El Handley Page Victor.

Video from the channel Ingenierias Militares about Handley Page, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 7:59. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.

Presentation of the Handley Page Victor, the British strategic jet bomber and third and last of the V-series, alongside the Avro 698 Vulcan and the Vickers Valiant. The video covers its general characteristics, its aerodynamic design, the problems with the prototypes, and its conversion into a tanker aircraft.

In the midst of the Cold War, the United Kingdom needed a long-range bomber capable of attacking the Soviet Union with conventional or nuclear weapons in retaliation for an attack on Europe. The Victor entered RAF service in April 1958. It was the last V bomber to do so, and also the last to be retired, nine years after the Vulcan. During the confrontation in Borneo (1962-1966), two B1As carried out the type's only offensive mission, and as a tanker it served in the Falklands and the Gulf War. Nuclear deterrence passed to Polaris missiles, and its large wing, designed for fast, high-altitude flight, was unsuited to low-level attack. For this reason, surplus Victors were converted into tankers.

The HP.80 had a crescent wing whose sweep and chord reduced in three stages. It had previously been tested on experimental designs such as the HP.88, derived from a Supermarine Attacker. Its skin consisted of two layers of aluminium with a corrugated core. The five crew members sat at the same level in a spacious pressurised cabin, but only the pilots had ejection seats; the rest had to bail out by parachute through the side door. The first flight was on 24 December 1952. One of the two prototypes was lost in July 1954 when the tailplane, held by three bolts, separated, killing the whole crew. Production aircraft received a lengthened nose and a joint with four larger bolts. Twenty-four B2s were converted to the K2 version, able to carry 41 tonnes of fuel, which remained in service until October 1993. Some examples are preserved in museums in the United Kingdom.