RAF aircraft in the seventies
RAF aircraft in the seventies looked gorgeous. And almost, but not quite as important as that, they were all badass.
For sure, they were all in service in the seventies, but they were designed way back in the fifties.
The Avro Vulcan entered service in 1956 and was retired in 1984. In about 2014 I saw the last flying Vulcan at an air show, and the roar of its engines was something to behold. The noise was like a physical thing hitting you. The Black Buck raids during the Falklands War immortalised it in British folklore. An absolute flying legend.
The Handley Page Victor was an absolute beast and definitely looked like it belonged in Thunderbirds. It had the biggest payload of all of the V Force bombers, but it really excelled as a tanker. It entered service in 1958 and was on the books until 1993. I was lucky enough to see them on the pan at Akrotiri during my short Op Granby tour.
The English Electric Lightning was the RAF’s nude-shot, centrefold pin-up for decades. It served in the RAF from 1960 to 1988 and has been described a missile with a seat attached to it. It had one mission in life, to get somewhere really fast and fire its two missiles. And it just about managed to do that very thing, phenomenally well.
All three of these amazing aircraft highlighted the quirkiness of British aircraft designers, who thought well outside of the box. It was also a time when export markets weren’t a consideration, just British planes defending British interests, and maybe a last nostalgic look at the ever shrinking military power, and a nation used to be, while embracing modern technology at the time, going out with a bang, and realising that technical and production would have to be a joint thing in years to come.
Ain’t reality a bitch?
But hey, if you want other cool looking British aircraft of that era, there were plenty to choose from. Buccaneer, Canberra, Gannet, the absolutely gorgeous Hunter, Javelin, Sea Vixen. The list goes on and on. And any one of any of the above, were all rather jolly good at kicking the bottoms of the Queen’s enemies, What!
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