Valiants on show
Title
Valiants on show
Description
A Valiant piloted by Wing Commander Douglas 'Hank' Iveson and a description of an open day at RAF Gaydon showcasing the Vulcan and Valiant aircraft. Annotated 'June 23 1957'.
Date
1957-09-04
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Five newspaper cuttings
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
SIvesonD19171121v10017
Transcription
VALIANTS ON SHOW
[photograph]
[photograph]
Upper: Wing-Commander D. Iveson, D.S.O., D.F.C. and bar, and his crew board their Valiant at Gaydon on Tuesday before making a special flight for the Press.
Lower: The Valiant comes in to land on Gaydon’s extra long runway. This is one of the aircraft that will take part in a flying display on September 14th, and which flew at Farnborough this week.
[page break]
[missing letters]red at the G.P.O. as a Newspaper – Wednesday, September 4th, 1957 - 104th YEAR OF PUBLICATION.
Open Day At “V” Force Home
GAYDON “BATTLE OF BRITAIN” EVENT IS “ONE DAY” FARNBOROUGH
Vulcans, Valiants and The Guided Missile “Firestreak”
SO YOU’LL MISS the Farnborough Air Show this year? Well, never mind, for you will have the opportunity at Gaydon R.A.F. Station on Battle of Britain Day, September 14th, of seeing all the “V” force planes which appeared at the Show this week, plus several different types of aircraft as well.
This “open day” will give the public their first chance of seeing Britain’s crack aircraft and the men who fly them, at work on their own ground. They will get a close view of the superb Valiants (performance still on the secret list) and they will see them in action in the air.
Besides the Valiants, now the [missing letter]ain operational bombers for [missing letters]e R.A.F., they will also see [missing letters]e Vulcan (number two on the [missing letters]st of the new prototype “V” [missing letter]ombers after the ultra-modern [missing letter]ictors), for during the after[missing letter]oon’s display, one will land and [missing letters]ke off from the field.
THE FIRESTREAK
Besides the numerous flying [missing letters]splays, there are many static [missing letters]splays, including the Fire[missing letter]treak, a guided weapon fitted to [missing letter]ritish fighters which was shown [missing word] the public for the first time [missing word] Farnborough.
NO SIDESHOWS
But if you are expecting sideshows, stalls and all the other items that make up local fetes, and which have been features of other Battle of Britain displays, you will be disappointed, for here is what Group-Captain B. P. Young, O.B.E., the Station Commander, had to say about the show day:–
“We regard this event in a different way from those that have been staged before. We look upon this as the “V” force at home; we are proud of our equipment, and we consider there are enough interesting things for people to see without working out ways of taking money from them. The R.A.F. Benevolent Association is catered for in other ways. We want to show the public the R.A.F.”
50,000 EXPECTED
The organisation to cope with visitors on the day has been worked out to the last detail; 50,000 people are expected and there will be facilities to keep them well interested throughout the day.
“The only thing we cannot foresee is the weather,” said Group-Captain Young, “but even if it rains there will still be plenty to see.”
68 AIRCRAFT TAKING PART
There will be 25 different types of aircraft taking part in the display and 68 actual aircraft, including a touring formation which will fly from air station to air station. Included in this will be the Valiant, the Victor, the Vulcan, the latest British fighters in service – the Hunter and the Javelin – the Canberra, the B.8, various training aircraft, and a Viscount and a Herald representing the civil aircraft.
AEROBATIC TEAM
A Hawker Hunter and two Meteors from Little Rissington will perform aerobatics, and a Royal Navy glider, as well as a helicopter, will be airborne on the day.
Super Sabres, Tornadoes and Shackletons will also fly over, while on the ground there will be Canberras, Javelins, Hunters, Meteors and American F.84’s and B.66’s. Their crews will be on hand to answer questions and show the aircraft’s salient features.
[page break]
GUESS THE SPEED AND HEIGHT
A particularly interesting part of the day’s show will occur at 3.20 p.m., when a lone aircraft will fly over and the public will be invited to guess its speed and height.
Just over one acre will be devoted to the display of engines and armaments, including the Sapphire and Avon jet engines, H.E. bombs, the Firestreak, a Sonnar [sic] Buoy for anti-submarine work, and photo equipment, including a mobile darkroom.
Trade stands, some of the 50 different vehicles in use on the base, and ejection seats make up another section of the display, while those people whose feet get tired from walking can relax in the cinema, where some particularly fine films will be shown.
Among visitors to the display will be the C.-in-C., Bomber Command, the dignitaries of Warwickshire, the Mayors of many surrounding towns, including the Mayor of Banbury (Cllr. M. Spokes), and a member of the Air Council.
“NEIGHBOURS’ DAY”
September 14th will be an interesting prelude to November 9th in this respect, for on that day the base “neighbours” from the surrounding rural area – “the people we annoy by our noise,” as the Station Commander said, will be entertained by the aerodrome staff.
