I wonder what parts of Valiants are still floating around now ? I saw a couple of Eject. Seats sell on e-Bay a year ago. Isn’t there a Cockpit section somewhere in Scotland too. 😀
Bill T. ( WV-903. )
In a hanger I used to work in up until 2003 there was a draw in the stores full of unique solid rivets. The draw label simply read: “Valiant?”
Well I’ve been qualified to run the engines on various jets (single and multi) and would find it quite amusing to be able to carry out taxying brake checks myself with this new qualification as oposed to getting the aircrew to do it on the pre-flight taxi. It would make the day more fun anyway!
I haven’t read all the replies to this post so appologise if this has already ben mentioned.
There is the remains of a Blue Streak test facilitie at Boscombe Down. It is little more than a steel gantry and haredned concrete hut but was apparently used for trials on the rockets directional controls. The site is protected from re-development.
I may of course have got this totaly wrong but I’m pretty sure that’s right.
I think I need to pay this place a visit. I’ve been meaning to go back there for years! I just need to convince the rest of the family. Or mybe it would be a better idea to go alone?
At last, the large interesting stuff is finaly being looked after. So glad the Comet is under cover. Over 10 years ago a rep from Cosford came to Boscombe to look at Farnboroughs old Comet 4 XV814 that we were using as a spares ship for our own Comet 4c XS235 (now herself in the open at Bruntingthorpe). He wanted to transport it back to Cosford to replace there gutted Comet 1 which was suffering from advanced corrosion! As soon as I pointed out to him that it had no transportation joints in the fuselage his plans were immediately scuppered and XV814 was scrapped at Boscombe. The nose section is all that remains.
There were only 2 by the time I was there and the other must have been FT375. This was later sold at auction and went to Italy I beleive. The other KF314 crashed sometime before my arrival but we did have the port (I think) wing down the apprentice centre to practice skin repairs on. They now have the slightly ovaled rear fuselage of ETPS Hunter T7 XL??? that crashed here a good few years ago now.
I’ve worked on this particular aircraft in the past along with it’s sister ship who’s reg I can’t remember but I think it may have been KF327 or very similar. (I don’t know why I remember that if it even is remotely close)
Weren’t they obsolete before they made there first flights? I suppose if you put yourself in there position then the fact that the age of Jet travel was just around the corner, coupled with the huge changes in social britain after the war might not have been immediately obvious.
Feel free to shoot me down in flames though, I wasn’t even born until another 3 decades later!
Anyway, wasn’t this post asking which of the two people prefered?
The second picture shows a later pressurised aircraft where as the earlier would appear to be the older un-pressurised version. And I only know that because we used to have what was apparently the first cabin pressurised J.P. in my old hanger XS230 (and I only know that because it’s so close to my old Comets serial XS235).
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