With the intention that the RAF should provide Britain’s strategic nuclear deterrent, design work began at Handley Page in 1947 on a long-range four-engined medium bomber that would be able to carry nuclear or conventional weapons internally. The Victor was the last of three V-bombers (named by Sir Winston Churchill) to enter RAF service, preceded by the Valiant and Vulcan.

Handley Page HP.80 Victor Article

Godfrey Lee presented his ideas to Sir Frederick Handley Page (FHP), who in 1945 had requested a study for a jet bomber to replace the Avro Lincoln. In February 1946 Lee came up with a futuristic design with a 45 degree swept wing of 122ft span, with wingtip fins and only a small trimming tailplane. Designed to carry a 10,000lb atomic bomb at 520kt over 5,000 miles, it had four axial-flow turbojets. A brochure was prepared and design number 80 allocated. The Air Ministry responded with Air Staff Operational Requirement OR.229, calling for a radius of action of 1,500 nautical miles (n.m.) with a 10,000 lb bomb, and a cruising speed of 500kt at heights from 35,000 to 50,000 ft. An amendment increased the range to 5,000 miles and minimum altitude to 50,000 ft.

This requirement became Specification B.35/46 of March 1947. Handley Page tendered the H.P.80, and was told at the end of July that an order would be placed, along with one for the Avro 698.

To keep the lift:drag ratio high to get good range, the span had to be fairly large, and the average chord fairly small. The aspect ratio came out at about 8:1, rather high, which suggested that the wing would be relatively heavy. The sweep at the wing root would have to be 50 degrees.

A model of the initial wing design was tested in a high-subsonic speed wind tunnel at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough. Disappointingly, the drag-rise Mach number was shown to be only about 0.8, mostly due to the outer parts of the wing. However, the modified wing was much better, mainly due to the effective thinning down of the outer panels owing to their extended chord. Additionally, the wingtips were given a special round shape, again to maintain high sweep of the isobars.

The Victor’s flying controls would have to be capable of operating at high Mach numbers and with large applied air loads. The decision was made to go to fully-powered electro-hydraulic operation. The only connection between the flying controls and the pilots’ controls in the cockpit was via an operating valve. When the pilot moved the column the valve allowed fluid at high pressure to enter a hydraulic actuating jack, moving the control surfaces. To cope with a failure, the control units were duplicated and independent of the aircraft’s hydraulic system.

One innovation was the airbrake installation in the rear fuselage. This comprised a pair of large shaped plates, hinged to open out on either side of the fuselage at any angle up to about 60 degs. Actuated by a single hydraulic jack inside the rear fuselage, they gave a lot of drag either to slow the aircraft down or to adjust the approach angle when landing. They were found to work well.

The Victor’s wing structure was based on three mainspars which carried the major loads. Sandwich panels that took internal pressure and fuel loads had supporting local spars. There were relatively few ribs, but those at the root and kinks were massive, and were joined, flange to flange, by what were termed “pipejoints ‘. Thus the wing could be built in three portions per side, and was relatively easy to transport.

The wing was essentially a “multi-load-path” component, having sandwich panels and multiple webs. The webs, with spanwise corrugations, withstood spanwise endload due to bending, shear due to wing torsion and chordwise end loads due to tank pressure and air loads.

The panels consisted of an inner and outer skin separated by about an inch by corrugations, this core also making a contribution for end load and shear. Spot welding was used to attach the outer skin to the core, and the inner skin was attached by blind rivets.

The spars at the root were swept well forward to where the wing was at maximum thickness, enabling the engines to be mounted on sub-structure behind them. This made engine removal quite easy. Sandwich panels were used here as cover, but the corrugations ran chordwise so that they did not take up wing bending end loads, carried by the spars at this point. The lower surface mainly comprised engine and undercarriage doors.

The mid-set wings have compound sweepback, varying from 52.2 deg on the inner wings to 35.2 deg on the outer.

