Valiant
The first of the RAF's V-class bombers, the Valiant flew for the first time on 18 May 1951 and entered service with No. 138 Squadron early in 1955. Three prototypes and 104 production Valiants were built, the last of these being completed and flying on August 27, 1957. Apart from the initial production B.Mk. 1 long-range medium bomber, three versions of the Valiant were produced; the B.(P.R.) Mk. 1 dual-purpose version equipped for long-range high-altitude photo-reconnatssance, the B.K. Mk. 1 and the B.(P.R.).K. Mk. 1, both of which had provision for in-flight refuelling.
In 1947, the leadership of the Royal Air Force decided not to wait for the development of advanced heavy bombers firm Avro and Handley Page, who promised completion until mid-50s, and the contract with the firm Vickers in the development and production of its bomber previously rejected due to lower tactical and technical characteristics. Representatives Vickers promised that their plane will go into service in the early 50s. In the context of the beginning of "Cold War" this argument is recognized as significant. Designing a new jet bomber was headed by Mr. Edwards. By the end of 1950 construction of the first prototype was completed. The bomber, designated «Valiant» ( «The Brave") did not differ elegance of forms. Thick fuselage and wing of moderate sweep projecting lantern cockpit create increased drag. It seemed that the aircraft failed. But it soon became clear that it was possible to confirm almost all of the design characteristics, except flight range (it was only 4,500 km instead of 6200 km). The prototype Type 660, made its first flight May 18, 1951. It was established four turbojet engines Rolls-Royce «Avon» RA3 with a thrust of 2950 kg each. In January 1952 during a flight on the prototype caught fire kerosene fumes. The fire at the aircraft wing fell off and the crew had to leave. People with great difficulty managed to get out of a collapsing machine. Moreover, all of whom were wounded, two of them died. Affected lack of the means of salvation. Only pilots had ejection seats. The other three crew members left the bomber through the escape hatch, what to do at speeds around 900 km / h is very difficult. The second prototype, type 667, equipped with turbojet RA7 «Avon» with a thrust of 3400 kgf, made its first flight April 11, 1952. Externally, the predecessor he differed only in the form of air intakes. «Valiant» made by the normal aerodynamic scheme with vysokoraspolozhennym swept wing trapezoidal shape, with four jet engines and tricycle landing gear. The fuselage of oval cross-section with a pressurized cabin for the whole crew in the bow. Plumage swept, single-fin. Under pressurized cabin is located radar sight. The engines were located in the wing roots and were almost completely hidden. The front edge of the wing had variable sweep. At the trailing edge were installed slotted flaps, which in combination with a relatively small specific wing loading provides exceptionally good takeoff performance bomber. In the middle part of the fuselage is equipped with a large amount of bomb bay length over 14 m. The aircraft could carry a nuclear bomb weighing 4,500 kg of cargo or conventional bombs the total weight of 9 tons. Defensive small arms he had. The first serial «Valiant» B.Mk.1 was transferred to the Royal Air Force January 1, 1955, and in April of the same year ended in the formation of the first squadron equipped with these machines. In October of the same year with the board of one of them on the territory of the polygon Woomera, located in Australia, was dropped British nuclear bomb. In May 1957, "Brave" again participated in nuclear weapons tests. At this time, one of the atolls in the Pacific Ocean was dropped British hydrogen bomb. Unlike the prototypes production machines equipped with engines RA14 «Avon» with a thrust of 4300 kg. Later, they were replaced by more powerful RA28 «Avon». Since 1958, the bombers began to establish a system of refueling in the air, and some of them converted into a tanker by installing the necessary equipment and extra fuel tanks in the bomb bay. By the end of series production (August 1957) it was released on 104 aircraft, including 11 cars, made in the form scout-bomber. They are equipped with seven bomber squadrons, one - scouts and one tanker squadron. In 1956, four squadrons were to take part in military operations against Egypt. To do this, they were transferred to Malta. But the decisive action of the Soviet Union led to a rapid resolution of the conflict and the crews of British bombers failed to war. Active combat crew training «Valiant» according to the plans of Strategic Air Command was held until 1963. By the time the plane is obsolete, and have not been able to modernize. In addition, the Royal Air Force with more advanced bombers "Volcano" and "Victor", more adapted to solve the problems of air defense systems break the Warsaw Pact countries. The British command decided to redirect crews «Valiant» to solve tactical problems in the interests of the joint command of NATO in Europe. The operation of these aircraft in combat units continued for several years, after which they were removed from service. The Valiant force was reduced because the other two V-bombers — Vulcans and Victors - were coming into survice, which meang that this type of bomber force has a prolonged life, longer than it would have had if Bomber Command had stuck to the Valiant alone. The Vulcan that was the first large delta-winged aircraft the UK had ever built or which had ever been built. While the British always had high hopes for it, hopes which were fulfilled, it could not have been certain that this would happen. If Vulcan had been a failure and there had been no other type of medium bomber under development, the whole build-up of the force would have been delayed by many years. This was seen to be an unacceptable risk. The Victor would prove to be a fine aircraft in its own right, and it had features which made it more effective and more suitable than the Vulcan for certain operational roles.
