Thursday, March 21, 2024

Handley Page Victor, British Strategic bomber

 








14 comments:

  1. Latterly an air to air fuel tanker, too.

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    1. Arguably the best of the V bombers although the Vulcan, which was the most impressive aircraft I ever saw flying a display (I think I saw it three times), is cooler.

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  2. The Brits over the years have made some seriously cool looking planes.

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    1. Obviously, the Dehavilland Mosquito was one of those sharp planes. Another that sadly did not go into production was BAC TSR.2. An online image search will show how good-looking it was.

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    2. If your definition of cool really means ugly, I will agree.

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  3. Back when England could still accomplish something. They're even farther down the PC, DEI, Big Brother track than we are, and we're over the cliff, coyote style, awaiting impact.

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  4. The tanker version. To bomb Stanley Airport on the Falklands, it took 9 Victors to refuel one Vulcan bomber for the 3,900 mile flight there from the Ascension Islands and another one for the return journey. Take a look at this, it's amazingly complicated but it worked.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Black_Buck#/media/File:Refuelling.plan.black.buck.svg
    Al_in_Ottawa

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    1. The museum adjacent to the defunct Castle AFB there is a Vulcan.
      A huge machine, standing under the wing I could not reach high enough to touch the wing. More than 8'.

      The Vulcan became obsolete when the U.S. Poseidon became operational. Called into service in the Falklands.

      Castle was a SAC base, hence the Vulcan, B-52, and others.

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    2. Redundant is better word than obsolete, especially since the bird did serve later on.

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  5. That is a seriously weird looking bird. 1950's technology, but it looks like it could be in a Stars Wars movie.

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    1. A buddy was a KC-135 driver and came home from passing gas over Afghanistan with overhead pics of one of those contraptions flying over that big pile of shit and rocks. For sure looked like something out of Star Wars flying over a barren alien planet.

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  6. Nothing like it will (can?) ever be built again, unfortunately.

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    1. No need for it since we've taught nuclear and conventional weapons to "Go fetch!" without telling them it's a one-way trip.

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  7. British Strategic bomber LOL

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