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VICKERS VALIANT
PICTURES - GALLERY 2

[History] [Memories] [Survivors & Leading Particulars] [Pictures] [References & Credits]
This page last updated on 4th March 2004

[Survivors 1] [Gallery 1] [Gallery 2] [Cockpit] [Fuselage] [Wings] [Undercarriage] [Weapons]

THE HITCH COLLECTION

These pictures have been kindly contributed by Gerry Hitch, an ex-Vickers employee, from his large collection. They are for your personal use only and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any form.

1. Valiants on the production line; the forward pressure bulkhead is very obvious.
2. View inside the bomb bay of a Valiant - the window-shaped depressions are rather strange - makes me wonder if Vickers' plans for a civilian transport were more advanced than I'd previously thought! Update from Peter Martin, an apprentice electrician at Vickers from 1952 to 1958: "The 'windows' in the bomb bay provided access to cable, pipe and control runs between bomb bay and outer skin. The average man was too large to get into the area, but because I was a shrimp I could wriggle my way down and was required to install the wiring from front to rear of the bomb bays. It cost me a few bruised ribs I remember." So now we know!
3. Maintenance being undertaken, giving us a good look at the heavyweight drop tank attachment.
4. Superb shot of the Type 600 Valiant prototype, WB210. This aircraft was lost on 12th January 1952 after an engine fire broke out.

• A fine sequence showing off the 3rd production Valiant B.1, WP201, here seen in the original natural metal finish. WP201 was the first aircraft assigned to 1321 Flight (later C Flight of 138 Squadron) for the nuclear weapons release trials (using dummy bombs).

  

  1. Fifth production B.1 WP203.
  2. B.1 WP213 (I think - hard to tell!).
  3. Nice head-on shot of the same aircraft.
  4. B.1 WP214 became quite an unusual aircraft, in that it was fitted with a lot of additional electronics, mainly ECM equipment, and spent most of its time with the Bomber Command Development Unit and Vickers themselves, serving only briefly in squadron service (with 138 Squadron).

  

  1. WP221 was the fourth B(PR).1, a dual role version with reconaissance capability.
  2. WZ365 formates on the camera ship with airbrakes extended. 365's sister ship WZ366 would be the first British aircraft to drop a live nuclear weapon.
  3. B.1 WZ376. This aircraft was soon put to use in flight refuelling trials resulting in...
  4. B(K).1 WZ376 again, demonstrating what the (K) is for! The other aircraft is probably WZ390.

  

  1. XD816 survives in part at the Brooklands Museum in Surrey; the nose section is displayed there in the Barnes Wallis-designed stratospheric test chamber.
  2. B(K).1 XD818 is another survivor, but a whole one, displayed at the RAF Museum at Hendon. WP204 lurks in the background of this shot.
  3. XD818 again; this aircraft dropped Britain's first hydrogen bomb.
  4. Great shot of XD823.

  

  1. The sole Valiant B.2, WJ954 in a marvellous shot that clearly shows the extended nose and undercarriage-holding fairings added to the wings.
  2. WJ954 sweeping in over the runway threshold to land.

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