https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Valiant
The Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant was a British four-jet high-altitude bomber, and
was part of the Royal Air Force's V bomber nuclear force in the 1950s and 1960s.
It was developed by Vickers in response to Specification B.35/46 issued by the
Air Ministry for a nuclear-armed jet-powered bomber. The Valiant was the first
of the V bombers to become operational, and was followed by the Handley Page
Victor and the Avro Vulcan, which were more advanced. The Valiant has the
distinction of being the only V bomber to have dropped live nuclear weapons.
As developed, the Valiant was intended for operations as a high-altitude
strategic bomber. During the late 1950s, in response to rapid advances in
surface-to-air missile (SAM) technology, the Valiant fleet switched to flying a
low-level mission profile to perform the strike mission. Beyond the nuclear
deterrence role, the Valiant was also used by the RAF for other purposes, as a
number were converted to perform support roles such as aerial refuelling tankers
and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. Valiants were used for conventional bombing
missions over Egypt for Operation Musketeer during the Suez Crisis of 1956.
By late 1964 it was found that all variants of the Valiant showed premature
fatigue and inter-crystalline corrosion in wing spar attachment forgings, traced
to the use of a poorly understood aluminium alloy, DTD683. Rather than
proceeding with an expensive rebuilding program, the Ministry of Defence retired
the Valiant in 1965. Its duties were continued by the other V-bombers which
remained in service until the 1980s.
Unlike its Vulcan and Victor peers, the Valiant did not see the production of a
refined and more capable B.2 model. Instead, the Valiant B.1 fleet was later
switched to a low-level flight profile, after which fatigue due to the resulting
increased turbulence was discovered and ultimately led to the type's premature
retirement. Vic Flintham observed that: "There is a fine irony to the situation,
for Vickers had produced the Type 673 B Mk 2 version designed as a fast,
low-level pathfinder... The Air Ministry was not interested..." The Valiant was
Vickers' last purpose-built military aircraft. It was followed by the Vanguard,
a passenger turboprop designed in 1959, and the Vickers VC10, a jet passenger
aircraft in 1962, also used as a military transport and tanker by the RAF.
Role
Strategic bomber or aerial refueling tanker
Manufacturer
Vickers-Armstrongs
Designer
George Edwards
First flight
18 May 1951
Introduction
1955
Retired
January 1965
Status
Retired
Primary user
Royal Air Force
Produced
Number built
107
Unit cost
The Valiant was the first of the V-bombers to see combat, during the
Anglo-French-Israeli Suez intervention in October and November 1956. During
Operation Musketeer, the British military operation in what became known as the
Suez Crisis, Valiants operating from the airfield at Luqa on Malta repeatedly
dropped conventional bombs on targets inside Egypt. Egyptian military airfields
were the principal target of these bombing raids; other targets included
communications such as radio stations and transport hubs. On the first night of
the operation, six Valiants were dispatched to bomb Cairo West Air Base (which
was aborted in flight due to potential risk to US personnel in the vicinity)
while six more attacked Almaza Air Base and a further five bombed Kibrit Air
Base and Huckstep Barracks.
Valiant tankers were flown by No. 214 Squadron at RAF Marham, operational in
1958, and No. 90 Squadron at Honington, operational in 1959. The two lost their
bomber role and became full-time tanker squadrons on 1 April 1962. Aircraft
assigned to the tanker role were fitted with a Hose Drum Unit (HDU or "HooDoo")
in the bomb bay. The HDU was mounted on bomb-mounting points and could be
removed if necessary; this arrangement meant that the bomb bay doors had to be
opened in order to give fuel to a receiver aircraft. A control panel at the
radar navigator station in the cockpit was used to operate the HDU. All of the
HDU equipment was designed to be easily removable so that the aircraft could be
reverted to the bomber role.
Inspections of the entire fleet showed that the wing spars were suffering from
fatigue at between 35% and 75% of the assessed safe fatigue life, probably due
to low level turbulence. After this inspection, the aircraft were divided into
three categories, Cat A aircraft continuing to fly, Cat B to fly to a repair
base, and Cat C requiring repair before flying again. The tanker squadrons had
the highest proportion of Cat A aircraft because their role had been mainly at
high level. This also caused the methods of assessing fatigue lives to be
reviewed. By the time the type was scrapped, only about 50 aircraft were still
in service, the rest had been slowly accumulating at various RAF Maintenance
Units designated as "Non effective Aircraft.
Specifications (Valiant B.1)
General characteristics
bomber), air electronics officer
Length: 108 ft 3 in (32.99 m)
Wingspan: 114 ft 4 in (34.85 m)
Height: 32 ft 2 in (9.80 m)
Wing area: 2,362 ft2 (219 m2)
Empty weight: 75,881 lb (34,491 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 140,000 lb (63,600 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 567 mph (493 knots, 913 km/h) at 30,000 ft (9,150 m)
Range: 4,500 mi (3,910 nmi, 7,245 km) with underwing tanks
Service ceiling: 54,000 ft (16,500 m)
Rate of climb: 4,000 ft/min (20 m/s)
Armament
Bombs:
1 10,000 lb (4500 kg) Blue Danube nuclear bomb or
1 B28 nuclear bomb or
21 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs
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