Britain's Highly Unusual Crescent-Wing Victor Bomber
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 พ.ย. 2021
- The V force was a legendary team of bombers built to serve during the post-war crisis. However, they would not carry ordinary bombs, but nuclear weapons.
As World War II ended, the division between the West and the East became a significant threat to world peace, and shortly before the Cold War began, Britain started working on a modern jet bomber force that could rival any other on the planet.
The Handley Page Victor featured a one-of-kind wing, making it the largest aircraft to break the sound barrier up to that point.
As the British mastered the atomic bomb by the mid-1950s with the exceptional V force and the Victor to deliver it, Britain's stature among the world's superpowers significantly solidified.
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One of the very few aircraft ever to fly in the real world that would've been perfectly at home in a "Captain Scarlet" episode. :-)
Imagine if Captain Scarlett swapped the coordinates for Nagasaki with Tel Aviv....
Yes - either that or in Buck Rogers - the cockpit of the Victor looked like one of the space ships in the old Buster Crabb series.
Dan Dare in the Eagle comic had spaceships like it.
Bing Chilling 🥶🧁Bing Chilling 🥶🧁
@@JamesSmith-vz8yr Better yet, your street address.
Simply one of the most beautiful and futuristic planes ever
The British excelled themselves with the V bombers and the Victor is a stunning aircraft to look at, even though the design is almost 70 years old.
My favorite, planes
A real Dan Dare design
@hognoxious True.
@@vumba1331 More Flash Gordon.
The fact that this thing was designed less than 50 years after the wright flyer is absolutely insane.
Smart little buggers, aren't we?
Good point
@@deltavee2 most of us aren't
Give an Englishman a shed, duck tape and a pot of tea and we will build the world.
@@alphatrion100 speak for yourself. Giving up before even trying is often easier which would explain most I assume.
BBC had a documentry on British aviation of this period a few years ago, at one point they showed reactions of military observers from other nations (including Soviets and Americans) to the V force craft at th Farnborough Air Show, where they performed barrel rolls and other moves more normally performed by fighters than large bombers. Incredible aircraft
I think it was called "Cold war, hot jets"
Empire of the clouds?
Interesting, I'll look for that.
In 1955 Tex Johnson took a 707 through a barrl roll.
I remember a Texas airshow around 1980, where the Space Shuttle Enterprise also appeared, during which a Vulcan bomber rocked an aerobatic show that left me confused for years as a child as to exactly what the difference even was between a jet bomber and a fighter! Those kinds of experiences permanently sear images into people's minds for life.
I've always preferred the Victor to the Vulcan. Just a gorgeous shape.
I have never seen a more aggressive looking aircraft, Evil looking aircraft with a single intent
@@georgebarnes8163 Perfect shape for a nuclear delivery system.
@@georgebarnes8163 i agree the Victor looks menacing enough to do the job, but when i was 8 or 9 my Uncle (who was in the RAF) took my dad & I onto the flight deck of a Vulcan, always remember that smell, so its the vulcan for me:)
@@devonsteve2347 Excellent, my G father showed me around the inside and outside of an old Short Sunderland flying boat which was the machine he used in WW2, also an awesome experience.
@@devonsteve2347 I agree although the Victor is a close second.
I personally think this is the most beautiful plane ever made, especially considering when it was made, love the video man cheers.
YEP, considering the short time gap between the Lancaster and the Victor, they were worlds apart in every way.
Head on there aren't many planes that can stack up to this one. B-1, Tu-160 (ca.60 :D) maybe.
I have to agree with you on the looks of this beauty, 👌 😍 from the nose to the tail the fuselage to the wings, stunning looker. And the versatility over a very long career, only exemplifies the designers efforts in making an extraordinary impact on the aviation industry. Doing it all with sliderules and drafting tables, prior to computer designing, only makes the aircraft more extraordinary, especially for what was initially designed as a bomber, every bit as sexy as a hot rod fighter jet.
