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Handley Page Victor K.2

The Handley Page Victor K.2 tanker evolved from the original Victor B.2, ‘V’-bomber, which entered service with the Royal Air Force in October 1961. The first K.2 flew at Woodford on 1 March 1972. 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.

Victor K.2s made a substantial contribution in the Falklands War, flying over 3,000 hours and making over 600 air refuelling sorties from Ascension Island, in support of the Vulcans, Nimrods, Hercules and Harriers. They also flew in the Gulf War, refuelling the Tornado and other allied aircraft. The Victor’s outstanding versatility and advanced design enabled it to have the longest service of all the ‘V-bomber’ generation.

XL231 joined 139 Squadron on 1 February 1962, returning to Handley Page for conversion to a B(S.R) Mk 2 in November 1963 and joining the Wittering Wing in July 1964. It was converted to become the prototype K.2 Tanker on 23 January 1972 and saw service in the Falklands War, in support of the air operations from Ascension Island, and later in the Gulf War. It was flown into retirement at the Yorkshire Air Museum in November 1993. The aircraft is kept in ground operational condition by Andre Tempest and his ground crew.

Statistics and Status

  • Maintained in Ground Running, Taxy and High Speed Run Condition
  • Crew: 5
  • Length: 114 ft 11 in (35.05 m)
  • Wingspan: 110 ft 0 in (33.53 m)
  • Height: 28 ft 1½ in[44] (8.57 m)
  • Powerplant: 4 × Rolls-Royce RB.80 Conway

New Paint Job

Victor XL231 has had a repaint – into camouflage colours for the first time in 40 years. She’s shed her hemp scheme in favour of the colours she carried at the time of her deployment to Ascension Island during the Falklands conflict in 1982. The markings are from her time on 232 OCU Squadron. This project required scaffolding by Kaefer, followed by painting by Bagnalls. A timelapse camera was erected on the control tower by specialists Site Eye and took a picture every three minutes for several weeks. 

This is the timelapse video produced by Site Eye.

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Blackburn Mercury Monoplane 1911 (Replica) AH (BAPC) 130 YAM Jan.1995

The Blackburn Mercury Monoplane is regarded as the first truly successful aircraft made by Blackburn at their factory in Leeds. The Mercury I, powered by a 50 hp Isaacson radial engine, was displayed at the Olympia Aero Show in March 1911 and made its debut flying from the beach at Filey with the newly formed Blackburn Flying School. In May 1911, it flew from Filey to Scarborough and back in 19 minutes at an average speed of 50 mph, reaching an altitude of 1200 feet.
This aircraft crashed the next day when the engine seized and the propeller flew off! The Mercury I was followed by two Mercury II aircraft powered by 50 hp Gnome engines, and six Mercury III aircraft, with a number of different engines. Sadly, a Renault powered Mercury crashed at Filey in December 1911, killing an instructor and passenger.
The Museum’s replica was built for Yorkshire Television in 1979 for the Edwardian drama series ‘Flambards’, and was taxied with a car engine. It came to YAM on 10th January 1995 and after a long period in storage it was painstakingly restored to a superb display standard, and was unveiled in June 2000 by Professor Robert Blackburn, grandson of Robert Blackburn, the aviation pioneer.

AVRO 504K ‘H1968’ (Replica) AH (BAPC) 42 YAM Oct. 1994

The Avro 504 first flew in 1913. In the opening phases of the First World War, it served with front-line squadrons in the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service for bombing and reconnaissance, but from 1915 onwards the aircraft entered the training role for which it is most celebrated.

Over 8,000 Avro 504s were built. In 1918, the Royal Air Force had about 3,000, of which 2,276 were trainers.

The Avro 504 was stationed at many Yorkshire airfields, including Tadcaster near the A1/A64 junction, where a period hangar can still be seen.

The Yorkshire Air Museum’s replica was built by apprentices at RAF Halton and appeared at the Royal Tournament in 1968 to commemorate what was then fifty years since the end of the First World War. The aircraft was refurbished in early 2015 to be transported to Thiepval, Northern France, for the Somme Centenary commemoration event, on request of the British Government. In May 2018, it was also displayed at the impressive Hotel Les Invalides in central Paris for a joint RAF / French Air Force event to mark the Centenary of the Royal Air Force and over 100 years of British and French Air Force collaboration.