Victor B2 nuclear bomber

[sloegin57]

Thank you sloegin , that is praise indeed, what a fascinating time you worked in,. Sights and sounds now sadly long departed !!

My memories of this magnificent aeroplane are from the viewpoint of a ten year old living a couple of miles from the Radlett threshold in the mid sixties and watching them come screaming in over the house for servicing or refit, day in day out.....powerfiul memories....

Fascinating fact about the refueling probe, never knew that they were painted any colour other than white ,it would be great if you could dig that photo out !! ....Luckily mine is detachable( a lesson learnt from many moves!!!) , so I should be able to correct it if it applies to this aircraft. Do you have any other info, photo's etc, anything would be most welcome as my next build will be XM715 as an SR2...

Many thanks,

Andy

OK General, photo scanned and sized plus enlargement of probe - now how do I post pix here?

PS:- XM715 was not a B/SR.2, it stayed a B.2 but with conventional bomb doors until the Squadron disbanded.

Sloegin

[general melchett]

Thanks Bob , appreciated

Sloegin use a program such as photobucket. Upload them onto site then copy and paste the very bottom section into your reply , it's very easy , honest...

Regards XM715, Are you sure you mean '715 because references show it was a B(SR)2 with full photo suite up to conversion to K2 ( it was actually damaged with the squadron, 'clubfoot' and went to Woodford in that state until being repaired during conversion) and that it was XM717 that was a B2 when serving with 543. It retained it's bombing config and was used as training aircraft with the unit until disbandment and it's conversion to the tanker role. I have quite a few photos of '715 showing the camera crate layout these being the main reason I chose it as a modelling subject.

Look foreward to pics,

cheers,

Andy.

Edited November 26, 2008 by general melchett

[sloegin57]

Thanks Bob , appreciated

Sloegin use a program such as photobucket. Upload them onto site then copy and paste the very bottom section into your reply , it's very easy , honest...

Regards XM715, Are you sure you mean '715 because references show it was a B(SR)2 with full photo suite up to conversion to K2 ( it was actually damaged with the squadron, 'clubfoot' and went to Woodford in that state until being repaired during conversion) and that it was XM717 that was a B2 when serving with 543. It retained it's bombing config and was used as training aircraft with the unit until disbandment and it's conversion to the tanker role. I have quite a few photos of '715 showing the camera crate layout these being the main reason I chose it as a modelling subject.

Look foreward to pics,

cheers,

Andy.

General you are quite correct - 715 was a B(SR)2 - so much for memory. She went back to HP's with the blasted clubfoot problem - the one we could not fixat the time - but did later.

Right lest try this

General you are quite correct - 715 was a B(SR)2 - so much for memory. She went back to HP's with the blasted clubfoot problem - the one we could not fixat the time - but did later.

Right lest try this

That seemed to work - more including 715 tomorrow

sloegin

[general melchett]

Hi Sloegin ,very nice piccy , I see what you mean about the probe !.Can you confirm that most if not all B2's that you saw had this as standard and not just added for show days and inspections , also can you recall if the rear of the tailcone was painted a light tan or not as most pics seem to show it as some shade or other.

Thanks for sharing,

Andy

[sloegin57]

Hi Sloegin ,very nice piccy , I see what you mean about the probe !.Can you confirm that most if not all B2's that you saw had this as standard and not just added for show days and inspections , also can you recall if the rear of the tailcone was painted a light tan or not as most pics seem to show it as some shade or other.

Thanks for sharing,

Andy

[general melchett]

Hi Sloegin ...Errrrrrrr........nothing on your post old chap

[sloegin57]

Hi Sloegin ...Errrrrrrr........nothing on your post old chap

True !! In my business, I would call it an "Adminstrative Error" every body else would call it a "cock-up".

Now ready to post some more

Sloegin

[sloegin57]

By "standard" do you mean the IFRP ?. All Victor aircraft that went through the "Retrofit" programme had the probe fitted. Prior to that only a trials aircraft had a probe. Some B.1A aircraft at Cottesmore and Honnington had the probes fitted at their respective stations at the same time as the fixed drooped leading edges were fitted to the wings.

