SECRET BOMBER CRASHES

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27403, 16 July 1954, Page 11

SECRET BOMBER CRASHES

Prototype CrescentWing Plane LONDON, July 14. A crescent-winged Victor four-jet bomber, one of the latest aeroplanes on super-priority order for the Royal Air Force, crashed at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, today during a routine flight. The crew of four were killed. The giant bomber, which is claimed to be the most powerful aeroplane in existence, is still on the secret list. Handley-Page, its makers, have claimed that no other bomber can fly as fast, as far, or as high with as great a bomb load.

With four Sapphire jet engines buried in its revolutionary-shaped wings, the aircraft had more power than 25 modern express locomotives, or 10 of World War Il’s heaviest bombers. The bomber crashed and blew up on hitting the ground. It was the only Victor prototype at present flying, but a second prototype nearing completion is expected to be ready for the Farnborough Air Show in September. The Victor is capable of carrying atomic bombs, and has been ordered in quantity for the Royal Air Force. It is designed to fly at near-sonic speeds —around 660 miles an hour —though actual performance figures are still undisclosed.

The bomber had taken off from Radlett, in Hertfordshire. An eye-witness said he had been watching the aeroplane for an hour or more when “suddenly it gave a quick dip and then the tail dropped off. As it fluttered down the aeroplane automatically went into a dive. The crew had no chance to escape. As the aeroplane struck the runway it exploded. Debris was scattered over a wide area.”

Designers of the Victor claim that its ability to fly on the brink of the “sound barrier” would make it an awkward adversary for any attacking fighter aeroplane, which would have repeatedly to crash through the barrier to get at it from an effective range.