Five years would elapse from acceptance of the basic idea to the maiden flight of the first Victor prototype, W13771, on 24 December 1952 at the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe Down with test pilot H.G.Hazelden, and another five years would be spent in development and flight testing before the RAF took delivery of its first production Victor.

The prototype H.P.80 remained at Boscombe Down until runway lengthening at Radlett had been completed, although Handley Page employees at Radlett and Cricklewood were given their first glimpse of the aircraft in the air when it flew over during one lunchtime, the staff having been advised of the event earlier in the day.
The first official public appearance of the Victor was in the flypast at the Queen’s Coronation Review at Odiham onjuly 15, 1953, and in September that year it appeared at the SBAC Exhibition at Farnborough in a rather sinister black, red and silver colour scheme. Disaster struck on July 14, 1954, however, when WB771 suffered a fatal flutter incident at Cranfield, resulting in the loss of test pilot “Taffy” Ecclestone and all the crew. By then the second prototype, W13775, was ready to continue flight development.

The production Specification, B128P, had appeared in August 1952, but it was not until February 1, 1956, that XA917, the first production aircraft made its first flight from Radlett, followed by the second, XA918, some seven weeks later. Retained by Handley Page for development flying, XA917 was never used in RAF squadron service. It had the distinction of reaching supersonic speed for the first time, in a dive, on June 1, 1957, the largest aircraft to have done so in the UK. It ended its flying career in 1960, after nearly 500hr flight time on 222 test flights.
The fifth production aircraft, XA921, was finished in an all-white scheme that was to become standard for Victors for several years. It was exhibited on the ground at Marham for the Queen’s Review of Bomber Command on July 23,1957.
Groundschool for Victor personnel in the RAF started when “A” Flight of No 232 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) was disbanded in December 1956 for the unit to attend at Radlett. This lasted nearly a year, the Flight re-forming and receiving its first Victor at the end of November 1957, about two years after the desired date for entry stated in operational requirernent OR.229.
The first squadron to operate the Victor BI was No.10 Sqn at Cottesmore, re-formed on April 1, 1958; the 40th anniversary of the formation of the RAF. TheVictor, in its several marks, was to stay in RAF service for almost as long again. Next came 15 Sqn, in September, followed by 57 Sqn on New Year’s Day 1959.

Note worthy was one flight from Farnborough to Lucia, Malta, a distance of 1,310 miles, covered in 2hr (October 14, 1958), and another from Goose Bay, Canada, to Marham, 2,020 miles, in 3hr 8min (October 20,1958).

The B.I remained in service as a part of Britain’s nuclear deterrent into the early-to-mid-1960s, being replaced by the B.2, but midway through 1964 the in-flight-refuelling tanker version of the Valiant, the first of the V-bombers, was found to be suffering from fatigue cracking of major structure, necessitating its rapid withdrawal.

To fill the gap in capability created, designs were urgently prepared for the conversion of some of the Victor Mk 1 s to take over the task. Six were returned to Radlett to have underwing refuelling pods fitted. This was an interim solution; the pods were suitable for fighters, but larger aircraft needed a bigger unit which was to be fitted into the bomb bay just aft of the wing root trailing edge, along with extra fuel tanks. The “two-point tankers” retained the ability to revert to bombing at fairly short notice, and became operational at Marham in May 1965. They were followed by the “three-point tankers” starting in November 1965, 57 Sqn becoming operational with them in June, 1966, followed by Nos 216 and 55 Sqns.

When the Victor Mk2 was designed, the span was increased by adding an 18in-wide strip of wing at the root, and by moving the wingtips out 42in, giving a 10ft increase in span. By then research had shown that, if the nose of the outer wing sections could be extended forwards by a relatively small amount and given a carefully designed downwards camber, they gave acceptable behaviour at high lift and improved turning characteristics at high speed. The modification was retrospectively applied to the Mk 1 when it was converted as an inflight refuelling tanker, making it the Mk 1A. The accumulator and its associated equipment were dispensed with; a significant weight saving.

A single large weapon bay was provided, and could carry 35 bombs of 454 kg (1,000 lb).