OK, I assume by "rear of the tailcone" you mean the "Red Steer" tail warning radar radome fitted to Vulcan B.1A, B.2, B/SR.2, Victor B.1A, B.2, B.2/R and B/SR.2 aircraft. On the white painted Victors, radomes started life a sort of light straw colour and glossy. This was due to a coating (not paint) in the L.R. range (Low Reflectivity). This did not last long as airflow friction caused the radomes to turn, over a period of a year/18 months, Matt white. It was an odd sort of chalky white and it was possible to run your hand over the radome side and get a white powder on them. Radomesto the rear of the aircraft were also a gloss ligt straw colour at first but due to general wear/tear/rain turned a off-white greyish colour i.e mucky. The Red Steer radome at the rear of the aircraft stayed tannish longer but eventually went to a grey/off-white/tannish light brown.

On the camouflaged aircraft it was the same for the nose (H2S) radome but the rear belly radomes and Red Steer radome were, on all aircraft, initially, painted over. Later as radomeswere replaced we came back to the Gloss light staw colour - sort off !

You should be able to see what I mean in the following shots of XL512 and XL193:-

I believe that you said you were or wanted to model XM715. Not the most spectacular of aircraft. Delivered 8/9/65, broken by 9/67 and back to Radlett 12/67. However some pix attached:

And finally a reminder about the bomb door defllector plates plus a note on the underwing tanks

Hope this helps - but I can see a load of questions coming my way.

Sloegin

[general melchett]

Absolutely magnificent Sloegin , thanks a million , these shots show everything I've wanted to know , including the Red Steer/ECM warts and tail cone , SR2 perforated bomb bay deflector plates , fuel jettison outlet , even the refueller , have just bought a load of bits' at Telford for some Victor diorama's , including 3 Houchin starters, a 10 ton refueller ( as shown in your pics) and a couple of bowsers, , lox bottles and Thorney fire engines. All courtesy of BW models, great stuff !!! Interesting info on the straw coloured paint . The SR2 is still one of the more difficult aircraft to find detail pics of !!!

Sorry what I meant regards the probe was did they all have the blue anti-dazzle applied.

Thanks a lot , if you have any more please show

Hope this helps - but I can see a load of questions coming my way.

............

Were the refuellers painted yellow back then and were the Houchins green all over or did they have yellow stripes on the locker sides ? ?

Andy

Edited November 28, 2008 by general melchett

[sloegin57]

Absolutely magnificent Sloegin , thanks a million , these shots show everything I've wanted to know , including the Red Steer/ECM warts and tail cone , SR2 perforated bomb bay deflector plates , fuel jettison outlet , even the refueller , have just bought a load of bits' at Telford for some Victor diorama's , including 3 Houchin starters, a 10 ton refueller ( as shown in your pics) and a couple of bowsers, , lox bottles and Thorney fire engines. All courtesy of BW models, great stuff !!! Interesting info on the straw coloured paint . The SR2 is still one of the more difficult aircraft to find detail pics of !!!

Sorry what I meant regards the probe was did they all have the blue anti-dazzle applied.

Thanks a lot , if you have any more please show

............

Were the refuellers painted yellow back then and were the Houchins green all over or did they have yellow stripes on the locker sides ? ?

Andy

If you want to do a diorama - hang on I'll scan some more pix. You will need more that one bowser !. In those days, ground eqipment and most things that moved on the airfield were painted yellow

I'll get back

sloegin

[sloegin57]

General,

At the period of the attached photos, Ground Equipment and vehicles driven on the airfield were undergoing a change of colour. Up until around 1968, most ground equipment and vehicles were what was known as "Ground Equipment Blue". Vehicles had yellow tops to the cabs. Vehicles in the MEAF were a mixture of Blue and Sand. After 1968, all GE and vehicles started to be painted Yellow to stand out on the airfield.

