Handley Page Victor - The Cold War bomber and tanker

Victor K2 Tanker by FlightDeck44
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The Victor was originally designated as HP80, when as part of the V bomber program the Air Ministry set three aircraft manufacturers that task of building aircraft to lead Britain's future bomber forces. The plane they designed had unusual crescent wings and a high tail. In common with other V bombers, only the pilots had ejector seats.

It was enough of a success that in 1955 the B2 Victor was designed, using Rolls Royce Conway engines. However at this point, Whitehall decided they would only order from large manufacturers. They promised to reinstate the orders if Handley Page was taken over, and then cancelled them anyway. Contracts for a new recon version were stalled by the MoD until Handley Page collapsed in 1970.

When the Valiant was found to be unable to handle low level flight and withdrawn from service however, the Victors were rapidly converted into tankers and used to fill the gap - a role they would continue in for the rest of their service lives. Their last combat mission was in Desert Storm, where they refuelled aircraft for the RAF, USAF and other allies.

To put one Vulcan over the Falkland island required repeated refuelling from the only aircraft with a long enough range to accompany it - the Victor tanker fleet. A complex plan was worked out, where the Victors would refuel each other and the Vulcan, with individual Victors returning to base as they completed their role. Unfortunately for Black buck one, the fuel consumption estimates were wrong, due to the massive overload on the Vulcan, requiring the tanker crews to improvise.