Strength tests of complete airframes, carried out in the test rig at Park Street Test House at Radlett airfield, confirmed that the aircraft’s strength met all the structural requirements of the specification. Even when necessities during the Mk 2’s Service life meant it had to be operated at low altitude, an environment for which it was not designed, it was found to be able to perform that duty adequately, though the structure became “fatigued” more quickly. This had a big influence when it came to the conversion of the Victor B.2 to take over tanker duties from the Mk 1, and special measures had to be taken to ensure that the “fatigue life” usage was kept to a minimum and spread throughout the fleet.

The air intake ducts were fed between the top and bottom booms of the spars. The carrythrough box across the fuselage was very large, taking out the wing root bending and torsion.

The flaps and ailerons were carried on sub-spars with large flap tracks for the large Fowler type area-increasing flaps. These first moved backward with little rotation to give a relatively low-drag, high-incremental-lift position for take-off, and then moved further still and rotated to give the higher lift, higher drag for approach and landing.

Early Victors had hinged nose flaps at the outerwing leading edges, but these were superseded by fixed, drooped leading edges also carrying “turbulators” which helped to stabilise the flow round the leading edges.
The main fuselage was of fairly conventional skin, stringer and frame construction, but the 32ft-long bomb bay occupied most of the fuselage aft of the main wing carry-through box. The top consisted of D-section frames, between which were mounted bag-type fuel tanks, three of the frames being strengthened to carry bomb loads and hoisting points, and ending at a bulkhead taking the front spar of the fin. Strong longerons ran along the bottom of each sideJust above the sliding bomb-bay doors. The tailcone housed a large hydraulic jack that operated the large fully-variable air brakes on each side of the rear fuselage. On top, behind the rudder, was the container for the 45ft ring-slot braking parachute.

Each eight-wheel main undercarriage bogie, housed between two heavy ribs outboard of the engines, folded forwards as it retracted. It had anti-skid brakes. The twin nosewheels were steerable but unbraked.

The crew was housed in a pressure cabin designed to a pressure differential of 9 lb/sq.in and having a sloping windscreen. The pilots had dual controls and Mk 3 ejection seats, and sat ahead of and slightly higher than the rear crew, who sat on three swivelling seats in a row. Adjacent to them, on the port side, was the crew entry door. In an emergency this opened outwards, and had a shield to protect emerging crew members. A periscope was fitted for inspecting the wing undersurface and checking if telltale vapour trails were being formed. In the tankers it was used to study the behaviour of receiver aircraft.

Production aircraft had a refuelling probe above the windscreen, in good view of the pilots. Underneath the floor
of the cabin was the main radome.

The first prototype made its maiden flight on 24 December 1952. The first production Victor flew for the first time on 1 February 1956. The first production B.1, each with four 48.93kN (11,000 lb) thrust Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire 201 turbojets began to enter RAF service with No 232 Operational Conversion Unit in November 1957. The first Victor squadron (No 10) became fully operational at Cottesmore in the spring of 1958. Formation of the planned total of four Victor B.1 squadrons was completed early in 1960. B.1A aircraft had ECM and other equipment changes.

