Last Handley Page Victor Flight

[mrclark303]

Morning all,

While I continue to sweep up old images on my achieved office system, I came across this set of images I took at Bruntingthorpe airfield in Leicestershire back in 2009.

The "Official" final flight of a Victor took place way back in 1993. Victor XM715 was delivered to the care of the outstanding Cold War Jets Collection at the airfield for ground preservation in 1993.

Over the years she has been kept live and capable of fast taxing along with many other British classics, Lightnings, Comet, Nimrod etc etc . Though the collection is grounded they are kept live.

Back in 2009 I took my annual pilgrimage up the Fosse Way to the airfield to wallow in pure nostalgia and have my very soul shaken to the core by Rolls Royce Conway's ,Avons and Spays at in very close proximity.

When the Victor did its bit and blasted off down Bruntingphorpes 10,000 foot runway, I expected the usual power off and brake chute, but she powered on ... and on ... and took off!

The copilot didn't throttle back for some reason so the pilot had to reach across to shut down the throttles, the Victor did what she was designed to do and leapt into the air like a homesick angel!

She got to an altitude off about 100ft before the pilot managed to get her back on the deck before running out of runway, luckily the controls responded to the pilots inputs after all those years out in the open.

A true testimony to how well the ex RAF team had been looking after her!

So, apart from a shaken ground and aircrew, no one was hurt and the grand old lady lived to fast taxi another day!

Quite a sight to see though ... The final flight of the majestic Victor!

Information

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[CINDERS]

Thanks for sharing

[Peter Laidler]

Really good looking plane the VIctor. Didn't we use them at tankers as I recall?

[mrclark303]

Really good looking plane the VIctor. Didn't we use them at tankers as I recall?

Afternoon Peter,

Yep most of its career was as a tanker, though ironically it was the most advanced and capable of the V bombers..

[Paul S.]

It was also the sexiest looking (graceful lines and shape) of the 3 V bomber types. And of course, it looks fast just sitting on the tarmac.

[Peter Laidler]

Not just fast Paul, but looks pretty mean too! I saw a very large scratch built model of a Victor at the Abingdon Air Show here in the 80's. I mean large....., about 42" wingspan as I recall. Another of the 'models' on display was a larger size, sectioned fuselage of a Halifax

[Flying10uk]

Several years ago a retired RAF pilot told me that the Victor, in it's tanker role, was only permitted to take on it's maximum payload of fuel after it was airborne. This, if I remember correctly, he explained was due to the stresses put on the airframe during take-off. If it was necessary for a particular Victor to have it's maximum payload of fuel on board it would be necessary to take on extra fuel, after take off, from another tanker.

I believe that it took something like 13 Victor tankers to get 1 Vulcan bomber from Ascension Island to the Falklands to bomb the runway in 1982 with the tankers refuelling each other as well as the Vulcan.

[bigduke6]

Several years ago a retired RAF pilot told me that the Victor, in it's tanker role, was only permitted to take on it's maximum payload of fuel after it was airborne. This, if I remember correctly, he explained was due to the stresses put on the airframe during take-off. If it was necessary for a particular Victor to have it's maximum payload of fuel on board it would be necessary to take on extra fuel, after take off, from another tanker.

I believe that it took something like 13 Victor tankers to get 1 Vulcan bomber from Ascension Island to the Falklands to bomb the runway in 1982 with the tankers refuelling each other as well as the Vulcan.

There was a good documentary regarding the Vulcan and tankers etc, can't remember the channel, but on Sky some time back, talk about flying by the seats of their pants with only fumes in the tanks.......

[Bob Womack]

I saw a Victor tanker at an airshow in Virginia, USA, back in the '80s.

Bob

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

It seems all the spectacular looking large aircraft are going way. Concorde, SR-22 and now the Victor. But the BUFFs keep rolling long.