HANDLEY PAGE VICTOR - PICTURES

HANDLEY PAGE VICTOR

PICTURES - GALLERY 1

HANDLEY PAGE VICTOR
PICTURES - GALLERY 1

1952 - ADVERTISING

A Handley Page advert from 1952 - at 800 x 600 it makes a nice bit of wallpaper, and is only 28Kb in size as a GIF file.
With the Victor in squadron service, another advert from Handley Page making much of the Victor's multiple role capability.
Another HP advert, this one from 1958.

1982 - WAR AND WASTE

Shortly after the Falklands War, Vaughn Nelson took this shot of one of the 'Black Buck' Victor K.2s having a well deserved rest at Wideawake airfield...
...and Dick Clements (RIP) took this shot of a museum piece at Duxford. XH648, a K.1A, had been there for some time already. To this day, she still sits there out in the cold and rain, decaying as any aircraft will when exposed to the weather. Since this shot was taken her paint work has faded so much that a repaint was undertaken in 1990. However a mere eight years later she had faded so badly once more that she now only looks like this when she's wet from the rain, and the dayglo stripes have faded to a mere hint of yellow in places. The Airspace project at Duxford will hopefully bring her indoors and enable a full restoration.

1993 - SHOWING OFF

Nick Challoner caught this K.2 in a rare display; here she passes directly overhead showing off that distinctive planform...
...and here she recedes into the distance, trailing the refuelling hoses. A sight I never saw myself, more's the pity.
This is all I got to see - Victors in the static! This one is XL164, "Saucy Sal", a Granby veteran at the 1993 International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford. Like so many, she's now scrapped, with only the nose section surviving.

1997 - PRESERVATION

K.2 XM715 taxis back to the British Aviation Heritage pan at Bruntingthorpe, 21st September 1997; XM715 carries out regular fast taxi runs, complete with screaming noise, blue smoke and huge brake parachute. The Cold War Jets Open Days at Bruntingthorpe are well worth attending! You may be able to make out the black streamers flying from the aircraft's wingtips and refuelling pods; these were a mark of respect for the father of the aircraft's owner who had died shortly before this run took place.