Thunder & Lightnings - Handley Page Victor

Handley Page Victor
Survivors

Unfortunately the Victor, despite staying in service longer, hasn't survived retirement as well as the Vulcan, though it has at least done better than the Valiant! Unlike the Vulcan, the Victor never really captured the public's hearts, due in part to its tanker role in later years rendering it a much less exciting aircraft to many. Victor displays were few and far between and they certainly didn't throw it around the sky like they did with the Vulcan. Today only two Victors remain in running condition, XM715 at Bruntingthorpe and XL231 at Elvington. There are no efforts to get any Victor to fly again.

Click on the serial of a survivor entry for further information. Please comment on any individual survivor entry you feel requires an update!

XM715 powering up for a fast taxi run at Bruntingthorpe

Serial	Mark	Owner & location	Updated
XH648	B.1A(K2P)	Imperial War Museum, Duxford Airfield, Cambridgeshire	04/10/2008

Serial	Mark	Owner & location	Updated
XH672	K.2	RAF Museum Cosford, Shropshire	17/05/2007
XH673	K.2	RAF Marham (displayed opposite SHQ), Norfolk	02/10/2008
XL231	K.2	Andre Tempest (taxiable), Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire	01/11/2008
XM715	K.2	British Aviation Heritage, Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire	24/05/2010

Serial	Mark	Owner & location	Updated
XA917	B.1	Privately owned, Cupar, Fife

Serial	Mark	Owner & location	Updated
XH592	B.1A	Phoenix Aviation, Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire	12/10/2008

Serial	Mark	Owner & location	Updated
XH670	B.2	Nigel Towler, Cockpit Collection, Romford, Essex

Serial	Mark	Owner & location	Updated
Simulator	K.2	Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, Yorkshire	15/10/1999
XH669	K.2	Nigel Towler, Cockpit Collection, Southend Airport, Essex
XL160	K.2	Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum, Flixton, Suffolk	04/10/2008
XL164	K.2	Gatwick Aviation Museum, Charlwood, Surrey	04/10/2008
XL190	K.2	RAF Manston History Museum, London Manston Airport, Kent	01/09/2001
XL191	K.2	Walter Soplata, Newbury, Ohio, USA	03/1987
XM717	K.2	RAF Museum, Hendon, Greater London	08/03/2003

Data for HP.80 prototype is for WB771 as it first flew. Both it and WB775 were modified during their testing careers. Question marks on HP.80 data may be similar values to those of the B.1. My thanks to Roger Brooks of the HP Association and Vladimir Stanojevic for their beyond-the-call-of-duty efforts in researching some of the data here.

Variant	HP.80	B.1(A)	B.2	B.2R	B(SR).2	K.1A	K.1	K.2
First flight	24th Dec 1952	1st Feb 1956 (B.1A 18th Jul 1960)	20th Feb 1959	19th Feb 1962	23rd Feb 1965	7th Dec 1965 (B.1A(K2P) 15th Apr 1965)	2nd Nov 1965	1st Mar 1972
Crew	Two to five - pilot, co-pilot and sometimes flight test engineers	Four to six - Pilot, Co-pilot, Air Electronics Officer, Navigator Plotter, often Navigator Radar and optionally Aircraft Servicing Chief on a jumpseat.
Armament	None	Blue Danube or Yellow Sun nuclear bombs, Blue Steel nuclear missile (B.2 only), 1 x 2,000lb, 1 x 7,000lb, 21 x 1,000lb or 35 x 1,000lb bombs			F49, F89 and F98 cameras and up to 108 photo-flares in 3 containers	None
Powerplant	4 8,0000lb Armstrong- Siddeley Sapphire 101	4 11,050 lb Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire 20201/20701	4 17,250 lb Rolls-Royce Conway 10101	4 19,750 lb Rolls-Royce Conway 20101		4 11,050 lb Sapphire 20701		4 19,750 lb Rolls-Royce Conway 20101
Max. speed (at 34,000 ft)	225 knots (mach 0.9)	645 mph (1,038 km/h) (mach 1+ in a shallow dive)						610 mph (982 km/h)
Service ceiling	49,000 ft (14935 m)		55,000 ft (16,764 m)			49,000 ft (14,935 m)
Range	?	2,700 miles (4,345 km)	4,600 miles (7,400 km)		Probably more than B.2	Similar to B.1	Similar to B.1	4,500 miles (7,242 km) without using transfer fuel
Empty weight	70,000 lb	89,000 lb	98,000 lb			Similar to B.1	Similar to B.1	114,050 lb
Max. take off weight	105,000 lb	180,000 lb (81,650 kg)	223,000 lb			185,000 lb		238,000 lb (107,957 kg)
Wing span	As B.1	110 ft (33.53 m)	120 ft (36.58 m)			110 ft (33.53 m)		117 ft (35.66 m)
Wing area	As B.1	2,406 sq ft (223.5 sq m)	2,597 sq ft (241.3 sq m)			2,406 sq ft (223.5 sq m)		2,580 sq ft
Length	111 ft 7 in	114 ft 11 in (35.30 m)	114 ft 11 in (35.30 m)			114 ft 11 in (35.30 m)		114 ft 11 in (35.30 m)
Height	26 ft 10.5 in	28ft 1.5 in (8.59 m)