Now obviously, painting vehicles and GE did not have a priority, for that matter, neither did aircraft, so a mix of colours could be seen on all RAF airfields for a good number of years although events such as the annual AOC's inspection or VIP visits could result in armies of airmen setting forth armed with tins of yellow paint and a brush to correct matters.

The attached photos were taken in May 1969 at Luqa during the Squadrons annual "Sunspot" Detachment.

The final shot shows '672 being "topped off" at Honnington

Trust this helps

Sloegin

[keefr22]

Wow! I hope the General doesn't mind me nipping in to thank you as well for posting those pics Sloegin - absolutely lovely stuff!!

Any more??!!

Keef

[sloegin57]

Wow! I hope the General doesn't mind me nipping in to thank you as well for posting those pics Sloegin - absolutely lovely stuff!!

Any more??!!

Keef

Any particular subject Keef ?

Sloegin

[keefr22]

Any particular subject Keef ?

Sloegin

Well, more Victors for now would be rather nice, but any RAF aircraft of that period (or any period come to that!) from an insiders point of view would be very much appreciated! Maybe you could post some in the Aviation Photography section of the forum when you have a chance?

But I really love the Victor shots you've put up the last few days. In 1968 I was a spotty faced yoof & we had an annual ATC camp at Marham. I've been disappointed ever since that they wouldn't let us take any pics of the Victor tankers then based there! So your fantastic shots somewhat make up for that!!

Thanks!

All the best

Keef

[general melchett]

Oy Keef ...hands off ....I saw 'im first !!!

Sloegin these shots are perfect .., many thanks.Sorry to be a pain but do you happen to have any idea what blue the Houchins were ? ( I've just airbrushed the darn things green , bu%%£er it !!! should have waited).The air cooling trolley is interesting, might have to scratch build one of those as I don't think anyone makes one !

I had no idea so much equipment was needed , will make a very nice if somewhat pricey diorama...I suppose the Blue Steel aircraft needed even more specialised GE..... oh well short days and long nights !!

As Keef says more Victor pics please , ( B1/1A's in particular),

Many thanks,

The General

[sloegin57]

OK Gents, I'll select a few. White Victor B1/1A's I may have a few (Cottesmore was very security minded). Tankers - they are to hand. Anything RAF from that period are in the files and I'll scan a few. If you go over to the IPMS forum, into Recce Sig - I have just put up a brief write up on the Canberra PR9 undersurface colour with pix.

I'll post a pot pourri of about a dozen later - once I've selected the best/most interesting from a modelling point of view (which was the reason for taking the pix in the first place). Jordanian Hunters, Italian Packets anyone ?

With regards to the GE Blue. I think that it was RAF Blue/Grey but I'll check my note books - its bound to be in there somewhere

Sloegin

Edited November 29, 2008 by sloegin57

[general melchett]

Thanks Sloegin that sounds rather good, I'm sure a lot of folks here will appreciate this !!

Bet those note books make interesting reading ...

If you have any more shots of the GE of this period ( 60's) I would be very grateful , especially that air cooling trolley,

The General

[keefr22]

If you have any more shots of the GE of this period ( 60's) I would be very grateful , especially that air cooling trolley,

The General

Seconded !! Please!!

Keef

[sloegin57]

Seconded !! Please!!

Keef

I'll have a look although GE didn't normally get pointed at by my camera. The Air Cooling Trolley was mainly in the MEAF/FEAF where it was mandatory. I have a Defence Sales catalogue from the early 70's soewhere. I'll take a look and scan what might be useful.

Sloegin

[Ian]

Admired this at Telford, Andy. Just superb. Simple as that.

Ian

[general melchett]

Thanks Ian , decent of you to say so ... Hopefully have a fully loaded SR2 up early next year... Aquired a lot of custom resi bits from one of our brethren at Telford including new vac cockpit , extended wingtips, ailerons, tail bullet and intakes. Makes life a hell of a lot easier, just need to make up some 543 decals and I'm set ...

Andy

Edited December 1, 2008 by general melchett