Why did it take Jack-52 three years to find the cabin?

Question

In the 2013 film Oblivion, protagonist Jack finds out that he is actually

one of many clones made from the original Jack. During the course of the film, we see Jack (Jack-49) meet another clone, Jack-52. About mid-way through the film, Jack-49 conceives a daughter with love interest Julia.

At the end of the film, we witness

Jack-52 arriving at the lakehouse where Julia and her daughter - now a toddler - are living.

Why did it take Jack-52 three years to show up, and where was he during that time?

Answer 1

My understanding is that

Jack-49 built the cabin himself during his frequent trips, where he'd disappear off Victoria's radar, sometimes for days.

Even though

Jack-52 is another clone, he wouldn't possess Jack-49's memories from the moment of "activation". This includes anything Jack-49 did during his service.

It takes him this long to find the cabin because

Jack-52 doesn't know where it is, or even if it exists at all - only a feeling that he would also build one somewhere safe.

The areas Jack and Victoria are servicing is very large, and without assistance of flyers and monitors, it takes him this long to search for it on foot. He is closely followed by

what appears to be the remnants of Scavs, so we can assume he's been helping them survive during his search.

Answer 2

It seems like a plot hole.

Since Malcolm Beech was in on the plan of using a second pod to smuggle his badly wounded self into the Tet in Julia's place, it seems very implausible that he never told any of the Scavs where Julia's pod went (like the Sergeant Sykes portrayed by Coster-Waldau). Especially since Julia selflessly volunteered her life for the sake of destroying the Tet it doesn't make much sense that none of the Scavs would care what happened to her.

Since he flew Julia to the cabin using the bubble ship before returning to the Scav base to pick up Malcolm Beech with a second cryopod, it seems implausible that he wouldn't bring a Scav with him for security and to show him the way.

There is no in-universe explanation for this, but story & production-wise it allowed them to use a young child actor instead of an infant to portray their daughter when Jack-52 arrives with the Scavs.