chains.

THE HANDLEY PAGE XL191 Victor bomber rests on the semi-truck bed ready to be moved. The plane was acquired by Katrina Hodges, who plans to restore it and place it on display at Ford Airport in Kingsford. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News photo)

She asked the owner, Dave Hall, what happened to the rest of the cockpit. Hall told her it was still at the sanctuary.

“I’ve spent the last three years of my life negotiating the sale of this aircraft and here she is,” Hodges said. She considers it a 30th birthday present to herself.

She and her fiance, Vincent Quandrini, who is a pilot and fellow vintage airplane enthusiast, are trying to start a small aviation museum in Iron Mountain at the new county hangar, where it would be displayed.

“It’s preserving history. I like it. It’s what I do,” Quandrini said.

Quandrini realized a dream of his own when he acquired a A-26 World War II bomber in 2021, which is one of only a few that can still fly. It is on display in the hangar.

Hodges purchased her plane for $1,800, but the two-day trip to bring it from Ohio cost considerably more. She received help from transport company Michaud Trucking of Kingsford. Tom Sullivan of U.P. Truck Center donated the crane used to move the plane from the truckbed.

Michaud Trucking driver Rick Tipton said he has never seen anyone so young have so much enthusiasm.

“I have a lot of parts I’m currently raising funds to ship from the United Kingdom, as all my parts are in the United Kingdom.

That’s going to be the next step,” Hodges said.

“I’m going to be doing the restoration work, unless anyone wants to volunteer to help me, and Vincent of course is going to help me out.

He got to accomplish his dream and now we’re just working on mine. It’s going to take a couple a years to be completed,” she said.

There is Facebook page, Handley Page XL191 Zealous Zoey, where Hodges shares updates. She also has a GoFundMe account for anyone who would like to assist with costs.

“It’s so unique. I never thought I’d own a Victor ever. And things just kind of worked out that way,” she said.