The Mk 1 had four Armstrong Siddeley (later Bristol Siddeley) straight axial-flowjet engines at Sa7 rating, each giving 11,0001b static thrust at sea level. They were mounted in pairs, sharinga common air intake in the wing leading edge, individual ducts leading to each engine. The orifices at the wing trailing edge were canted slightly outwards. While the Sapphires were perfectly adequate for take-off at normal operating weights, they were marginal in overload cases. Removable underwing de Havilland Spectre rocket assistance units gave a spectacular improvement, but were rather impractical. There is no record of their use in service. The Mk 1 s had to be carefully operated in “hot and high” conditions, at some risk when heavily loaded.
Many hours of research were needed to achieve an efficient engine intake. The Mk 1’s Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire engines had a design of axial compressor which was unaffected by the flow distortion that was inevitable given the intake type, but the Rolls-Royce Conways of the Mk 2 were much fussier, and drastic changes had to be made to the intakes, involving a duct of greater cross-section and flow-governing internal vanes.
The fin was a conventional two-spar structure with corrugated skins, but the dihedral tailplane, carried atop the fin, was very nearly “all-moving”, with just a stub tailplane housing the elevator powered flying control units. Its construction was similar to that of the wing.
The flying controls, elevators, ailerons and rudder had operating jacks driven by duplicated hydraulic motors, each being powered by its own electric motors and signalled by slide valves connected to the pilot’s controls. They were irreversible, and there was no manual reversion in the event of failure.
On the Mk 1 four engine-driven alternators provided 73 KVA electrical power, transformed to 112 and 24V DC with four 24V batteries. inverters were used to supply AC to various equipments.
Two hydraulic pumps, powered by 11 5V DC electric motors, supplied 4,000 lb/sq.in to work the undercarriage, flaps, airbrakes and bomb doors, and the fuselage Mk 17 hose drum unit (HIDU) on the tanker version.
The span was increased by 10ft for the Mk 2. Streamlined half-bodies on the rear top surface of the wing at about mid-semi-span, called “Whitcomb Bodies” or “Kuchemann Carrots”, housed containers of Window anti-radar strips. Inspired by research by Richard T. Whitcomb of NASA in the USA and Dietrich Kuchemann at RAE Farnborough, they increased the drag-rise Mach number at the cost of a little skin-friction drag.
The Sapphires were replaced by Rolls-Royce Conway bypass engines, initially Mk 10301s at Co.11 rating (17,5001b static sea level thrust), then by Co.17s, Mk 20101s of 20,000 lb-thrust. The higher thrust allowed a significant increase in all-up-weight.
Although the Conway’s sea-level thrust was approximately double that of the Mk I’s Sapphire, it fell off more rapidly at high altitudes, despite fuel consumption per pound of thrust being better. The Conway required a much greater throughput of air, however, and the intakes had to be considerably enlarged and fitted with flow straightening vanes before the engine ran properly.
A Bristol Siddeley Artouste auxiliary power unit was installed in the Mk 2’s starboard wing root, driving a 40KVA alternator. It could be used in flight up to 25,000ft and, because it could be started on the aircraft batteries, made the aircraft independent of ground services.
The electrical system now relied on four 40KVA (later 50KVA) 200V alternators at 400Hz, with transformers to provide 11 5V AC and rectifiers for 24V DC. Two ram-air turbines in the upper rear fuselage, with intakes that opened automatically at low airspeeds, provided 15KVA AC each for the powered flying control units in the event of electrical failure.
The first Victor B.2, XH668, initially with lower-power Conway 11s, made its first flight on February 20, 1959, but disaster struck once again when it disappeared over the Irish Sea on August 20 with its A&AEE and H.P. crew. As the Victor was so important to Britain’s nuclear deterrent, huge efforts were made to recover as much wreckage as possible to determine what went wrong. About 75 per cent of XH668 had been dredged up by the end of 1960. After a searching investigation by RAE Farnborough the problem was attributed to the loss of a wingtip pitot-static tube, which then caused a nose-down runaway of the Mach-trimmer system. Although this was the official verdict, many people did not think it was the right one. The company’s test pilots had made tests in which the trimmer was deliberately made to run away, and had reported that this could very easily be compensated for. Many years later a senior RAF officer stated that he knew the real answer, but was not permitted to disclose it.

Whatever the cause, the second aircraft, XH669, which had made its maiden flight a few days before the accident, then undertook the burden of Mk 2 development flying. It appeared at the SBAC Display in September 1960, and was joined by XH670,’67l,’672 and’673 in tests of new equipment. On December 5, 1960, XH673 was engaged in highaltitude tests of the hydraulic system when the system failed. Although the flying controls still worked, the bomb doors were partly open, and the flaps, airbrakes and wheels could not be extended.john Allam, H.P.’s chief test pilot and captain of the aircraft, diverted to RAF Waddington, calling the fire service there to lay a foam runway for a wheels-up landing. This was a speciality of the station, which had done it for an in-service B.1 two years earlier.

