Thunder & Lightnings

Vickers Valiant - Survivor XD875

B.1 XD875 - Morayvia (on loan), Kinloss, Scotland

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Valiant B.1 XD875 at Morayvia, 1st August 2019; Jelle Hieminga

XD875 was the last Valiant ever built. First flown 27th August 1957, she displayed at the Farnborough Air Show that year - 3 days after her first flight! After testing she was delivered to 49 Squadron at RAF Wittering the next month, and soon went on to serve with 207 Squadron at RAF Marham from November 1957. She stayed with them until July 1961, transferring then to 138 Squadron back at Wittering. She was then transferred to 7 Squadron, still at Wittering, in April 1962 but involved in a ground accident in November of that year which grounded her permanently. Struck off charge on 9th November 1962, she was scrapped onsite in December 1962 and the nose was removed for display duties at 164 ATC Squadron in Coventry.

Eventually disposed of, the nose section went to the South Yorkshire Air Museum in 1991, and then moved on Bruntingthorpe in 1993. In superb condition internally, the nose was on display as part of the collection there. On designated open days, the cockpit was opened up and for a small fee you could clamber inside and see the wonderful job that has been done on restoring it. Unfortunately the cockpit floor became a little dodgy during her long stay at Bruntingthorpe, and she was moved to Newark in June 2002 where she could be better looked after and the floor restored to a safe condition.

In October 2003 she changed hands to go all the way up to the Highland Aircraft Preservation Society in Scotland, but when the HAPS exhibits were put up for sale in 2018, the owner of the cockpit section put her on loan to Morayvia who transported her to Kinloss, Scotland for display. She remains in generally excellent condition.

Information on this page current as of 19/01/2022, last updated by Damien

Find other photos of XD875 on the following sites:

Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net