Jul 07, 1953 - First Picture Released Of Bomber Command's New Rapier: The Handley Page...

Jul 07, 1953 - First Picture Released Of Bomber Command's New Rapier: The Handley Page Victor 4-jet crescent-wing bomber - more powerful than 25 express locomotives - makes its public debut before the Queen next Wednesday at the R.A.F. Coronation Review. Since its Maiden flight last Christmas Eve it has been carrying out an exhaustive test-flying programme and was airborne no less than six times in one day recently. The Victor was ordered in quantity from the drawing-board and is now in super-priority production for R.A.F. Bomber Command. Its revolutionary crescent wing enables it to cruise at high altitude with near-sonic speed. It flies so fast that it is protected by the sound-barrier; conditions near the speed of sound render attacking fighters ineffective. The Victor is the outstanding example of the modern concept of a bomber as a rapier - an atomically hard-hitting and accurate weapon able to paralyse an enemy's nerve-centres and yet, by outstanding performance, avoid interception. Photo shows This is the first air-air-shot of the aircraft - and the picture is the first to be released.