Allam made a perfect touchdown after a flapless approach, but ran out of foam before the aircraft came to rest. The friction caused a small fire, which was quickly extinguished. No-one was hurt, and the aircraft was repaired and used for trials at Boscombe Down in April 1961.

The B.2 entered service with the No 139 Squadron RAF on February 1, 1962, when 139 (Jamaica) Sqn at Wittering received XL231. These had more powerful engines, increased wing span, enlarged air intakes, and introduced a “Window'”dispenser pod on the trailing edge of each wing. In late 1962 the process of returning B.2s to Radlett began under a retrofit programme to install more sophisticated equipment and the fully-rated Conway 17 engines.

Some aircraft were also equipped for carriage of the Blue Steel air-launched rocket-powered stand-off missile with a nuclear warhead, which was released short of its intended target, well clear of any heavily defended area, and made its own way to the target at supersonic speed. These Victors were designated B.2R.
No 139 Squadron was the first to become operational with the Blue Steel nuclear stand-off bomb in February 1964. Victor squadrons were subsequently specified for low-altitude in addition to high-altitude attack.

Such was the pace of technical improvements in defence capability that the airborne delivery of nuclear weapons was becoming too uncertain of success by the late 1960s.In its place the launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles from hardened shelters or submarines was chosen. Thus the B.2Rs were phased out as bombers, starting in 1968, and flown back to be stored at Radlett.

There were strategic reconnaissance Victor SR.2s in service, equipped with a battery of high-resolution cameras in the bomb bay, flanked by long-range tanks. Victor B(SR).2 strategic-reconnaissance aircraft entered service with No 543 Squadron at RAF Wyton in the autumn of 1965. These aircraft had the capability to radar map an area of up to 1,942,490sq.km during a six-hour period.

The Vickers Valiant tanker fleet was withdrawn at the end of 1964, leaving the RAF without support for its English Electric Lightnings and Gloster Javelins. However, a three-point tanker version of the Victor B.1 had been agreed earlier. The choice of the Victor had been in the balance in 1962, since it was said that it would not be possible to formate two Lightnings behind it. Handley Page’s RAF liaison officer, Gp Capt “Rosie” Leigh Houlbrook, arranged for a couple of Lightnings to demonstrate that they could do so with no problem.

Thus in 1964 some aircraft were already being stripped down at Radlett, and it was decided as a matter of urgency to convert six B.1As (XH615,’620,’667,’646,’647, andm’648) to a two-point configuration (underwing Mk 20 HDUs only, on standard RAE pylons). The first two were delivered in April 1965, the other four soon after, and they carried the burden well until the three-point K.1 and K.1A versions (fuselage HDU added) started arriving in 1967.

It was decided to convert ten aircraft from the XA serial range and 14 from the XH range to K.1A standard (fixed leading-edge droop in place of noseflaps). Considerable work was required: bomb-doors were removed, bomb-bay tanks were installed and the retractable Mk 17 HDU was installed in the rear of the bomb bay. The Sapphire 201s were replaced by 207s with engine-mounted alternators.

Hawker Siddeley Aviation was awarded the Victor B.2 tanker conversion contract after H.P. ceased trading in 1970, and the 21 B.2s on the airfield at Radlett had to be refurbished to a flyable state. They were then flown to Woodford, near Manchester, for conversion. Some were in poor condition; at least one had to be flown to Woodford at low speed with its undercarriage down. The wing and fuselage HDUs and associated fuel systems were installed, in a very similar fashion to the K.1, and the large underwing tanks were made nonjettisonable. Each aircraft had to be stripped completely to remedy corrosion that had started during long storage in the open, and had to be brought up to the latest modification standard. The outer wings were strengthened and the extended tips of the B.2 were replaced by the original B.1 tips. The ailerons were set up by a small amount, and modifications were made to the flying controls. The avionics fit was revised.
With the aircraft reduced to its main components, refurbishment was carried out at several locations – Chadderton, Bitteswell and others. What was effectively a rebuilt aircraft was finally assembled at Woodford and flight-tested. The process took between two and three years.
The first K.2, XL231, first flew from Woodford on March 1, 1972, although it was not fully modified structurally. Reducing the span by cropping the wingtips, to reduce the bending stresses, and setting the aileron trailing edge up on both sides certainly moved the centre of lift inboard, but the wing was swept, so the change also moved it forwards, closer to the c.g., rendering the aircraft less stable. Changing the stick-gearing to the elevators partly compensated but, when he flew the K.2 many years later John Allam remarked that he thought it unduly sensitive, and, had he been in charge, would not have asked the A&AEE to accept it.

