Vickers Valiant

what is it?

The Vickers Valiant was a British high-altitude jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons, and in the 1950s and 1960s was part of the Royal Air Force's "V bomber" strategic deterrent force. It was developed by Vickers-Armstrongs in response to Specification B.35/46 issued by the Air Ministry for a nuclear-armed jet-powered bomber. The Valiant was the first of the V bombers to become operational, and was followed by the Handley Page Victor and the Avro Vulcan.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 jet engines · 34.9 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 912 km/htop speed
• size 63.5 tmax take-off weight
• built 107made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 75 years ago, in 1951.
• 🏎️Top speed is 7.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 34.9 m: about 8 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 11 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🏔️Can fly 1.9× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1951-05-18

introduced

1955

retired

1965

status

retired

number built

107

role

strategic bomber or aerial refuelling tanker

makers

Vickers-Armstrongs

engines

4× Rolls-Royce Avon RA28 Mk 204

length

33 m

wingspan

34.9 m

height

9.8 m

max take-off weight

63.5 t

top speed

912 km/h

range

—

ceiling

16,459 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.