Did You Fly The Valiant?
It has been suggested that there might be some mileage in running a Valiant theme along the lines of the Vulcan blockbuster. Unfortunately the Valiant fell to metal fatigue quite quickly but it was an interesting aircraft and there must be some out there who can pass on their memories.
As a starter I offer a story which connects the Valiant and the Vulcan together.Being a fairly primitive aircraft the Valiant was able to revert to direct manual control in spite of having power assistance. It was extremely heavy to fly without the power assist and almost impossible above 250kts. Prior to one of the Vulcan non-stops to Australia a Flat Iron pilot came down to Marham and flew a look see receiver sortie with Mick Meadows, the 214 Sqn QFI. Mick showed him a smooth demo of prodding and then handed over to him for a go whilst quietly tripping the power assist. The Vulcan guy struggled for a few minutes, sweat pouring off his brow and then gave up. He turned to Mick with obvious admiration as the Valiant slipped back into contact marvelling at his skill, Mick had of course put the PCU's back on. Being the gentleman joker that he was Mick did put the Vulcan guy out of his misery and he was subsequently able to make a few contacts though still having to cope with an aircraft that even with the PCU's on(not PFCU's in the Valiant) was quite a bit heavier to fly than the one he was used to.