It had a crew of five, and was powered by four Rolls-Royce Conway turbofans of 20,600 lb thrust each. It had a maximum speed of 640 mph (Mach 0.92) at 40,000 feet, a ceiling of 59,000 feet and a range of 3,500 miles.
The changes also reduced the lift:drag ratio, giving a poorer cruise performance. But the RAF was desperate for the tanker, and it was accepted in that state. The first was delivered to the RAF on 8 May 1974. The first aircraft to enter service was XL233, and 23 others were eventually converted. They at once embarked on a regular routine of support for fighters sent out over the North Sea to investigate prowling Soviet aircraft, and also to accompany aircraft out to places such as Cyprus for regular exercises.
As a tanker, the Victor is equipped with 32 separate fuel tanks carrying 55 tons of fuel, and three refuelling hoses, two on outer wing pods capable of delivering 682 lt/min, and a hose drum unit under the fuselage able to deliver 2273 lt/min.
All this showed the value to the RAF of the Victor tanker, particularly when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on April 2,1982. In just over two weeks six aircraft were detached to Ascension Island, from where they could meet incoming supply aircraft. They also carried out a wide radar reconnaissance of South Georgia before its recapture.
Victor Mk 2s were finally withdrawn from service in 1993, some three decades after they were introduced, and nearly four after the Mk 1 entered the RAF inventory – a massive achievement and tribute to the H.P. team behind the Victor’s design and development.

Gallery

Production

Built as Victor B.1

50 aircraft
XA917-XA941
25 aircraft first flown between January 1956 and August 1958

XH587-XH594, XH613-XH621, XH645-XH651, XH667
25 aircraft first flown between October 1958 and March 1960

Victor B.1A conversions
24 aircraft
All of second batch above except XH617 (crashed July 20,1960)

Victor K.1A conversions
10 aircraft
From first B.1 batch to K.1 standard:
XA918, XA926-XA928, XA932, XA936-939, XA941

6 aircraft
From the second B.1 batch to B.1A, then to tanker standard:
XH615, XH620, XH646-XH648, XH667

14 aircraft
From second B.1 batch to K.1A standard:
XH 587-591, XH614, XH616, XH618, XH619, XH621, XH645, XH1649-XH651

Built as Victor B.2
34 aircraft

8 aircraft first flown between February 1959 and September 1960
XH668-XH675

26 aircraft first flown between October 1960 and April 1963
XL158-XL165, XL188-XL193, XL230-XL233, XL511-XL513, XM714-XM718

Victor SR.2 conversions
8 aircraft
XH674, XL161, XL165, XL193, XL230, XM715, XM716 plus partial conversion of XM718

Victor K.2 conversions
24 aircraft
XH669, XH671-XH673, XH675, XL158, XL160-XL164, XL188-XL192, XL231-XL233, XL511-XL513, XM715, XM717

Victor B.2 losses

XH668
Crashed into Irish Sea during trials, 20 August 1959

XL159
Crashed at Stubton near Newark, Notta, in superstall, 23 March 1962

XM714
Stalled after takeoff at Barnack, near Stamford, Linc, 20 March 1963

XM716
Crashed at Warboys, Cambs, after being overstressed in press demonstration, 29 June 1966