Love the Victor, up close at Elvington it looks even more futuristic, scary and hardcore! Absolutely amazing that there was no time between the WW2 prop bombers and these super machines.
Did you go inside Lusty Lindy too?
@@stewartlindsay2275 I didn’t know you could go inside :)
@@mikerigley1 yes, a very accommodating lass.
I had a friend who was an apprentice draughtsman for Handley Page and one of his tasks was to redesign the tail plane, itself bigger than a Spitfire, so that it could take the higher loads demanded by low flying. Also the Victor was so aerodynamically efficient that when the bomb bay doors were open the ordnance would stay within it once released due to the slip stream pushing up into the bay. This was solved by the installation of a series of flaps at the front edge of the bay that looked rather like the old air outlets on a radial engined aircraft which created enough turbulence to allow the bombs to drop accurately.
My Father worked for HP and designed part of the tail section. He made an Airfix kit of it in the 60's, the only model he ever made......
Everyone else seems to prefer the looks of the Vulcan, but I've always liked the Victor better.
Same…and Valiant was boring
This look's allot like Russia's new stealth bomber exept for the tail wing
Overall the Victor was the victor.
@@xgford94 The Valiant was a safety measure.
Both Planes are Sexy AF, Imagine either Design built with Modern Engines and lightweight Stealthy materials
Love the Victor, looked especially cool in desert pink as used in the first Gulf war. Still looks futuristic today.
A few errors, unfortunately : the Valiant, not the Vulcan, was the first V-bomber - and the footage accompanying the narrative about the Avro Lincoln actually shows an experimental Lancaster (NC465) in 1946 fitted with a Roll Royce Dart turboprop engine in the nose.
Those errors plus the Lancaster's that came out before the US nuked Japan could hold a 10,000 lb load and thus could have been used. Indeed the Brits offered to let the US use it when they heard of the size issue which would have negated the special mods or Silverplate issue B29. One of the US generals I believe it General Curtiss Lemay said the US had it. Indeed the B-29 flew higher but by that point in the war the Japanese airforce was flying wrecks with barely trained pilots used as kamikazes.
@@eleventy-seven The USAAF still had reasons to be grateful to the Lancasters though. They used the bomb stowage and release mechanisms from the Lancaster that carried the Tallboy and Grand Slam earthquake bombs ion the B-29s that were fitted out for the Atomic Bombs. The Lancaster being the only allied bomber capable of lifting these bombs until the B-36.
Also, as is often the case with this channel’s videos, there were 5-6 times within the piece where footage of the Vulcan was rolled over discussion of the Victor. It was still enjoyable, but they should have someone who can ID the correct aircraft have a look before the video is posted.
@@jontaylor9128 And the Lincoln was narrated as a 'jet'. Vulcan roll in the context of the 262 was odd.,
Swept wing 262?? Nope
As a few others mentioned here I too preferred the look of the Victor over the Vulcan, very fighter-esque looking aircraft. In these current times it now seems surreal that Britain had 3 different large jet bombers at the same time (Victor, Vulcan & Valiant). Just a nit pick on the video at 1.45 the Lincoln was not a jet, it was a development of the Lancaster, being slightly bigger but maintaining that classic Lancaster look.. It still had 4 props and definitely no jet engines.
Always think the Victor was the prettiest and most impressive. I'm also amazed that an aircraft built before I was born can STILL look so futuristic!
2:30 The most British thing ever, a cup of tea being drunk in a nuclear bomber...
What I like most about the Victor is that it helped the winner of the 1969 Daily Mail Transatlantic Air Race by aerial refuelling Harrier XV741
I've seen a Victor Bomber at an air show once. I still have the squadron patch from it.
