Vickers Valiant XD818

Valiant Cockpit

If you go to Inverness you can see a Valiant Cockpit it’s XD875 and as you all like Valiants you will probably like Buccs so here is a S1 also at the Highland Aircraft Preservation Society site

Vickers Valiant

XD816 was struck of charge 26/8/70 and was broken up at Abingdon. Six nose sections survived with ATC squadrons. I recall seeing the nose of 816 in store at the ‘pickle factory’ Henlow. Henlow is an all grass airfield and in some ways would have possibly been a better site for the RAF Museum.

The cockpit section of XD816 was moved from the RAFM store at Henlow to Brooklands in the late 1980s and at that time one cut-off wing (I forget which one) still survived outside on the airfield…..so I assumed that the complete aircraft had flown into Henlow after the Abingdon Review and was then scrapped there. I expect that the wing was finally scrapped not long after the cockpit left Henlow.

Can anyone confirm for certain where the aircraft was actually broken up?

BBC ran a documentary in the 1970s or early 80s about the withdrawl of the RAF from Hendon called “Goodbye London Aerodrome”. It featured film of the Beverley flying in.

The documentary was narrated by the late Glynn Wursnip.

I seem to vaguely recall this might have been shown in the old RAFM cinema on a regular basis in the very early years of the museum….????

BBC ran a documentary in the 1970s or early 80s about the withdrawl of the RAF from Hendon called “Goodbye London Aerodrome”. It featured film of the Beverley flying in.

The documentary was narrated by the late Glynn Wursnip.

Here she is at Marham in about ’77/78

The Beverley was flown into Hendon.

Just as an addition to Box Brownies comments, I can also confirm that XD818 was not flown into Hendon and being a bit of a Valiant fanatic here’s a little bit of additional background info I hope you’ll like…

Although struck off charge in March 1965 at RAF Marham, XD818 was allocated the maintenance serial 7894M in October 1965 and was placed on display at Marham still carrying the camouflage colour scheme given to her only a year earlier.

Here she stayed being well looked after by base personnel until April 1982 when she was dismantled and transported by road to the then newly constructed Bomber Command Museum building. Following reassembly she was repainted in her white anti flash colour scheme. The RAF Museum earmarked XD818 for preservation and not XD816 because ‘818 had dropped the UK’s first H-Bomb near Christmas Island 15th May 1957. She is due to be dismantled and roaded again within the next 24 months so that she can be placed within the (yet to be built!) Divided World Exhibition, RAF Museum Cosford.

XD816 carried the distinction of the last flying Valiant as she’d been returned to Vickers for trials and modification of the wingspar. It was cracks found in the wingspar’s that grounded the Valiant fleet on 11th December 1964. The trials carried on until early 1968 when she was flown to RAF Abingdon to represent the type at the RAF’s 50th Anniversary show. Still carrying the white anti flash colour scheme and 214 Sqn markings she remained grounded at Abingdon following her arrival until being struck off charge and scrapped during 1970. A little bit of her lives on as the nose section was saved; it can now be found within the Stratosphere Chamber at the Brooklands Museum.

By the way, I’m always looking for good colour 35mm slides of Valiant’s, so if you think you can help do please send me an email – cheers.

Vickers Valiant XD818

The Valiant was roaded in. A close friend of mine was a navigator onboard 818 when they had a possible engine fire 150 out over the sea!

As an aside, I photographed the last Valiant to fly when it flew in to Abingdon in 1968 for the RAF 50th Anniversary review.

Don’t think anything was flown in to Hendon, not for the museum anyway. Draining the system and preserving the airframe would be difficult enough, if it wasn’t for the fact that there hasn’t been a runway for many years… (And the neighbours would complain as well, I don’t doubt;))

Flood

The RAFM opened to the public around 1973 if my aging memory cells recall correctly, and the majority of the housing estate had already been constructed where the runways had once been.

The Valiant only appeared at Hendon when the seperate Bomber Comand Hall was opened many years later (sometime in the mid 80’s I think..?).
So, yes the Valiant, Vulcan, B-17 etc were all dismantled/cut/sectioned etc and put together insitu at Hendon.

IIRC the last landing of an aircraft on Hendon’s runway was the delivery of the Bev, later to fall to the scrapmans cutter many years later.

She was taken in by road. I’ll do a Google and see if I can find out more.