Victor B.2s cancelled
28 aircraft
XL250-XL255, XM745-XM756, XM785-XM794

Specifications

HP.80
Wingspan: 110 ft
Lengrh: 98 ft 2 in
Wing area: 2406 sq.ft
Wheel track: 30 ft 2 in
Max takeoff weight: 120,000 lb
Max speed: 594 mph at 36,000 ft
Range: 6000 miles
Aspect ratio: 8:1
Sweep at the wing root: 50 degrees
Cabin pressure: 9 lb/sq.in

B.1
Engines: 4 x 48.93kN (11,000 lb) thrust Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire 201 turbojets
Wingspan: 110 ft
Lengrh: 102 ft 5 in
Wing area: 2406 sq.ft
Wheel track: 30 ft 2 in
Basic weight: 89,030-90,100 lb
Operating weight: 92,228-94,048 lb
Max takeoff weight: 170,000-185,000 lb
Max speed: 627 mph at 36,000 ft
Service ceiling: 55,000 ft
Range: 6000 miles

B.1A
Engines: 4 x 48.93kN (11,000 lb) thrust Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire 201 turbojets
Wingspan: 110 ft
Lengrh: 102 ft 5 in
Wing area: 2406 sq.ft
Wheel track: 30 ft 2 in
Basic weight: 89,030-90,100 lb
Operating weight: 92,228-94,048 lb
Max takeoff weight: 170,000-185,000 lb
Service ceiling: 55,000 ft
Range: 6000 miles

B.2
Engines: 4 x Rolls-Royce Conways Mk 10301, Co.11 rating 17,5001b static sea level thrust
later Co.17s, Mk 20101, 20,000 lb/9,344 kg -thrust.
Wingspan: 120 ft / 36.6 m
Length 114.9 ft / 35 m
Height: 30 ft 1.5 in / 9.18 m
Wing area: 2597 sq.ft
Wheel track: 33 ft 2 in
Empty weight: 41270 kg / 90985 lb
Basic weight: 107,950 lb
Max takeoff weight: 187,000 lb
Max speed: 647 mph at 36,000 ft
Normal cruise Mach 0.92
Max cruise alt: 55,000 ft / 16,750 m
Service ceiling: 60,000 ft
Range: 6000 miles
Combat radius: 2,300 miles / 3,700 km
Max. bomb load: 35,000 lb / 15,875 kg
Crew: 5

B.2R
Engines: 4 x Rolls-Royce Conways Mk 10301, Co.11 rating 17,5001b static sea level thrust
later Co.17s, Mk 20101, 20,000 lb/9,344 kg -thrust.
Wingspan: 120 ft / 36.6 m
Length 114.9 ft / 35 m
Height: 30 ft 1.5 in / 9.18 m
Wing area: 2597 sq.ft
Wheel track: 33 ft 2 in
Max. bomb load: 35,000 lb / 15,875 kg / 1x Blue Steel (nuke)
Crew: 5

SR.2
Engines: 4 x Rolls-Royce Conways Mk 10301, Co.11 rating 17,5001b static sea level thrust
later Co.17s, Mk 20101, 20,000 lb/9,344 kg -thrust.
Wingspan: 120 ft / 36.6 m
Length 114.9 ft / 35 m
Height: 30 ft 1.5 in / 9.18 m
Wing area: 2597 sq.ft
Wheel track: 33 ft 2 in

K.1A
Engines: 4 x Rolls-Royce Sapphire 207

K.2
Engines: 4 x Rolls-Royce Conways Mk 10301, 20,600 1b static sea level thrust
later Co.17s, Mk 20101, 20,000 lb-thrust.
Wingspan: 117 ft
Wing area: 2580 sq.ft
Wheel track: 33 ft 2 in
Basic weight: 115,400 lb
Operating weight: 224,500 lb
Max takeoff weight: 223,000 lb
Max speed: 640 mph / M0.92 at 40,000 ft
Ceiling: 59,000 ft
Range: 3500 miles
Fel capacity: 55 ton
Aerial refueling stns: 3
Refueling flow; 2 at 682 lt/min / 1 at 2273 lt/min
Crew: 5