You can see the actual XV741 Harrier at the air museum at Brooklands - completely refurbished
I don't know how factual it is, but I heard this story of a British infantry officer on D-day. They had a brief respite in the afternoon and some soldier commented that it was tea time back in England. So the officer had a large batch of tea brewed and delivered it himself to his troops. Now, of course this is so stereotypically British, but that was one smart officer. That small act at that exact time was certain to greatly boost the moral of his troops. For those of you that don't know, nothing is more important to infantry units than moral.
@@grahamo22 I don't, and probably never will, have the opportunity to get out there. I did watch Jet Art Aviations YT videos on their restoration, very interesting!
Nice.
I built a model of this beauty, but when we moved my parents secretly disposed of it. I have never and will never forgive them for it 😂
I read this in the Dark Skies narrators voice.
PLANE~ ly you need to see a shrink.😃
They didn't dispose it, they decommissioned it
Build a new one mate.
@@vinnyganzano1930 yeah gud therapy, while your time in the 'special Home' continues.
The V force bombers were some of the most iconic aircraft ever built. Gorgeous aircraft.
Agreed.
I've seen "Lusty Lindy" up close at the Yorkshire Air Museum. This one can still taxi for shows. A simply magnificent aircraft.
ah, we need more male named aircraft and women naming them,
Victor, he, as we call planes, was a b------y b------d
Handley-Page was interested in wings of a crescent shape as far back as at least 1912, though admittedly with the crescent sweeping rearwards rather than forwards. I recommend the book in the Putnam series covering this designer/manufacturer. Agree with other commenters that the Victor is a staggeringly beautiful aircraft.
Faster than the Vulcan. Intercepted a Victor at 53,000 feet at M.95 north of Singapore 1972 during an ADEX. Me in a Mirage M1.2. Vulcan best air display aircraft ever with eerie howling sound effects but Victor better looking.
The Victor is (in my opinion) the best looking military plane of that era. It still looks awesome now.
The victor just looked like it came out of Buck Rogers. The first time I seen one up close wad when I was waiting on a C130 taxi ride to Bonsnia in the early 90's . I just stood and looked at it and mumbled " WOW "
Probably the most 'Dan Dare' looking aircraft the Brits produced, pushing the technology envelope and not having the resources of the USA meant innovative thinking.
Pfft. The guy was scared of stairways.
@@hewlett-packardlovecraft2297 I thought that was the Mekon?
That was when the UK aircraft industry could design, build, and the airforce adopt, three different strategic heavy bombers - simultaneously - sic transit gloria mundi . Admittedly the Valiant was actually based on tried technology in case the other two proved "too advanced". It looked pretty good too and was the vehicle availble for the UK's nuclear tests.
The Victor and Vulcan used to fly over my house as a child (along with A10s from an American base). It was like watching something from a sort of alternate reality fly past, you couldn't believe they could move the way they did. A terrible description, you had to see it for yourself. If you haven't done the English Electric Lightening that would be something!
It was the lightening that intercepted the sr71....twice. Albeit a planned interception.
This and the Vulcan are two of the coolest looking airplanes ever created.
I would suggest the Valkyrie, USAF, not especially safe, but interesting look.
I like the look of the b-52, its just so narrow and thin and has massive wings that tilt down
@@helicoptersauce Is that the weight on the ground? When the Lancaster carried the 10 ton Barnes Wallis "special" the wings bent up rather remarkably in flight.
It should be mentioned that the last (accidental) flight of a Victor was in 2009 when XM715 Teasin' Tina briefly took off on what should have been a high speed taxi run. The video's on TH-cam.
I had a chance to climb inside a Victor tanker at Offutt AFB in the late 1980s. The aircraft blew the tires on its MLG due to a failure in its anti-skid system. It was parked in one of out hangars waiting for new wheel assemblies. Interesting aircraft.
Of all the V-Bombers when I first saw a picture of the Victor I thought it was photoshopped clickbait of for some Science-Fiction series or futuristic aircraft... It looks be cool and very unreal.
Buck Rodgers front end.
