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POSTWAR MILITARY AIRCRAFT: 6
HANDLEY PAGE VICTOR
Andrew Brookes
This book has been reprinted due to popular demand. It was first published in 1988 and statements made then were current. Many of these may well have been overtaken by subsequent events.
The last of the V-bombers to take to the air and the only one to remain in service with the RAF today, the Victor is a remarkable aircraft. With its distinctive looks and impressive performance, construction of the Victor was a fitting climax to the long line of Handley Page bombers, which began with the 0/100 in 1915.
Serving in turn as a primary nuclear bomber, reconnaissance platform and tanker, this most charismatic aircraft thankfully never displayed its nuclear weaponry in anger, and its most prominent role in active service is likely to remain the crucial part played by Victors of Nos. 55 and 57 Squadrons in the Falklands campaign. The sterling work of the Victor tankers provided the foundation of the successful operations from Ascension Island which were a prerequisite for the liberation of the Falklands, and brought the Victor back firmly into the public eye. Nearly 14 years after the end of the Victor's career as a bomber, reconnaissance Victor XL192 was airborne for 14hr 45min and covered 6,500nm, setting a new record for the longest ranging operational reconnaissance mission.
In this authoritative history, former Victor pilot Wg Cdr Andrew Brookes unfolds the complete story of this fascinating aircraft, from the initial design brief to the final flight. There is full discussion of all proposed and actual modifications, and the book is comprehensively illustrated with a wealth of drawings and photographs, many of which have not been published before, and which will delight anyone with an interest in postwar military aircraft.
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