The prototype of the HP.80 Victor (WB771) made its first flight on 24 December 1952 but the programme suffered a setback when, on 14 July 1954, during a low-level run at Cranfield the ‘structural rigidity of the tail was slightly reduced by a minor fatigue failure’ causing the tailplane to

Although flown for the first time in prototype YB-52 form on 15 April 1952, and entering service with the 93rd Bomb Wing of Strategic Air Command at Castle Air Force Base in California in June 1952, the B-52, albeit in much modified form, remains in service with the USAF, and