When you 1st saw a victor, you most certainly didnt think it was photshopped, never mind clickbait seeing as they were built 30 years before the internet was invented...
I preferred the 4th unmentioned nuclear British bomber, the Short Sperrin which was another unusual design with its stacked engines.
@@christianbuczko1481 you do know that 20 something's were born AFTER the internet became a thing, and would have grown up with it? You're showing your age there Gramps.
@@lucidnonsense942 who mentioned millenials, i didnt and have no idea wtf you think its important i understand how someone less than 20 were born after a 40yr old invention. Are you proud you can count and work it out??
Everyone refer to victor as beautiful. I think this is the most menacing aircraft ever flown.
Always thought of it as both simultaneously.
Its like a woman, beautiful but dangerous ☺ great!
I think that title goes to either the F4 Phantom or A10 Warthog.
The atomic bomb it carried didn't help.
Yes. I love it because it looks so brutalist and intimating
I was lucky enough to see one when they had the Miramar Air Station Air Show after the Gulf War. It was a rather impressive sight to see!
best looking bomber ever made
Seriously? Maybe best looking for its era but B2 Spirit has to be the best looking bomber of all time.
@@onionhead5780 b2 spirit or b52 stratofortress?
@@vanillaghillie8912 I absolutely love everything about the B52 but I wouldn’t classify it as best looking. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a beauty but more of a ferocious monstrous brute of a bomber. It’s definitely one of the scariest bombers of all time IMO. I’ve never been a fan of the Bone but even it’s nice looking bomber as well. ✌️
@@onionhead5780 b2 is just plain but the b52 has character i will give you that
Agree, followed ( in no particular order) by B-47, B-58, B1-B, Vulcan, Mirage 1V
B2 and B-52 are impressive machines but not too aesthetic
But we all see things differently
Love this design. There is one at Duxford air museum in England it is a beauty.
Its being stripped at the moment (was when I went there a few months back) - it looks even more incredible when it's back the bare metal. incredible aircraft.
Also one at the Yorkshire Air Museum, and all three V bombers at RAF Cosford. All well worth a visit!
@@ed7590 I remember going to see the Victor at Elvington when they fired its engines up for the last time. Very impressive.
@@cyberiain They still fire up Elvington's Victor occasionally.
Go to RAF Cosford, you can see all three in the Cold War hanger.
The first sonic boom was deliberate, but played down. The sound barrier was easily passed by this wonderful bomber - I amassed some 300 hours of flight testing in it. I left jet flight testing in 1960 & lived to tell the tale, unlike some former colleagues. God rest their souls.
There was a Vulcan stationed at my airbase in the early 80s I saw it fly often and it was quite a sight and sound. Watched it “slip” to loose altitude several times when coming on for a landing. Always a bit disconcerting. The sound was unlike anything we had in the U.S. inventory there at the time. It was an evil looking aircraft.
Some serious errors in this otherwise excellent piece. First there was the channels usual error about the Me262 being the first operational jet fighter. But the bigger error was @ 03:00 when it alleges the Germans had superior jet engines when they didn't by any means. They had two engines and neither was reliable and why the Me262 was so late into operational status (February 1945 when the Meteor became operational in June 1944). While in the UK there were (even by 1945) multiple variations of Whittle's designs including the first axial flow jet engine by Vickers first flown in a Meteor in 1943. The only people to use the German engines after WWII were the French who had to give up after only a few years. The Americans all used British designs and engines which were given to them by the British in 1941.
What a beautiful plane. It was simply ahead of it's time
Everything German had to be covered up, no one could compete
An absolutely superb piece of work. The Victor is up there with the Spitfire, the Meteor and Concorde as the greatest planes ever created. Thanks for creating this fascinating and interesting documentary, it's always a delight to see a notification from Dark Skies.
Don't forget the SR-71. A beautiful aircraft, and a very innovative design for it's day.
GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THE CLASS--THE MOSQUITO --IS--THE REAL BEAUTY.