Gaydon, built during the war, has a long and fine history as a Bomber Command station. During the war, Wellingtons and later Lancasters flew from this Warwickshire base to bomb the Continent, and all the pilots and crews now serving in operational Valiant squadrons were trained there.
Now Gaydon, an Operation Conversion Unit, as it is termed, is preparing to receive the Vulcans and Victors to train the cream of the R.A.F. for world offensive sorties if war comes.
[break]
HIGHLY DEC[missing letters]
And these men are the cream of the Air Force, for everyone is hand picked, and has an interview with Air Officer Commanding before he is even allowed to train for a “V” aircraft. At Gaydon the number of decorations that the aircrews wear is proof enough of first-class flying and fighting records.
Wing Commander D. Iveson, D.S.O., D.F.C. and bar, a jovial six-footer with a typical R.A.F. moustache, who did several dummy runs in the Valiant for the benefit of the Press, told an “Advertiser’ reporter the one thing that security would let him say about the plane he flies – “It is an absolute dream to fly, far easier than any other aircraft I have flown.”
Wing-Commander-Iveson speaks with experience, for he has flown nearly all the operational aircraft both in the R.A.F. and the U.S. Strategic Air Command, to which he was attached for three years.
A pilot of extreme skill, with a tremendous reserve of good nature, he is typical of the type of pilot that Britain can call upon today.
TREMENDOUS POWER
Sqnd.-Ldr. H. D. Halls, who is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Victors at Gaydon, emphasised the point made by the Station Commander, that the pilot of a “V” bomber has to be a capable man, and his crew have to be experts electronically and navigationally, for in their hands they control millions of £’s worth of material; and a potential as great as that of the whole Bomber Command in the last conflict.
Thes men and their machines are the descendants of the Battle of Britain pilots and their Spitfires and Wellingtons, and [indecipherable word] visit to Gaydon on Battle of Britain Day will show how far they have inherited the traditions and craftmanship of 17 years ago.
[break]
THE HOME OF THE VALIANT
[photograph] [inserted] JUNE 23. 1957. [/inserted]
“Smart appearance, smart camp.” That is the motto at Gaydon, where station morale has been highly praised by inspecting officers. Here SAC Tony Donaldson, of Newcastle, and SAC Harold Liquorish, of Leicester, are planting flowers at the camp entrance. They and the other men on the station now work only a five-day week – having Saturday and Sunday free. To make up for the time which would be lost under this scheme they work longer hours during the week.
[photograph]
[photograph]
Upper: Wing-Commander D. Iveson, D.S.O., D.F.C. and bar, and his crew board their Valiant at Gaydon on Tuesday before making a special flight for the Press.
Lower: The Valiant comes in to land on Gaydon’s extra long runway. This is one of the aircraft that will take part in a flying display on September 14th, and which flew at Farnborough this week.
[page break]
[missing letters]red at the G.P.O. as a Newspaper – Wednesday, September 4th, 1957 - 104th YEAR OF PUBLICATION.
Open Day At “V” Force Home
GAYDON “BATTLE OF BRITAIN” EVENT IS “ONE DAY” FARNBOROUGH
Vulcans, Valiants and The Guided Missile “Firestreak”
SO YOU’LL MISS the Farnborough Air Show this year? Well, never mind, for you will have the opportunity at Gaydon R.A.F. Station on Battle of Britain Day, September 14th, of seeing all the “V” force planes which appeared at the Show this week, plus several different types of aircraft as well.
This “open day” will give the public their first chance of seeing Britain’s crack aircraft and the men who fly them, at work on their own ground. They will get a close view of the superb Valiants (performance still on the secret list) and they will see them in action in the air.
Besides the Valiants, now the [missing letter]ain operational bombers for [missing letters]e R.A.F., they will also see [missing letters]e Vulcan (number two on the [missing letters]st of the new prototype “V” [missing letter]ombers after the ultra-modern [missing letter]ictors), for during the after[missing letter]oon’s display, one will land and [missing letters]ke off from the field.
THE FIRESTREAK
Besides the numerous flying [missing letters]splays, there are many static [missing letters]splays, including the Fire[missing letter]treak, a guided weapon fitted to [missing letter]ritish fighters which was shown [missing word] the public for the first time [missing word] Farnborough.
NO SIDESHOWS
But if you are expecting sideshows, stalls and all the other items that make up local fetes, and which have been features of other Battle of Britain displays, you will be disappointed, for here is what Group-Captain B. P. Young, O.B.E., the Station Commander, had to say about the show day:–
“We regard this event in a different way from those that have been staged before. We look upon this as the “V” force at home; we are proud of our equipment, and we consider there are enough interesting things for people to see without working out ways of taking money from them. The R.A.F. Benevolent Association is catered for in other ways. We want to show the public the R.A.F.”