The first Valiant B.1s entered service with 232 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Gaydon in June 1954. Gaydon had been a bomber training station in World War II and had been re-opened to be the first V-Force base. While the first Valiant crews were being trained the first operational squadron was formed. The first of the new V-Bombers, the Vickers Valiant, entered service with No. 138 Sqn at RAF Gaydon, Warwickshire in January 1955. 138 moved to RAF Wittering and became fully operational in July 1955. Wittering had been home to the RAF's slowly increasing stockpile of nuclear weapons since 1953 and now finally the RAF had bombers and bombs in the same place. In 1956 RAF Marham and RAF Honington were prepared for V-Force operations and five more Valiant squadrons were formed - 214, 207, 148, 49 and 7 Squadrons. On 25-26 May 1960 a Valiant of No. 214 Sqn made the first non-stop UK - Singapore flight. Covering a distance of 8,100 miles (13,053 km) in 15 hr 35 min, the aircraft was refuelled over Cyprus and Karachi, Pakistan.
A total of 11 Valiant B(PR) Mk.1 reconnaisance variants were produced. These could carry up to eight cameras in the bomb bay instead of a bomb load. The first deliveries of these were to the newly formed 543 Squadron at RAF Wyton in June 1955. Once Valiant B.1 and Valiant B(PR).1 production finished, another variant was produced, the Valiant B(PR)K.1.
During the Suez Crisis Valiants of 138, 148, 207 and 214 squadrons were deployed to RAF Luqa in Malta and the first Valiant attacks against Egyptian airfields began on 31 October 1956. After failing to stop Egyptian and Israeli fighting around the Suez Canal, RAF Canberra and Valiant bombers flying from Malta and Cyprus, in conjunction with French Air Force aircraft, attacked twelve airfields in the Canal Zone. Airfield attacks continued until 4 November, by which time the Egyptian Air Force had been decimated.
The Valiant can carry a 10,000-lb. bomb load internally, but by the mid-1960s was relegated largely to the photo-reconnaissance and tanker roles. In 1964 the entire Valiant fleet was retired, with the OCU being first to disband and the last Valiant squadron, 49 Squadron, being disbanded in January 1965. It was originally intended that the Valiant bomber force should be phased out in 1965 and be replaced by an aircraft like the TSR2. The Conservative Government of Alec Douglas-Home [1963-1964] took the decision to continue operating the Valiant force for another four years after its planned fatigue life was complete. In August 1964 a fault was found in the wing structure of a Valiant. Investigations were immediately set in hand and, as a precautionary measure, some stringent restrictions on flying were imposed. By early December the widespread and serious nature of the problem had become so clear that the aircraft were grounded except in case of operational emergency. By January 1965 it was confirmed that the fault was due to metal fatigue and that this fatigue has appeared throughout the whole Valiant fleet. The only safe way of remedying the damage would involve replacement of spars in each aircraft which would be a long and costly process. The Valiant, which had been in squadron service for about nine years, was the first of the V bombers to be developed. The average hours flown by Valiant airframes over that period are about 2,500. Existing plans envisaged that all Valiants in their various rôles would have been phased out of service in the next four years. The photo-reconnaisance version is to be replaced by Victors in 1965; and the tanker version by Victors over the following 18 months. The Government have, therefore, decided that they would not be justified in spending the large sums of money involved in the major repair programme, taking into account the very limited useful operational life which could subsequently be got out of the aircraft. The loss of the Valiant underlines the need for the earliest possible introduction of the Victor tanker. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Aviation has had urgent consultations with the firm, and hopes that it will be possible to get some tankers earlier this year than was planned. Meanwhile, the deployment of our fighters is being adjusted so as still to permit overseas reinforcement in the intervening months. There are two points about this fatigue failure which should be stressed. First, it occurred throughout the Valiant force and was not in any way connected with low-level flying. Secondly, the Vulcans and Victors are not affected in any way. They are of later design and different construction, and they have been given far more thorough tests in the light of the greatly increased knowledge we now have of fatigue problems. Plans for their future use take full account of the stresses of low-level operation, and there is no reason whatever to doubt that they will complete their full operational life. Nor are they affected by the temporary loss of a tanker capability, since air-refuelling does not feature at all in plans for their operation. Some of the Valiants are assigned to SACEUR in a tactical role and SACEUR and the North Atlantic Council have been informed of our decision. But the British strategic force, which is entirely composed of Vulcans and Victors, is unaffected. This country makes a contribution to the strategic nuclear forces of the Alliance in the shape of the V-bomber force assigned SACEUR. This contribution to NATO remains unchanged by the decision about the Valiant tactical bombers. Our proposals for a strategic contribution to an Atlantic Nuclear Force are also unaffected.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Primary Function: | medium bomber |
| Contractor: | |
| Power Plant: | Four Rolls-Royce Avon 204 turbojets |
| Thrust: | 10,050 lbst each |
| Length: | 108 ft. 3 in. |
| Height: | 32 ft. 2 in. |
| Wingspan: | 114 ft. 4 in. |
| Speed: |
Maximum - 567 m.p.h. at 30,000 ft. (Mach 0.84)
Maximum - 414 m.p.h. at sea level Cruising - 553 m.p.h. at 30,000 ft. (Mach 0.82) Cruising - 495 m.p.h. [economic] |
| Ceiling: | 54,000 ft. |
| Weight: | 75,881 lb. - Empty |
| Maximum Takeoff Weight: | 175,000 lb. |
| Range: | |
| Armament: | |
| Crew: | |
| Unit Cost: | |
| Date Deployed: | |
| Deployment |
7 Squadron 18 Squadron 49 Squadron 138 Squadron 148 Squadron 207 Squadron 214 Squadron 543 Squadron RAF Gaydon RAF Honington RAF Marham RAF Wittering RAF Wyton |
Valiant B1 in 7 Squadron markings
Valiant B1 in 18 Squadron markings
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