@@MrDaiseymay Agreed, the Mosquito was the best fighter bomber of WW2 bar none and the RAF would not get an operational equivalent until the 70s when the Tornado came into being. The mosquito was the plane that pretty much did everything the RAF could ask of it and more, even to the point that the Germans tried to copy it and failed. That said the V series of bombers was unmatched at the time and out of that era probably the most futuristic of all strategic bombers and instantly recognisable today.
@@MrDaiseymay good call. Actually, the list is almost endless, isn't it? On a purely personal level I'm adding the VC10 to this list of timeless beauties.
Beautifully designed aircraft with the unique crescent wing ... the Victor was part of the RAF V-bomber trio including the Vulcan and the Valiant. It later served as a refuelling tanker as the Victor K2.
I worked on both Vulcan and Victor aircraft during my time in aviation and both were great aircraft but the victor was a really great aircraft that didn’t get the recognition it deserved
Those in the know recognise that the Victor was very different gravy and would have done a far better Bombing Stanley in 1982 but the Victor is at its best when being escorted by thirsty EEL's
In the 1950s, I lived near Radlett and would often see the Victors taking off. The noise of them hurtling down the runway, then lifting off into a seemingly vertical climb literally rattled the windows of our house!
From the front, it looks such a sad aircraft, as if it knows that it's been built to wreak havoc on innocent people.
An elegant machine though, along with the DH Mosquito. Two of the most beautiful war machines ever made.
It would be worth covering Operation Black Buck since you've covered the aircraft. Their in-air refueling dance is a marvel of modern logistics.
Fascinating, as I was employed as a flight test observer, on Victors & others, from 1957 to 1960. However there are numerous errors & omissions - e.g the first transonic flight with Johnny Allum was deliberate, but explained as 'accidental'. Otherwise the Victor was a super aircraft, but after Gary Powers was 'shot down' over Soviet Russia in 1960, in the ultra high altitude U2, the 'V' bomber was not viable for it's original role.
I remember that the Gary Powers event like it was yesterday, we had to practice "Duck and Cover" 3 times a week for 3 months ..scary times.
Looking at the Victor from the front, it looks very malevalent, even evil looking. I love it.
The Victor looks so out there. A mad design, almost insect like nose with a huge frame behind. It still looks futuristic now
Great video! I just love the looks of the Victor, it looks so retro futuristic! And considering how long it stayed in service, I guess the designers knew exactly what would be needed in the future!
The Victor was always my favourite of the V-Force. I used to look up when at school in Portsmouth and every day when a clear sky, was able to usually see either a Victor or Vulcan flying very high.
The Victor has a certain malevolence to it, hunkered down at the front, it means business, real mean business dropping a nuke.
Unfortunately I was too young to get to air shows in the 1960's and have never actually seen a Victor 'do' an airshow. Have seen several Vulcan displays. :)) :))
Um, as for this video, I did enjoy it with lots of new footage I have not seen before, but but but.. um, a lot of the footage did not match the audio in the slightest. :)
What a beautiful airplane! Love it!
I lived in the 80' and 90's right behind RAF Marham and saw the Victor tankers on a daily basis and the Vulcan practice it's show maneuvers on occasion as well as the officer in charge of the air shows was based at Marham at the time. Also saw a number of the Victors get scrapped some with demolition charges.
Lived on RAF Wyton for 3 years - V-Bomber base… My fav aircraft of all time was/is the Victor.
Nice to see a brief shot of the 4th ‘V Bomber’ the Short Sperrin. First flight 1951.
6.53 in case anyone wants to look. The one with vertically stacked jet engines on the wings.
I have never heard of thr Short Sperrin, the brief view of it around 6.35 looked fantastic. I need to see more, thanks.
