Victor Bomber to be given away by RAF

[3toes]

Yours for nothing! RAF Marham jet being given away
RAF jet being offered for free as base can not afford restoration | Latest Norfolk and Suffolk News | Eastern Daily Press (https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/raf-marham-offering-free-victor-jet-1-6504843)It is RAF Marham's much-loved Gate Guardian: a familiar sight to air personnel and visitors.

https://www.aulro.com/polopoly_fs/1.6504840!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_630/image.jpgActor Kenneth Moore star of "The Battle of Britain" and "Reach for the Sky" played the role of a real-life flier when he joined the crew of a Victor tanker aircraft for a two and a-half hour training flight from RAF Marham. Picture: Archant
But the Victor bomber that stands sentinel by the entrance to the west Norfolk base will soon be moving on.
Following a number of surveys it has been found that the plane needs extensive restoration work which the base cannot afford.
A spokesman for RAF Marham said: "Following recent structural integrity surveys it has been discovered that the Victor Gate Guardian at RAF Marham is suffering from structural weaknesses and would require urgent rectification work to prevent it breaking apart.
"The costs associated with the repairs are well beyond the financial provision allocated to Gate Guardian maintenance so the difficult decision has been made to offer the Victor to anyone that may wish to remove the aircraft and take on its restoration."
https://www.aulro.com/polopoly_fs/1.6504841!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_630/image.jpg


























The Victor jet outside RAF Marham has been offered up for free. Picture: Ian Burt
The Victor was the last V-bomber to be used by the RAF and was part of the country's airborne nuclear deterrent.

[Pickles2]

What a sad state of events for such an iconic airplane.
I think Victors were used as refueling tankers to support the famous Vulcan raid on the Stanley airfield during the Falklands war.
No more flying Vulcans either.
Vulcan & Victor = "Damn Fine Machinery".
Pickles.

[JDNSW]

The Victor, from memory, suffered from an unexpectedly short airframe fatigue life. I think the Vulcan just became obsolete.

[p38arover]

The Victor, from memory, suffered from an unexpectedly short airframe fatigue life. I think the Vulcan just became obsolete.

Could be:


A spokesman for RAF Marham said: "Following recent structural integrity surveys it has been discovered that the Victor Gate Guardian at RAF Marham is suffering from structural weaknesses and would require urgent rectification work to prevent it breaking apart.

From Wkipedia

The prototypes performed well; however, design failings led to the loss of WB771 on 14 July 1954, when the tailplane detached whilst making a low-level pass over the runway at Cranfield, causing the aircraft to crash with the loss of the crew. Attached to the fin using three bolts, the tailplane was subjected to considerably more load than had been anticipated, causing fatigue cracking around the bolt holes

[3toes]

The Victor, from memory, suffered from an unexpectedly short airframe fatigue life. I think the Vulcan just became obsolete.

Perhaps you are thinking of the Valiant?

This was the first V bomber which was a more conservative design that could be put into production quickly. If the other designs did not come good they would still have one that worked

It was then replaced by the Vulcan and Victor which were more advanced designs.All were ordered at about the same time