Victor XH648

Roger, I remember you and your team around the Victor on Sunday’s at Duxford, and clearly you had a lot of enthusiasm and knowledge of the Victor – without which I doubt it would of lasted this long. And although I don’t know the ins and outs of why you and the IWM parted company – would there be any chance of you resurrecting some sort of involvement with XH648 again, if asked to do so?

Rob

thanks for the thought but I have retired from that sort of thing after 31 years being involved in Victors and still involved with Victors only on paper this time

Roger Brooks

I looked after XH648 from 1977 to 1992 and repainted her in 1989 in gloss paint after that IWM Chris Chippington wanted it sprayed in Matt Varnish 6 months later she started to peal and my team were asked to repaint her out in the open we were also stopped from running the hydraulics and PFRC,s for safety reasons so we left her to the IWM and left Duxford after a discussion with Chris Knapp

There a no flap actuators on 648 the flaps are totally hydraulic

Roger Brooks

Roger, I remember you and your team around the Victor on Sunday’s at Duxford, and clearly you had a lot of enthusiasm and knowledge of the Victor – without which I doubt it would of lasted this long. And although I don’t know the ins and outs of why you and the IWM parted company – would there be any chance of you resurrecting some sort of involvement with XH648 again, if asked to do so?

Rob

There a no flap actuators on 648 the flaps are totally hydraulic

Roger Brooks

Sorry, didn’t quite say what I mean! The actual hinge/track mechanism where the flap drops is what was corroded.

Roger, you guys did a fantastic job with her.. I remember the flypast article years ago showing her after her repaint.. fabulous job!

I looked after XH648 from 1977 to 1992 and repainted her in 1989 in gloss paint after that IWM Chris Chippington wanted it sprayed in Matt Varnish 6 months later she started to peal and my team were asked to repaint her out in the open we were also stopped from running the hydraulics and PFRC,s for safety reasons so we left her to the IWM and left Duxford after a discussion with Chris Knapp

There a no flap actuators on 648 the flaps are totally hydraulic

Roger Brooks

I didnt have an issue with your comments Agent K???

I thought I’d remembered this ground being previously covered here….
http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?117586-Victor-XH648-repaint

That is an impressive war load! I had no idea they were so capacious.

They could actually carry 48 1,000 pounders. It was never tried though.

I know, I saw a fair number of K1’s at St Athan in early Jan ’77. They were being scrapped.

Lets hope the IWM do something soon before she is deemed structurally un-safe. Look what happened to the Vulcan B1 at Cosford. It is after all the only Mk1 Victor on the planet.

Amazing thing’s can be done with the use of volunteers.. If anyone living closer is able to help please offer your assistance for sure.. Lets make 2016 the year she gets tidied up!

Further to comments above yes I had seen you were in Canada and yes I am also aware you volunteer. My comments were not directed at you for that reason but to point out that as always, and I’m sure you experience this, there are far more people who are happy to proffer comment and advice than those who give of their time to actually do this good work (distance, health, finances etc. etc. etc. – hope this covers all caveats…..).

Amazing thing’s can be done with the use of volunteers.. If anyone living closer is able to help please offer your assistance for sure.. Lets make 2016 the year she gets tidied up!

XH648 is a B1A (K2P). It still had a bombing capability, should you want to drop another 35 1,000 pounders………..

That is an impressive war load! I had no idea they were so capacious.

I feel for it as well TT. XH648 was a care and maintenance a/c in the first years. The man running a team to help preserve it at the time was of course Roger Brooks.

How many bomber spec Victors are on display? 0

XH648 is a B1A (K2P). It still had a bombing capability, should you want to drop another 35 1,000 pounders………..

I was one of quite a few who took refuge under XH648 during the worst of the squalls on Legends Sunday this year. I’m afraid it doesn’t look pretty up close, with the flap actuators corroded solid, trailing edges looking very moth-eaten, and water draining right through the wing in several spots.
XH648 has been “next on the list” for conservation for years, I remember reading with some encouragement a Flypast article in 2006 or so that stated it would be the first aircraft to benefit from the “Conservation” area of Air Space when it opened. Quite apart from the fact that very little conservation seems to have gone on there in the intervening nine years, I’d have thought Britain’s role in developing practical AAR systems (Cobham et al in particular) should have guaranteed it a permanent place in the hangar.
Fingers crossed that once the American Air Museum stuff is all done, XH648 gets the full strip-down and restoration it deserves. Considering that it flew in back in 1976, its current state isn’t the best advert for the IWM.

Was it not on the potential disposals list that the IWM were punting around a few years back?

Not suggesting that undercover isn’t the best option here, but do we actually know what the condition of the aircraft is? Sure, the paint is faded, but what lies beneath?

Paintwork isn’t everything – indeed, the paint has been the problem with this aircraft for a long, long time.

How many of the preserved Victors are undercover? Too much history reversal gets carried out ! She is a tanker -that is enough to justify her undercover at Duxford.

How many bomber spec Victors are on display? 0

When there are several examples in museums that represent the types brilliant work as a tanker, surely it would be preferable to bring the bomber back from extinction?

Surely rather than “make your feelings known” would it not be far more constructive and positive to actually volunteer at DUX and indeed other museums to help in upkeep and restorations?

Peter’s location in Canada might make volunteering at Duxford on a regular basis a bit of a challenge; but I do believe that he’s an active volunteer on at least one Canadian aviation project! 😉