When I was a kid in the 90's there was one at Elvington airfield near york. It was a magnificent beast and when I asked my dad how old it was I couldn't believe it. 🇬🇧
There is still one there
@@Andrew_Fernie great I'll have to visit again. thanks 👍
@@GB-dp5bs There is a Dassault Mirage 4 from the French Air Force there too, the only one in the UK. It was a supersonic bomber that carried the French nuclear deterrent, very impressive aircraft and quite beautiful and futuristic for its day
These just keep getting better and better. Fascinating, beautifully produced, written and narrated - and accurate!
Great video and I must say your commentary delivery is the best it's ever been. Keep up the great vids
These are actually terrifying looking
A fantastic design, especially for that time. The gap between the WW2 bomber's and this, is a incredible leap. Astonishing. To me, she looks like something living, that belongs in the deepest Oceans of the world.
Dark Skies, you treat me to the Mosquito last week and now the Handley Page Victor, thank you. This bomber had such a unique look for it's time.
Had a high school teacher who flew Victors. He left the RAF when they changed the Victor's mission from bomber to tanker. He used to get annoyed at kids who didn't know about the planes bomber role.
They should build this stuff again, the UK lost so much capacity when they deleted their aircraft industry.
Well said. I would love someone to get to the bottom of the deletion - why, who, how and why and how so hidden. I was called in by the MD of one of the firms which had just become the most profitable in Europe - but the UK Government pulled the plug on it, 38,000 emplyees and 3x as many in its supply chain?
@@rossking1077 maybe Murican political pressure?
They are to vulnerable to fighter and SAM attack. Cruise missiles can achieve the same result without a crew being put at risk.
@@timffitch Doesn't mean it has to be in a similar role, just the building capacity and quality shouldn't have gone to waste.
@@timffitch Besides, The Muricans and Russians are still using big planes too.. :})
He's actually slowed down his speech. I can tell its forced because he says some words at his usual speed and then slows down when he realises he's talking faster again.
That's funny, but true.
Thanks for the video. Such a stunning aircraft.
I'm really enjoying the videos.
Thank you
"...they took apart in the Falklands war..."
Well, sort of. They refueled the Vulcan that bombed the airstrip at Port Stanley as part of Operation Black Buck.
That was a heroic story of itself...
...fortunately expertly told by the "Operations Room" on his TH-cam channel.
I wonder that you might team up with him...
Just suggested it before I took a walk through the comments section. I very much agree!
Except the Vulcan's missed most of the runway.
They also conducted reconnaissance sorties I believe, and refueled other aircraft, including Nimrods throughout the conflict. They were an essential part of the war effort.
@@johnharris6655 They did enough damage to stop the Argies using Stanley as a fighter base and forced them to fly from the mainland and then from further inland making their loiter time over the Task force very short. It also sent a very clear message that we were very serious. It was the start of the shooting war.
They were also used with Shrike anti radar missiles mounted on pylons under the Vulcan's wings and these were very effective and protected the Harriers from interception by land based gun and missile fire.
There were of course 7 Black Buck raids.
“Sort of”? They were force assigned on Operation Corporate. Fact.
Absolutely love this aircraft such a futuristic looking aircraft to this day. I have one hanging in my model room refueling an Electric Lightning.
Two beautiful but fatally flawed aircraft.
I remember this aircraft at the El Toro Air Show in Southern California in 1984! It was on static display and the landing gear is "short" which gave it a low "sitting" compared to other aircraft around it; bombers and transports. It stood out and was very unique but not too big when comparing KC-10 or C-5 Galaxy that were parked next to it. Very nice designed aircraft!
Engines being in the shoulder mounted wing roots mean you can get away with shorter stiffer gear. If they were in pods under the wing the UC would have to be longer... The classic example is the Russian Bear bomber .... and its huge props..stands on the worlds longest UC legs ...probably😉
The Victors nearest little cousin in some ways is the Blackburn Buccaneer ...also a nuclear capable bomber and very well respected aircraft but without quite the superb elegance of the Victor.😎
The Victor was menacingly beautiful.