50,000 EXPECTED
The organisation to cope with visitors on the day has been worked out to the last detail; 50,000 people are expected and there will be facilities to keep them well interested throughout the day.
“The only thing we cannot foresee is the weather,” said Group-Captain Young, “but even if it rains there will still be plenty to see.”
68 AIRCRAFT TAKING PART
There will be 25 different types of aircraft taking part in the display and 68 actual aircraft, including a touring formation which will fly from air station to air station. Included in this will be the Valiant, the Victor, the Vulcan, the latest British fighters in service – the Hunter and the Javelin – the Canberra, the B.8, various training aircraft, and a Viscount and a Herald representing the civil aircraft.
AEROBATIC TEAM
A Hawker Hunter and two Meteors from Little Rissington will perform aerobatics, and a Royal Navy glider, as well as a helicopter, will be airborne on the day.
Super Sabres, Tornadoes and Shackletons will also fly over, while on the ground there will be Canberras, Javelins, Hunters, Meteors and American F.84’s and B.66’s. Their crews will be on hand to answer questions and show the aircraft’s salient features.
[page break]
GUESS THE SPEED AND HEIGHT
A particularly interesting part of the day’s show will occur at 3.20 p.m., when a lone aircraft will fly over and the public will be invited to guess its speed and height.
Just over one acre will be devoted to the display of engines and armaments, including the Sapphire and Avon jet engines, H.E. bombs, the Firestreak, a Sonnar [sic] Buoy for anti-submarine work, and photo equipment, including a mobile darkroom.
Trade stands, some of the 50 different vehicles in use on the base, and ejection seats make up another section of the display, while those people whose feet get tired from walking can relax in the cinema, where some particularly fine films will be shown.
Among visitors to the display will be the C.-in-C., Bomber Command, the dignitaries of Warwickshire, the Mayors of many surrounding towns, including the Mayor of Banbury (Cllr. M. Spokes), and a member of the Air Council.
“NEIGHBOURS’ DAY”
September 14th will be an interesting prelude to November 9th in this respect, for on that day the base “neighbours” from the surrounding rural area – “the people we annoy by our noise,” as the Station Commander said, will be entertained by the aerodrome staff.
Gaydon, built during the war, has a long and fine history as a Bomber Command station. During the war, Wellingtons and later Lancasters flew from this Warwickshire base to bomb the Continent, and all the pilots and crews now serving in operational Valiant squadrons were trained there.
Now Gaydon, an Operation Conversion Unit, as it is termed, is preparing to receive the Vulcans and Victors to train the cream of the R.A.F. for world offensive sorties if war comes.
[break]
HIGHLY DEC[missing letters]
And these men are the cream of the Air Force, for everyone is hand picked, and has an interview with Air Officer Commanding before he is even allowed to train for a “V” aircraft. At Gaydon the number of decorations that the aircrews wear is proof enough of first-class flying and fighting records.
Wing Commander D. Iveson, D.S.O., D.F.C. and bar, a jovial six-footer with a typical R.A.F. moustache, who did several dummy runs in the Valiant for the benefit of the Press, told an “Advertiser’ reporter the one thing that security would let him say about the plane he flies – “It is an absolute dream to fly, far easier than any other aircraft I have flown.”
Wing-Commander-Iveson speaks with experience, for he has flown nearly all the operational aircraft both in the R.A.F. and the U.S. Strategic Air Command, to which he was attached for three years.
A pilot of extreme skill, with a tremendous reserve of good nature, he is typical of the type of pilot that Britain can call upon today.
TREMENDOUS POWER
Sqnd.-Ldr. H. D. Halls, who is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Victors at Gaydon, emphasised the point made by the Station Commander, that the pilot of a “V” bomber has to be a capable man, and his crew have to be experts electronically and navigationally, for in their hands they control millions of £’s worth of material; and a potential as great as that of the whole Bomber Command in the last conflict.
Thes men and their machines are the descendants of the Battle of Britain pilots and their Spitfires and Wellingtons, and [indecipherable word] visit to Gaydon on Battle of Britain Day will show how far they have inherited the traditions and craftmanship of 17 years ago.
[break]
THE HOME OF THE VALIANT
[photograph] [inserted] JUNE 23. 1957. [/inserted]
“Smart appearance, smart camp.” That is the motto at Gaydon, where station morale has been highly praised by inspecting officers. Here SAC Tony Donaldson, of Newcastle, and SAC Harold Liquorish, of Leicester, are planting flowers at the camp entrance. They and the other men on the station now work only a five-day week – having Saturday and Sunday free. To make up for the time which would be lost under this scheme they work longer hours during the week.
Collection
Citation
“Valiants on show,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed July 14, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/44794.