GEOAvia Profile picture
May 31, 2023 5 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Nestled in a backyard garden in Kemback, Fife Scotland is the last bit of a notorious Handley Page Victor. 1 of the 1st 5 built and once the largest aircraft ever to (accidently?) go supersonic. 1/5 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationdaily #aircraft #aviationlovers #aviation #milair ImageImage
It is the cockpit of HP Victor B Mk.1 XA917. The aircraft is seen below, brand new in 1956, one of the first 5 Victors in the Handley Page shops at Radlett. The tail in the foreground is of XA918, used to help develop the tanker variant. It was scrapped in 1970 2/5 ImageImage
On June 1, 1957, Handley Page chief test pilot Johnny Allam took XA917 on a test flight from Gaydon, Warwickshire. 3/5 ImageImage
Allam let the nose drop slightly at 40,000 ft and, while ‘inadvertently’ failing to watch the Mach meter, managed to clock up 675mph, Mach 1.02. A double sonic boom was heard over a wide area. This Victor was the largest aircraft to break the sound barrier at that time. 4/5 Image
Sadly its career was cut short by a landing accident in 1961. It went off the runway & the gear collapsed. It was an instructional airframe until scrapped in '63. In late ‘93 the cockpit was all that was left and sold to a collector; now saved in this lovely Scottish garden. 5/5 ImageImageImage

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More from @bclemens

Dec 2, 2024
There is a reason this farmer’s crop rows take a bit of a curve here. This spot at the end of a long footpath in rural Iowa is hallowed ground. For the thousands that come here it is a shrine to a loss of more than lives in a small plane crash. It’s where the Music died. 1/12 Image
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In the winter of 1958-‘59 Buddy Holly and several other musicians were on a “Winter Dance Party” tour of Midwest U.S. on a bus with a broken heater. Temps were below zero F. Holly’s drummer actually had to leave in the middle of tour because he got frost bite on the bus. 2/12 Image
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The night of February 2nd brought them to the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa which still exists. 3/12 Image
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Sep 22, 2024
Why is there an all-white B-52 at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas? 1/9 #planespotting #aviationdaily #aviationlovers #aviation #milair
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1981 B-52H Stratofortress 61-0025 flew routine missions with the 23rd Bomb Squadron, 5th Bombardment Wing (Air Combat Command), located at Minot AFB, North Dakota until 2001. 2/9 Image
At that time, another Buff, the last B-52B in service, was retiring. It was the famous “Balls 8”, NASA 008, which was the primary launch aircraft for the X-15, lifting body programs and other test platforms for 45 years. 3/9 Image
Read 9 tweets
Aug 18, 2024
Giant Rock. The bizarre story of the world’s largest free-standing boulder; the man who built an airport next to it then blew himself up beneath it, and the Lockheed worker who bought it, communed with aliens and made it into a mecca for UFO followers. Mojave Desert, Calif. 1/14


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Frank Critzer was a German immigrant prospecting for gold in the Mojave Desert in the 1930s. He discovered this massive boulder, and it became his prospecting home base. He eventually excavated a home beneath it using dynamite and pick. 2/14

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Living isolated in the middle of nowhere, Critzer hoped to attract occasional visitors by dragging a runway adjacent to his subterranean home and allowing folks to fly in and enjoy some eccentric hospitality. He painted a smaller boulder white and erected a wind sock. 3/14
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May 3, 2024
This B-25 at Felts Field, Spokane, Washington in 2023 is interesting but it led me to learn something even more interesting about B-25s that I didn’t know and you may not know. Sometimes the rabbit trails I follow lead me to unexpected endings. 1/8 #planespotting #milair #avgeek Image
Turns out the B-25 is owned by The Historic Flight Foundation, a museum (now closed) at Felts Field. It’s unusual for it to be out of its hangar- and then there's a DC-3 also owned by the Foundation. They're both up for sale as the museum liquidates its assets by court order. 2/8

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In a complicated court case, the foundation’s founder John Sessions was found guilty of fraud on a loan against another of his business ventures, an apartment complex in Williston, North Dakota. He apparently funneled the loan money into his aircraft collection instead. 3/8 Image
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Apr 18, 2024
You never know what you will find on Facebook Marketplace. Here’s a C-119 you can own for just USD $15,000. Please follow this thread as I show you how it led me down a rabbit trail to two other interesting aircraft. It’s a long, strange trip. 1/14 #planespotting #milair Image
It is 1953 USAF C-119G 53-8073. Retired to Tucson in 1975 and quickly entered the civilian market, bought by Starbird, Inc. in 1978 for USD $12,500. flying out of Anchorage, Alaska as N9027K. In the ‘80s it went through several owners and was repossessed and sold each time. 2/14 Image
Its last flying gig was with Brooks Fuel which flew fuel oil to remote Alaskan villages. By 2009 it was parked at Ted Stevens Airport, Anchorage and has been there ever since. For $15,000 it looks a bargain, complete with engines and props. 3/14
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Read 14 tweets
Apr 9, 2024
This, the last flying Martin Mars, is finally going to its forever home. Many of us were afraid it would be scrapped but a benefactor has stepped in to save it. One last flight is to come. Sproat Lake, British Columbia, Canada. 1/10 #planespotting #avgeek #aviationlovers #milair
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This is one of only 5 production Martin JRM Mars built for the US Navy in WW2. They were the largest USN flying boat to enter production. Intended for long range patrol and transport, they came late in the war and their usefulness soon dwindled. The last was retired in 1956. 2/10


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Each had its own name: Marianas Mars, Philippine Mars, Marshall Mars, Caroline Mars, and Hawaii Mars. On 5 April 1950, the Marshall Mars was lost near Hawaii when an engine fire consumed the airplane after her crew evacuated. 3/10
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Read 10 tweets

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