My Favorite V bomber! Shame the fatigue issues excluded these guys from low level work! TY mr Dark Skies.
I would, most humbly, suggest that her designers never stressed her for the extreme load met in low level interdiction raids. Not fatigue - or if it was it would have been a case of very rapidly diminishing the airframes fatigue life. She clearly had the fatigue life to carry on up where she belonged, and in fact did so.
people gush about the Spitfire being beautiful - she wasn't until she became a teen (ok - the Mk IX lost that horrible tail - but the Mk14 onward wore wonderful) but the Victor was a beauty from the get go.
The fatigue issues mentioned referred to the Vickers Valiant which was withdrawn very early because of major stress and even corrosion problems within the wings.
The HP Victors never had that problem as proved by the ever increasing payloads and capabilities.
@@micksedunary7304 And the Spitfire gets all the glory for winning the Battle Britain when in fact it was the Hurricane that shot down the most German planes.
I was working at RAF Wittering during the last couple of years before the two squadrons of Victors armed with Blue Steel were disbanded and they were most definitely flying the low level route around Britain during those days. I was giving them weather briefings, so I knew where they were going. I don’t think it is an official secret any more.
Just think, this magnificent aircraft was created by pipe smoking blokes with slide rules and an unwavering passion to build the ultimate flying machine they could. Now that's genius.
Don't forget they all sported plastic pocket pen protectors somewhere on their person also,
@@scruffscruffeton986 and wore dust coats when doing rooly rooly techo stuff.
And some had worked on the ww2 bombers.
They thought at first that a tailless layout would be adequate...
@@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665 My Father designed part of the tail on the Victor. He'd worked on Blenheims and Beaufighters in India, then at Bristol after the war, then HP. That's a big jump in technology in under 10 years..............
This video omits the fact the HP 80 Victor’s crescent wing was the brain child of Handley Page’s close friend and chief engineer Gustav Victor Lachmann (3 February 1896 - 30 May 1966) a German aeronautical engineer who spent most of his professional life working for the British aircraft company Handley Page. NOTE Dr Lachmann’s middle name! My grandmother served as his housemaid in N.W. London and I served as technical apprentice (1962 - 1969). Wonderfully family company - wonderful memories. Roger Stanley
One of the most beautiful RAF aircraft ever, as a little boy I loved its looks. For me it was a toss up between this and the Vulcan, both of which were highly innovative, trail breaking designs. The Valiant was (within limits) a reliable craft. I read one pilot's description of it being like "a gentleman's sports car".
Indeed...she was a real looker....never surpassed in my eyes.
Beautiful plane. Looks like something out of a movie.
Always one sexy looking Aircraft for its time , the flow of its structure is sheer perfection .
Was a kid at RAF Marham in the late 70s. Victors very low overhead on approach made a hell of an impression on me. Seriously impressive. Still look retro futuristic.
always remember the first time seeing one fly over the meadows at low altitude in it's tactical cammo paint pulling round into a tight left then right hand turn and flying away it was in impressive sight for a six year old who had mainly seen hastings, varsities and jet provosts, a great aircraft.
Damn. She’s really quite a ‘beaut. Fantastic airplane to cover. Thanks!
A real looker! I have always wanted to know more about the V bombers. Things like how their performance compared to the B-48 and B-52 and why they never had much influence on later designs. Was it the passing of the idea of putting the engines into the wings? After this the intakes might be in the wing root but the engines were in the fuselage. B-58 had something of the shape but with the engines in pods below the ting and more of a standard delta wing.
I assume you mean the B-47, not the B-48. The Vickers Valiant was pretty comparable with the B-47 - the Valiant was a little bit slower but could fly considerably higher and they both could carry a similar warload over about the same range - but the Vulcan and Victor absolutely blew the Boeing away. The Vulcan could carry the same nuclear and conventional warload as the Valiant or B-47 whilst having a slightly higher service ceiling than the Valiant and being significantly faster than the B-47. The Victor could fly higher even than the Vulcan at about the same speed and over a greater range whilst carrying 50% more warload than any of the three aforementioned bombers. It truly was the cream of the cold war medium bomber crop, but the immensely strong airframe of the Vulcan was better suited to low altitude attack profiles, hence it remaining the frontline bomber in the latter part of the cold war.
The B-52 belongs to a different, larger, class of aircraft of which the British never built an equivalent. It can carry about twice the conventional payload of a Victor over a roughly 25% greater distance.
As former USAF, this is rapidly becoming my favorite channel. Thanks.
I lived on Ascension during and after the Falkland war, big thing was to go out and watch the Victor and Vulcans and F4s coming and going. All three where Iconic aircraft.
"The Lincoln Jet..."? (In this case, an Avro 694 with a test engine mounted in its nose.)
God! That thing looks good!
I was lucky to see these planes fly over my village when I was a kid.
Never saw a Victor but Vulcans were a monthly event.
That sound. Awesome.
The Victor looked futuristic then & still does today.
I first saw the Victor in 1952, the day before it made its debut at the Farnborough air show. It flew over St Albans. Next day I saw it fly when I made my annual visit to Farnborough. It's wing shape was, as far as I know, totally unique. I felt that it was the latest example of how good our aircraft designers were. Sadly we were not always able to produce our aircraft in sufficient numbers to make them financially viable. This is where a huge country such as the USA had a financial advantage. Good luck to them. In this instance size does make so much difference.
I remember being out in a field in norfolk fixing a tractor when the victors flew over from their farewell tour. It was a sight to behold as they passed overhead at low level making their way back to Marham where they were based.
Like many others I too preferred the Victor but I’m in love with the trio. Absolute work of art each one.
Very informative! Thanks! 👏👏👏💯
This was supposed to be Australia’s strategic bomber and even had an order and A- number. Then the TSR-2 came along with doctrine change plus the fact Australia wasn’t going to get given nukes by the UK
I read that the Victor was the fastest of the V bombers, though my personal favorite is the Vulcan. Also, are you gonna do a video about the Valiant?
Great work Sir thank you
Great video. I understand the K2 Victor also ran reconnaissance missions in the Falklands War.
If I was the movies villan, this would be my every day way to travel...
I would the Victor call a sinister looking plane, most elegant was the Vulcan for me.
Brilliant, thank you. M.
Nice job. Your videos inform and entertain.
Thanks for sharing.
The Valiant was before the Vulcan. And Britain was the aviation leader, in terms of innovation, long after the end of the second world war. It lost this lead in the 60s.
While I love the howl of the Vulcan, I think the Victor is the most futuristic looking bomber ever (including the XB-70 Valkyrie)
I love the look of the Victor, looks so cool and very cold war.
IF you go to the restoration hanger at Duxford IWM you can watch one being restored
Good video. The pedantic me though, would point out that it was the Falkland Conflict. It wasn't technically a war.
EDIT- Yes, I know that's the commonly accepted name for it. No, it doesn't bother me that much.
I never realised that, bit surprised actually. Thanks for your top draw pedantry :)
"Guerra de las Malvinas" is what an Argentine pedant would call it.
Like the troubles in Ireland.
I always called it a conflict, unless I was being an arsehole to Argies.. In which case, we won that war! lol
@@malcolmjcullen I did not know that. Thank you.
The "Canberra" mate, one word not two. You have to have some pretty eclectic pronunciation to make the Australians wince at it.
In the early 90s I bought a CD version of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, brilliant story by the way. The very last words of the story are of a NASA tech asking after their Aussie counterparts using the same pronunciation, that was also the first time I heard the city name that way...
Wait until you see the video about the B-57 lol
Stunning ! Hard to believe it was built 70 years ago
The Victor is achingly beautiful.